Acts 17

Thessalonica

1 Paul and his crew slid through Amphipolis and Apollonia and landed in Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

2 Paul pulled up like he always did, and for three Sabbaths, he broke down the Scriptures,

3 showing them how the Messiah had to suffer, die, and rise again. He told them straight up, “This Jesus I am talking about is the Messiah.”

4 Some of the Jews believed, along with a bunch of God-fearing Greeks and a few high-profile women.

5 But the Jewish haters got jealous. They rounded up some street dudes, started a mob, and turned the city into chaos. They came looking for Paul and Silas at Jason’s crib,

6 but when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers to the city officials, yelling, “These troublemakers have turned the world upside down, and now they are here!

7 Jason is putting them up, and they are breaking Caesar’s rules by saying there is another king, Jesus!”

8 This got the crowd and the city officials all riled up,

9 so they made Jason and the others post bail before letting them go.

Berea

10 That night, the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they got there, they hit up the synagogue.

11 The Bereans were way more open-minded than the Thessalonians. They listened eagerly to Paul’s message and checked the Scriptures every day to see if he was legit.

12 Many of them believed, including a bunch of Greek women from good families and a few dudes too.

13 But when the Thessalonian haters found out Paul was preaching in Berea, they came through to stir up trouble there too.

14 The believers sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed behind.

15 The folks escorting Paul took him to Athens and then went back with a message for Silas and Timothy to come ASAP.

Paul in Athens

16 While Paul was waiting in Athens, he noticed the city was full of idols, and it got under his skin.

17 So he started debating in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with whoever would listen.

18 Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers heard him and said, “What is this dude babbling about?” Others said, “He is talking about some foreign gods,” because Paul was preaching about Jesus and the resurrection.

19 They took him to the Areopagus (a big public court) and said, “Break it down for us. What is this new teaching you are talking about,

20 You are saying some wild stuff, and we want to know what it means.”

21 (Athenians and visitors loved gossiping about new ideas, this was their thing.)

22 Paul stood up in the Areopagus and said, “You all in Athens are super religious, I see idols everywhere.

23 I even saw an altar that said, ‘To the Unknown God.’ Well, let me tell you about Him.

24 The God who made the world and everything in it does not live in temples made by humans.

25 He does not need anything from us because He gives everyone life, breath, and everything else.

26 From one man, He made all nations and set where and when they should live.

27 He did this so people would seek Him, reach out, and find Him, even though He is not far from any of us.

28 In Him, we live, move, and have our being. Your own poets even said, ‘We are His offspring.’

29 So, if we are God’s kids, we should not think He is like gold, silver, or stone made by human hands.

30 In the past, God let people do their thing, but now He is calling everyone to turn from their ways.

31 Because He is set a day to judge the world through a man He raised from the dead, that is Jesus.”

32 When they heard about the resurrection, some laughed, but others said, “We want to hear more about this.”

33 So Paul left the meeting.

34 A few people believed and joined him, including Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and a few others.