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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Acts 17 NLT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/acts/17.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/acts/17-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NLT</a> > Acts 17</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../acts/16.htm" title="Acts 16">◄</a> Acts 17 <a href="../acts/18.htm" title="Acts 18">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/acts/17.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="hdg">Paul Preaches in Thessalonica</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a></p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a> instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>So the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them.</p><p class="hdg">Paul and Silas in Berea</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>But when some Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, they went there and stirred up trouble. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>The believers acted at once, sending Paul on to the coast, while Silas and Timothy remained behind. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>Those escorting Paul went with him all the way to Athens; then they returned to Berea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him.</p><p class="hdg">Paul Preaches in Athens</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>Then they took him to the high council of the city.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> “Come and tell us about this new teaching,” they said. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>“You are saying some rather strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>(It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>So Paul, standing before the council,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a> addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>“He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>From one man<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">f</span></a> he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">g</span></a> own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-33.htm"><b>33</b></a></span>That ended Paul’s discussion with them, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/17-34.htm"><b>34</b></a></span>but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">h</span></a> a woman named Damaris, and others with them.</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:4 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts read </span><span class="it">quite a few of the wives of the leading men.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:5 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">the city council.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:6 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">brothers;</span><span class="ft"> also in 17:10, 14.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:19 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">the most learned society of philosophers in the city.</span><span class="ft"> Greek reads </span><span class="it">the Areopagus.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:22 </span><span class="ft">Traditionally rendered </span><span class="it">standing in the middle of Mars Hill;</span><span class="ft"> Greek reads </span><span class="it">standing in the middle of the Areopagus.</span><br><span class="fn">f</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:26 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">From one;</span><span class="ft"> other manuscripts read </span><span class="it">From one blood.</span><br><span class="fn">g</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:28 </span><span class="ft">Some manuscripts read </span><span class="it">our.</span><br><span class="fn">h</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">17:34 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">an Areopagite.</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. 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