| 1 | Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia , they came to Thessalonica , where was a synagogue of the Jews : |
| 2 | And Paul , as his manner was , went in unto them , and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures , |
| 3 | Opening and alleging , that Christ must needs have suffered , and risen again from the dead ; and that this Jesus , whom I preach unto you , is Christ . |
| 4 | And some of them believed , and consorted with Paul and Silas ; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude , and of the chief women not a few . |
| 5 | But the Jews which believed not , moved with envy , took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort , and gathered a company , and set all the city on an uproar , and assaulted the house of Jason , and sought to bring them out to the people . |
| 6 | And when they found them not , they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city , crying , These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also ; |
| 7 | Whom Jason hath received : and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar , saying that there is another king , [one] Jesus . |
| 8 | And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city , when they heard these things . |
| 9 | And when they had taken security of Jason , and of the other , they let them go . |
| 10 | And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea : who coming [thither] went into the synagogue of the Jews . |
| 11 | These were more noble than those in Thessalonica , in that they received the word with all readiness of mind , and searched the scriptures daily , whether those things were so . |
| 12 | Therefore many of them believed ; also of honourable women which were Greeks , and of men , not a few . |
| 13 | But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea , they came thither also , and stirred up the people . |
| 14 | And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea : but Silas and Timotheus abode there still . |
| 15 | And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens : and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed , they departed . |
| 16 | Now while Paul waited for them at Athens , his spirit was stirred in him , when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry . |
| 17 | Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews , and with the devout persons , and in the market daily with them that met with him . |
| 18 | Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans , and of the Stoicks , encountered him . And some said , What will this babbler say ? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods : because he preached unto them Jesus , and the resurrection . |
| 19 | And they took him , and brought him unto Areopagus , saying , May we know what this new doctrine , whereof thou speakest , [is]? |
| 20 | For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears : we would know therefore what these things mean . |
| 21 | (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else , but either to tell , or to hear some new thing .) |
| 22 | Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill , and said , [Ye] men of Athens , I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious . |
| 23 | For as I passed by , and beheld your devotions , I found an altar with this inscription , TO THE UNKNOWN GOD . Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship , him declare I unto you . |
| 24 | God that made the world and all things therein , seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth , dwelleth not in temples made with hands ; |
| 25 | Neither is worshipped with men's hands , as though he needed any thing , seeing he giveth to all life , and breath , and all things ; |
| 26 | And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth , and hath determined the times before appointed , and the bounds of their habitation ; |
| 27 | That they should seek the Lord , if haply they might feel after him , and find him , though he be not far from every one of us : |
| 28 | For in him we live , and move , and have our being ; as certain also of your own poets have said , For we are also his offspring . |
| 29 | Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God , we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold , or silver , or stone , graven by art and man's device . |
| 30 | And the times of this ignorance God winked at ; but now commandeth all men every where to repent : |
| 31 | Because he hath appointed a day , in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by [that] man whom he hath ordained ; [whereof] he hath given assurance unto all [men], in that he hath raised him from the dead . |
| 32 | And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead , some mocked : and others said , We will hear thee again of this [matter]. |
| 33 | So Paul departed from among them . |
| 34 | Howbeit certain men clave unto him , and believed : among the which [was] Dionysius the Areopagite , and a woman named Damaris , and others with them . |
