Parallel Bible results for "acts 17"

Acts 17

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 Now when they had gone through Amphipolis and Apollonia they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Synagogue of the Jews:

2 And Paul, as he generally did, went in to them, and on three Sabbath days had discussions with them from the holy Writings,

3 Saying to them clearly and openly that Christ had to be put to death and come back to life again; and that this Jesus, whom, he said, I am preaching to you, is the Christ.

4 And some of them had faith, and were joined to Paul and Silas; and a number of the God-fearing Greeks, and some of the chief women.

5 But the Jews, being moved with envy, took with them certain low persons from among the common people, and getting together a great number of people, made an outcry in the town, attacking the house of Jason with the purpose of taking them out to the people.

6 And when they were not able to get them, they took Jason and some of the brothers by force before the rulers of the town, crying, These men, who have made trouble all over the world have now come here;

7 Whom Jason has taken into his house: and they are acting against the orders of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.

8 And hearing these things the people and the rulers of the town were troubled.

9 And having made Jason and the others give an undertaking to keep the peace, they let them go.

10 And the brothers straight away sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea: and they, when they came there, went to the Synagogue of the Jews.

11 Now these were more noble than the Jews of Thessalonica, for they gave serious attention to the word, searching in the holy Writings every day, to see if these things were so.

12 And a number of them had faith, and no small number of the Greek women of high position and of the men.

13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had news that Paul was preaching the word at Beroea, they came there, troubling the people and working them up.

14 So the brothers sent Paul straight away to the sea: but Silas and Timothy kept there still.

15 But those who went with Paul took him as far as Athens, and then went away, with orders from him to Silas and Timothy to come to him quickly.

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was troubled, for he saw all the town full of images of the gods.

17 So he had discussions in the Synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and every day in the market-place with those who were there.

18 And some of those who were supporters of the theories of the Epicureans and the Stoics, had a meeting with him. And some said, What is this talker of foolish words saying? And others, He seems to be a preacher of strange gods: because he was preaching of Jesus and his coming back from the dead.

19 And they took him to Mars' Hill, saying, Will you make clear to us what is this new teaching of yours?

20 For you seem to us to say strange things, and we have a desire to get the sense of them.

21 (Now all the Athenians and the men from other lands who come there were giving all their time to talking or hearing of anything new.)

22 And Paul got to his feet on Mars' Hill and said, O men of Athens, I see that you are overmuch given to fear of the gods.

23 For when I came by, I was looking at the things to which you give worship, and I saw an altar with this writing on it, TO THE GOD OF WHOM THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE. Now, what you, without knowledge, give worship to, I make clear to you.

24 The God who made the earth and everything in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, is not housed in buildings made with hands;

25 And he is not dependent on the work of men's hands, as if he had need of anything, for he himself gives to all life and breath and all things;

26 And he has made of one blood all the nations of men living on all the face of the earth, ordering their times and the limits of their lands,

27 So that they might make search for God, in order, if possible, to get knowledge of him and make discovery of him, though he is not far from every one of us:

28 For in him we have life and motion and existence; as certain of your verse writers have said, For we are his offspring.

29 If then we are the offspring of God, it is not right for us to have the idea that God is like gold or silver or stone, formed by the art or design of man.

30 Those times when men had no knowledge were overlooked by God; but now he gives orders to all men in every place to undergo a change of heart:

31 Because a day has been fixed in which all the world will be judged in righteousness by the man who has been marked out by him for this work; of which he has given a sign to all men by giving him back from the dead.

32 Now on hearing about the coming back from death, some of them made sport of it, but others said, Let us go more fully into this another time.

33 And so Paul went away from among them.

34 But some men gave him their support: among whom was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Good News Translation GNT

1 Paul and Silas traveled on through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue.

2 According to his usual habit Paul went to the synagogue. There during three Sabbaths he held discussions with the people, quoting

3 and explaining the Scriptures, and proving from them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from death. "This Jesus whom I announce to you," Paul said, "is the Messiah."

4 Some of them were convinced and joined Paul and Silas; so did many of the leading women and a large group of Greeks who worshiped God.

5 But some Jews were jealous and gathered worthless loafers from the streets and formed a mob. They set the whole city in an uproar and attacked the home of a man named Jason, in an attempt to find Paul and Silas and bring them out to the people.

6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city authorities and shouted, "These men have caused trouble everywhere! Now they have come to our city,

7 and Jason has kept them in his house. They are all breaking the laws of the Emperor, saying that there is another king, whose name is Jesus."

8 With these words they threw the crowd and the city authorities in an uproar.

9 The authorities made Jason and the others pay the required amount of money to be released, and then let them go.

10 As soon as night came, the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the synagogue.

11 The people there were more open-minded than the people in Thessalonica. They listened to the message with great eagerness, and every day they studied the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was really true.

12 Many of them believed; and many Greek women of high social standing and many Greek men also believed.

13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica heard that Paul had preached the word of God in Berea also, they came there and started exciting and stirring up the mobs.

14 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.

16 While Paul was waiting in Athens for Silas and Timothy, he was greatly upset when he noticed how full of idols the city was.

17 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.

18 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.

19 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.

20 Some of the things we hear you say sound strange to us, and we would like to know what they mean.

21 (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.)

22 Paul stood up in front of the city council and said, "I see that in every way you Athenians are very religious.

23 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.

24 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.

25 Nor does he need anything that we can supply by working for him, since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything else to everyone.

26 From one human being he created all races of people and made them live throughout the whole earth. He himself fixed beforehand the exact times and the limits of the places where they would live.

27 He did this so that they would look for him, and perhaps find him as they felt around for him. Yet God is actually not far from any one of us;

28 as someone has said, "In him we live and move and exist.' It is as some of your poets have said, "We too are his children.'

29 Since we are God's children, we should not suppose that his nature is anything like an image of gold or silver or stone, shaped by human art and skill.

30 God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways.

31 For he has fixed a day in which he will judge the whole world with justice by means of a man he has chosen. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising that man from death!"

32 When they heard Paul speak about a raising from death, some of them made fun of him, but others said, "We want to hear you speak about this again."

33 And so Paul left the meeting.

34 Some men joined him and believed, among whom was Dionysius, a member of the council; there was also a woman named Damaris, and some other people.