1 ARST Paul, Silas, and Timothy traveled through the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia. Then they came to the city of Thessalonica. There was a Jewish meeting place there. BSB BSB: When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
2 ARST On the Sabbath day, Paul went to the meeting place as he usually did. For three weeks he went there on each Sabbath day. He proved to the people from the Scriptures{ that Jesus was the Messiah}. BSB BSB: As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 ARST Paul showed very clearly that in the Scriptures the prophets wrote that the Messiah would have to die but then become alive again. He said,“I am telling you about Jesus. This man is the Messiah.” BSB BSB: explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he declared.
4 ARST Some of the Jews in the synagogue believed what Paul said about Jesus. They began to meet with Paul and Silas. Many non- Jewish people who worshiped God and many influential women also believed the message about Jesus. They too began to meet with Paul and Silas. BSB BSB: Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few leading women.
5 ARST But some leaders of the Jews became jealous{ because so many people were believing what Paul taught}. So they went to the open area of the city and found some bad men to help them. They used those men to gather a crowd and cause a great disturbance in the city. The crowd ran to the house of a man named Jason, where they thought Paul and Silas were staying. They wanted to bring Paul and Silas outside to where the crowd of people was. BSB BSB: The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.
7 ARST and this man Jason has invited them to stay at his house. These other men whom we have brought to you are also friendly with them. They are all disloyal to Caesar our king. They say that another person, whose name is Jesus, is the real king!” BSB BSB: and Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, named Jesus!”
8 ARST When the city rulers and the crowd of people that had gathered heard that, they became very upset. BSB BSB: On hearing this, the crowd and city officials were greatly disturbed.
9 ARST The city rulers made Jason and the other believers pay a fine.{ But they told them that they would give the money back to them if Paul and Silas did not cause any more trouble.} Then the city rulers let Jason and the other believers go. BSB BSB: And they collected bond from Jason and the others and then released them.
12 ARST Because of Paul’ s teaching, many of the Jewish people believed in Jesus, and also some of the important non- Jewish women and many non- Jewish men believed in him. BSB BSB: As a result, many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.
13 ARST But then the Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul was in Berea preaching the message from God about Jesus. So they went to Berea and said things to the people there that made them very angry with Paul. BSB BSB: But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds.
14 ARST So right away some of the believers in Berea took Paul to the seacoast to go to another city. But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. BSB BSB: The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.
15 ARST When Paul and the men who were taking him arrived at the coast, they got on a boat and went to the city of Athens. Then Paul said to the men who had come with him,“Tell Silas and Timothy to come to me here in Athens as soon as they can.” Then those men left Athens and returned to Berea. BSB BSB: Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
17 ARST So Paul went to the Jewish meeting place and talked about Jesus with the Jews there. He also spoke with the Greeks who had accepted what Jews believe. He also went every day to the open area of the city and had conversations with the people he met there. BSB BSB: So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day.
18 ARST Paul met some teachers who liked to talk about what people believe. Some of them called themselves Epicureans, and others called themselves Stoics. They told Paul what they believed, and they asked him what he believed. Then some of them said to one another,“He really does not know what he is talking about.” But others said,“He seems to be teaching a philosophy about some gods that we have never heard of.” Those others said that because Paul was telling them that Jesus had died and then had become alive again{, and they thought that Resurrection was the name of a god}. BSB BSB: Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.
19 ARST So they invited Paul to come with them to the place where the philosophers in the city met. They told Paul,“Please come with us, because we would like to know what this new message is that you are teaching people. BSB BSB: So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, where they asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
20 ARST You are teaching us some things that we do not understand. We want to know what they mean.” BSB BSB: For you are bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”
21 ARST The people of Athens and the people from other regions who had come to live there greatly enjoyed talking about new ideas. BSB BSB: Now all the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing more than hearing and articulating new ideas.
23 ARST I say that because, while I was walking through your city, I saw the things that you worship, I even saw an altar on which someone had carved these words: THIS HONORS A GOD WHOM WE DO NOT KNOW. So now let me tell you about that God whom you worship but whom you do not know. BSB BSB: For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.
25 ARST He does not need to have people do anything for him. He is the one who makes people alive. He gives them everything they need. BSB BSB: Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
29 ARST Therefore, because we are God’ s children, we should not think that God is like an idol that a person would design and make out of gold, silver, or stone. BSB BSB: Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
30 ARST In the past, people did not know what God wanted them to do. So God did not punish them for what they did. But now God commands all people everywhere to stop doing wrong things. BSB BSB: Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.
31 ARST God tells us that on a day that he has chosen, he is going to judge all of us justly. God will have Jesus, the man he has chosen, do the judging. God has made sure that we understand this by making Jesus alive again after he died.” BSB BSB: For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
32 ARST When the philosophers heard Paul say that a man had become alive again after he had died, some of them laughed at him. But others asked him to come back and tell them about it another day. BSB BSB: When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.”
33 ARST After they said that, Paul walked away. BSB BSB: At that, Paul left the Areopagus.
34 ARST However, some of the people went with Paul and believed the message about Jesus. Among those who believed in Jesus was a man named Dionysius who was a member of the council. Also, there were a woman named Damaris and some other people with them who believed. BSB BSB: But some joined him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others who were with them.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.