Acts 17
1 And when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
Paul and Silas traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia [towns] and arrived at Thessalonica [city]. There was a Jewish meeting place there.
2 And Paul, according to his custom, went in to them, and, for three sabbath-days, he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
(On the Sabbath/On the Jewish rest day) Paul went into the meeting house, as he usually did. For three weeks [he went there] on each Jewish day of rest. Referring to the Scriptures [about the Messiah], he spoke to the people who were there.
3 explaining and affirming that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead; and that this Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.
He explained and showed that [the prophets wrote that] the Messiah needed to die and (to become alive again/to be raised from the dead [afterwards]). He told them: “This man Jesus, whom I am telling you about, is our Messiah. [He died and became alive again, just like the prophets predicted].”
4 And some of them believed, and associated themselves with Paul and Silas; of the devout Greeks, a great multitude, and of the chief women, not a few.
Some of the Jews [there] were persuaded by {believed} [what Paul had said] and began to associate with Paul and Silas. There were also many non-Jewish people there who worshipped God and many important women [who also believed the message about Jesus], and they began to associate with Paul and Silas.
5 But the unbelieving Jews, taking with them some evil men, who were loungers about the markets, and collecting a mob, set the city in an uproar; and having assaulted the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.
But [some leaders of] the Jews there in Thessalonica became jealous [because many people believed what Paul taught]. So they went to the public square and persuaded some lazy men [who were loitering there] to follow them. [In this way, the leaders of] the Jews gathered a crowd and incited them to become noisy and start a riot [against Paul and Silas]. Those [Jews and others] ran to the house of [a man named] Jason. [He was the man who had invited Paul and Silas to stay at his house]. They wanted to bring Paul and Silas outside to where the crowd [of people was waiting].
6 But not finding them, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying out: These men, who have thrown the world into confusion, have come hither also;
They discovered that Paul and Silas were not there, but they found Jason [and grabbed him]. They dragged him and some of the [other] believers to where the city officials/authorities and [many other people were gathered]. The men [who had brought Jason] shouted, “Those [two] men have caused trouble [IDM] everywhere [HYP] [they have gone]. Now they have come to our city,
7 whom Jason has received into his house: and they all act in opposition to the decrees of Cæsar, saying, That there is another king, Jesus.
and [this fellow] Jason invited them to stay at his house. All the people [of this sect] oppose what our Emperor has decreed. They say that another person, whose name is Jesus, is [the real] king!”
8 And the multitude, and the rulers of the city, were troubled when they heard these things.
When the crowd of people [that had gathered] and the city authorities heard that, they became very angry and excited.
9 And they took security of Jason, and of the others, and let them go.
[They wanted to put the believers in jail. But instead], the officials made Jason and the other [believers] pay a fine and told them that they [would give the money back to them if Paul and Silas did not cause any more trouble]. Then the authorities let Jason and those other believers go.
10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night to Berea; and when they had come, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
[So] that same night, the believers sent Paul and Silas [out of Thessalonica] to Berea [town]. When Paul and Silas arrived there, they went to the Jewish meeting place, [on a day when people had gathered there].
11 These were of a better disposition than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so.
The [Jews] in Thessalonica had not been very willing to listen to God’s message, but the [Jews] who lived in Berea were very willing to listen, so they listened very eagerly to the message [about Jesus]. Every day they read the Scriptures [for themselves] to find out if what Paul said [about the Messiah] was true.
12 Therefore, many of them believed; both of influential women, who were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
As a result, 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].
13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul in Berea also, they came thither, and excited the multitude.
But then the Jews in Thessalonica heard [people tell them] that Paul [was] in Berea and that he was preaching the message from God [about Jesus]. So they went to Berea and [told people there that what Paul was teaching was not true. Thus], they caused many of those people to get angry [at Paul].
14 Then the brethren immediately sent Paul away, to go as if to the sea; but Silas and Timothy remained there.
So [several of] the believers [in Berea] took Paul to the coast [to go to another province]. But Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.
15 And those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens: and having received a commandment for Silas and Timothy, that they should come to him as soon as possible, they departed.
When Paul and the other men from Berea [arrived at the coast, they got on a ship and] went to Athens [city]. 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].
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred within him, when he saw the city full of idols.
In Athens, Paul waited for Silas and Timothy [to arrive. In the meantime, he walked around in the city. He] became very distressed/disturbed because he saw that throughout [HYP] the city there were many idols.
17 Accordingly, he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and devout persons, and in the market daily, with those who chanced to meet him.
So he went to the Jewish meeting place and talked [about Jesus] with the Jews, and also with the Greeks who had accepted what the Jews believe. He also went to the public square/center every day and talked to the people [whom he met] there.
18 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers disputed with him; and some said: What can this babbler possibly wish to say? Others said: He seems to be a proclaimer of strange demons: for he preached to them Jesus and the Resurrection.
Paul met some teachers who liked to talk about what people should believe. [People called] some of them Epicureans and [they called] others Stoics. They told Paul [what they believed], and they asked him [what he believed. Then] some of them said [to one another], “This ignorant person is just talking nonsense [RHQ]!” Others said, “[We(exc) think] that he is teaching people about (foreign gods/[new] gods that we [(exc)] have not heard about).” They said that because Paul was telling them that Jesus [had died and] had become alive again [afterwards. They had not heard that message before].
19 And they took him, and brought him to Mars hill, saying: Are we able to understand what this new teaching is, which is announced by you?
So they took Paul to the place where the city council met. [When they arrived] there, they said to Paul, “[Please] tell us, what is this new message that you [(sg)] are teaching people?
20 For you bring some strange things to our ears: we wish to understand then what these things mean.
You are teaching some things that startle us [(exc)], so we want to know what they mean.”
21 For all the Athenians and resident strangers have leisure for nothing else than to tell or to hear some new thing.
[They said that, because] the people of Athens and also the people from other regions who lived there continually talked about what was new [to them], or they listened to [others tell] what was new.
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars hill, and said: Men of Athens, I perceive that in all respects your reverence for demons excels that of other men.
Then Paul stood up before the men of the city council and said, “Citizens of Athens, I see that you (are very religious/think that it is very important to worship many gods).
23 For as I was passing through, and looking attentively at the objects of your worship, I dis covered also an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore you ignorantly worship, him I make known to you.
I [say that] because, while I was walking along and observing the objects [that represent different gods that] you worship, I even saw an altar that had these words [that someone had] carved [on it: THIS HONORS] THE GOD [THAT WE(exc)] DO NOT KNOW. So now I will tell you about [that God] whom you worship but you do not know.
24 God, who made the world, and all things that are in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands;
He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Because he rules over all [beings in] heaven and [on] earth, he does not dwell in shrines that people have made.
25 nor is he ministered to by the hands of men, as if he needed any thing: for he himself gives to all life, and breath, and all things:
He does not need to have anything made for him by people [MTY] {to have people [MTY] make [MTY] anything for him}, because everything that exists belongs to him. He is the one who causes (us [(inc)]/all people) to live and breathe, and [he gives us] all the things [that we(inc) need].
26 and he has made from one blood every nation of men, that they might dwell on all the face of the earth, having marked out their appointed times, and the bounds of their dwelling:
[In the beginning], God created one couple, and from them God produced all (the ethnic groups/the nations) that now live everywhere on the earth. He also decided where each ethnic group of people should live and how long they should live [there].
27 that they might seek for God, if perhaps they would feel after him, and find him, although, indeed, he is not far from every one of us.
He wanted people to realize that they need him. Then maybe they would seek him and find him. [God wants us to seek him], although he is [really] close [LIT] to each one of us.
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as also some of your own poets have said: For we his offspring are.
As someone has said, ‘[It is only] because he enables us that we [(inc)] live and move and do [what we do].’ And, as some of your own poets have said, ‘We [(inc)] are God’s children.’
29 Therefore, being the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhood is like gold, or silver, or stone, sculptured by art and the device of man.
Therefore, because we are God’s children [and can communicate like God does], we [(inc)] should not think that he is anything like an image [that people have made] of gold or silver or stone [which cannot communicate]. Those images are designed and skillfully made {People design and make those images}, [but they are not alive].
30 Yet the times of this ignorance God overlooked; but now, he commands all men everywhere to repent:
During the times when people did not know [what God wanted them to do], he did not [immediately] punish [them for what they did]. But now God commands all people everywhere to turn away from their evil behavior.
31 because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world, in righteousness, by the man whom he has chosen, giving to all assurance of this, by having raised him from the dead.
[He tells us] that on a certain day that he has chosen he is going to judge [all of us(inc) people in] [MTY] the world. He has appointed a [certain] man to judge [us, and that man will judge each of us] fairly/justly. God has shown to all [people that he has appointed that man to judge everyone], because God (caused him to become alive again after he had died/raised him from the dead).”
32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; others said: We will hear you again concerning this matter.
When the men of the council heard [Paul say] that ([a man] had become alive again after he had died/[someone] had been raised from the dead), some of them laughed scornfully. But others said, “We [(exc)] would like you [(sg)] to tell us more about this, some other time.”
33 And so Paul departed from among them.
After they said that, Paul left the council [meeting].
34 But certain men associated with him, and believed; among whom was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
However, some of the people there went along with Paul and became believers. Among those [who believed in Jesus] was a member of the council whose [name was] Dionysius. Also, an [important] woman whose name was Damaris and some other people [who had heard Paul’s message also believed in Jesus].
