1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where the synagogue of the Jews was. 2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, 3 declaring openly and proposing that it behooved the Christ to have suffered and risen again from the dead and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is the Christ. 4 And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the noble women not a few. 5 But the disobedient Jews, 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 did not find them, they brought Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 whom Jason has 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 others, they let them go.
10 And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night unto Berea, who when they got there went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all diligence and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 12 Therefore many of them believed, also of honourable women who were Greeks and of men, not a few. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the people. 14 And then immediately the brethren sent Paul to go away towards the sea, but Silas and Timothy abode there still. 15 And those that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens; and receiving an order from him unto Silas and Timothy to come unto him as soon as possible, they departed.
16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city completely given over to idolatry. 17 Therefore he disputed in the synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons and in the market daily with those that he met with. 18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? others, He seems to be a setter forth of new gods, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him unto the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine is, of which thou speakest? 20 For thou bringest certain new things to our ears; we desire, therefore, to know what these things mean. 21 (For all the Athenians and strangers who 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 the Areopagus, {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 sanctuaries, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you. 24 The God that made the world and all the things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he gives to all life and breath and all things 26 and has made of one blood all the lineage of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined the seasons (which he has limited) and the bounds of their habitation; 27 that they should seek the Lord, if in any manner they might reach out to touch him and find him though he is not far from each 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 of his lineage.
29 Being therefore of the lineage of God, we ought not to think that which is Divine is like unto gold or silver or stone, bearing the mark of art and man’s imagination. 30 For the times of this ignorance God overlooked, but he now commands all men everywhere to repent 31 because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; of whom he has given assurance unto all men in that he has 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 But certain men believed and joined themselves with him, among whom was Dionysius of the Areopagus and a woman named Damaris and others with them.