| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: | 1When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. |
| 2And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, | 2As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, |
| 3Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. | 3explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah," he said. |
| 4And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. | 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women. |
| 5But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. | 5But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. |
| 6And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; | 6But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, |
| 7Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. | 7and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." |
| 8And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. | 8When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. |
| 9And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go. | 9Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go. |
| 10And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. | 10As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. |
| 11These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. | 11Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. |
| 12Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. | 12As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. |
| 13But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people. | 13But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. |
| 14And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. | 14The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. |
| 15And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed. | 15Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. |
| 16Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. | 16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. |
| 17Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. | 17So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. |
| 18Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. | 18A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, "What is this babbler trying to say?" Others remarked, "He seems to be advocating foreign gods." They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. |
| 19And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? | 19Then they took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? |
| 20For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. | 20You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean." |
| 21(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) | 21(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.) |
| 22Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. | 22Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. |
| 23For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. | 23For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship--and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. |
| 24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; | 24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. |
| 25Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; | 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. |
| 26And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; | 26From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. |
| 27That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: | 27God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. |
| 28For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. | 28For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' |
| 29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. | 29"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by human design and skill. |
| 30And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: | 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. |
| 31Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. | 31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead." |
| 32And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. | 32When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." |
| 33So Paul departed from among them. | 33At that, Paul left the Council. |
| 34Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. | 34Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. |
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