Paul and Silas in Thessalonica
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Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to 1Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
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And Paul went in, 2as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them 3from the Scriptures,
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4explaining and proving that it was necessary for 5the Christ to suffer and 6to rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ."
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And 7some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did 8a great many of the devout 9Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
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10But the Jews 11were jealous, and taking 12some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.
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And when they could not find them, 13they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
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and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against 14the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is 15another king, Jesus."
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And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.
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And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
Paul and Silas in Berea
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16The brothersa immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they 17went into the Jewish synagogue.
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Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, 18examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
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But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, 21agitating and stirring up the crowds.
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Then the brothers 22immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and 23Timothy remained there.
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24Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as 25Athens, and after receiving a command 26for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.
Paul in Athens
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Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was 27provoked within him as he saw that the city was 28full of idols.
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So 29he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.
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Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, 30"What does this babbler wish to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities"--because 31he was preaching 32Jesus and the resurrection.
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And they took him and brought him to 33the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this 34new teaching is that you are presenting?
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For you bring some 35strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean."
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Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.
Paul Addresses the Areopagus
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So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.
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For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 36'To the unknown god.'37What therefore you worship 38as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
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39The God who made the world and everything in it, being 40Lord of heaven and earth, 41does not live in temples made by man,b
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nor is he served by human hands, 42as though he needed anything, since he himself 43gives to all mankind 44life and breath and everything.
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And 45he made from one man every nation of mankind to live 46on all the face of the earth, 47having determined allotted periods and 48the boundaries of their dwelling place,
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49that they should seek God, in the hope that 50they might feel their way toward him and find him. 51Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
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for 52"'In him we live and move and have our being';cas even some of 53your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'d
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54Being then God's offspring, 55we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
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56The times of ignorance 57God overlooked, but 58now he 59commands all people everywhere to repent,
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because he has fixed 60a day on which 61he will judge the world 62in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and 63of this he has given assurance to all 64by raising him from the dead."
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Now when they heard of 65the resurrection of the dead, 66some mocked. But others said, 67"We will hear you again about this."
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So Paul went out from their midst.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.
(English Standard Version - The Holy Bible Online)