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At once the believers sent Paul away to the coast; but both Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.
15
The men who were taking Paul went with him as far as Athens and then returned to Berea with instructions from Paul that Silas and Timothy should join him as soon as possible.
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While Paul was waiting in Athens for Silas and Timothy, he was greatly upset when he noticed how full of idols the city was.
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So he held discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentiles who worshiped God, and also in the public square every day with the people who happened to come by.
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Certain Epicurean and Stoic teachers also debated with him. Some of them asked, "What is this ignorant show-off trying to say?" Others answered, "He seems to be talking about foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching about Jesus and the resurrection.
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So they took Paul, brought him before the city council, the Areopagus, and said, "We would like to know what this new teaching is that you are talking about.
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Some of the things we hear you say sound strange to us, and we would like to know what they mean.
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(For all the citizens of Athens and the foreigners who lived there liked to spend all their time telling and hearing the latest new thing.)
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Paul stood up in front of the city council and said, "I see that in every way you Athenians are very religious.
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For as I walked through your city and looked at the places where you worship, I found an altar on which is written, "To an Unknown God.' That which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you.
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God, who made the world and everything in it, is Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.
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