| 1 | And having passed through Amphipolis, and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was the synagogue of the Jews, |
| 2 | and according to the custom of Paul, he went in unto them, and for three sabbaths he was reasoning with them from the Writings, |
| 3 | opening and alleging, `That the Christ it behoved to suffer, and to rise again out of the dead, and that this is the Christ -- Jesus whom I proclaim to you.` |
| 4 | And certain of them did believe, and attached themselves to Paul and to Silas, also of the worshipping Greeks a great multitude, of the principal women also not a few. |
| 5 | And the unbelieving Jews, having been moved with envy, and having taken to them of the loungers certain evil men, and having made a crowd, were setting the city in an uproar; having assailed also the house of Jason, they were seeking them to bring [them] to the populace, |
| 6 | and not having found them, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the city rulers, calling aloud -- `These, having put the world in commotion, are also here present, |
| 7 | whom Jason hath received; and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying another to be king -- Jesus.` |
| 8 | And they troubled the multitude and the city rulers, hearing these things, |
| 9 | and having taking security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. |
| 10 | And the brethren immediately, through the night, sent forth both Paul and Silas to Berea, who having come, went to the synagogue of the Jews; |
| 11 | and these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, they received the word with all readiness of mind, every day examining the Writings whether those things were so; |
| 12 | many, indeed, therefore, of them did believe, and of the honourable Greek women and men not a few. |
| 13 | And when the Jews from Thessalonica knew that also in Berea was the word of God declared by Paul, they came thither also, agitating the multitudes; |
| 14 | and then immediately the brethren sent forth Paul, to go on as it were to the sea, but both Silas and Timothy were remaining there. |
| 15 | And those conducting Paul, brought him unto Athens, and having received a command unto Silas and Timotheus that with all speed they may come unto him, they departed; |
| 16 | and Paul waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, beholding the city wholly given to idolatry, |
| 17 | therefore, indeed, he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the worshipping persons, and in the market-place every day with those who met with him. |
| 18 | And certain of the Epicurean and of the Stoic philosophers, were meeting together to see him, and some were saying, `What would this seed picker wish to say?` and others, `Of strange demons he doth seem to be an announcer;` because Jesus and the rising again he did proclaim to them as good news, |
| 19 | having also taken him, unto the Areopagus they brought [him], saying, `Are we able to know what [is] this new teaching that is spoken by thee, |
| 20 | for certain strange things thou dost bring to our ears? we wish, then, to know what these things would wish to be;` |
| 21 | and all Athenians, and the strangers sojourning, for nothing else were at leisure but to say something, and to hear some newer thing. |
| 22 | And Paul, having stood in the midst of the Areopagus, said, `Men, Athenians, in all things I perceive you as over-religious; |
| 23 | for passing through and contemplating your objects of worship, I found also an erection on which had been inscribed: To God -- unknown; whom, therefore -- not knowing -- ye do worship, this One I announce to you. |
| 24 | `God, who did make the world, and all things in it, this One, of heaven and of earth being Lord, in temples made with hands doth not dwell, |
| 25 | neither by the hands of men is He served -- needing anything, He giving to all life, and breath, and all things; |
| 26 | He made also of one blood every nation of men, to dwell upon all the face of the earth -- having ordained times before appointed, and the bounds of their dwellings -- |
| 27 | to seek the Lord, if perhaps they did feel after Him and find, -- though, indeed, He is not far from each one of us, |
| 28 | for in Him we live, and move, and are; as also certain of your poets have said: For of Him also we are offspring. |
| 29 | `Being, therefore, offspring of God, we ought not to think the Godhead to be like to gold, or silver, or stone, graving of art and device of man; |
| 30 | the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform, |
| 31 | because He did set a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom He did ordain, having given assurance to all, having raised him out of the dead.` |
| 32 | And having heard of a rising again of the dead, some, indeed, were mocking, but others said, `We will hear thee again concerning this;` |
| 33 | and so Paul went forth from the midst of them, |
| 34 | and certain men having cleaved to him, did believe, among whom [is] also Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman, by name Damaris, and others with them. |
