11
The people of Berea were more open-minded than the people of Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive God's message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true.
12
Many of them became believers, and quite a number of them were prominent Greek men and women.
13
But when the Jews in Thessalonica found out that Paul was also spreading God's word in Berea, they went there to upset and confuse the people.
14
The believers immediately sent Paul to the seacoast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.
15
The men who escorted Paul took him all the way to the city of Athens. When the men left Athens, they took instructions back to Silas and Timothy to join Paul as soon as possible.
16
While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, he saw that the city had statues of false gods everywhere. This upset him.
17
He held discussions in the synagogue with Jews and converts to Judaism. He also held discussions every day in the public square with anyone who happened to be there.
18
Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers had discussions with him. Some asked, "What is this babbling fool trying to say?" Others said, "He seems to be speaking about foreign gods." The philosophers said these things because Paul was telling the Good News about Jesus and saying that people would come back to life.
19
Then they brought Paul to the city court, the Areopagus, and asked, "Could you tell us these new ideas that you're teaching?
20
Some of the things you say sound strange to us. So we would like to know what they mean."
21
Everyone who lived in Athens looked for opportunities to tell or hear something new and unusual.