Aramaic Peshitta Bible Repository
Lamsa Translation - Acts Chapter 17
1 ¶
THEN they passed by the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia, and came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.2
And Paul, as was his custom, went in to join them, and for three sabbaths he spoke to them from the scriptures,3
Interpreting and proving that Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead; and that he is the same Jesus Christ whom I preach to you.4
And some of them believed and joined Paul and Silas; and many of them were Greeks who revered God, and many of them were well known women, a goodly number.5
But the Jews, being jealous, secured a band of bad men from the streets of the city and formed a great mob, who caused disturbances in the city, and who came and assaulted the house of Jason and sought to bring them out from it and deliver them to the mob.6
And when they failed to find them there, they dragged forth Jason and the brethren who were there and brought them before the authorities of the city, crying, These are the men who have created disturbances throughout the world, and behold, they have come here also,7
And Jason has welcomed them; and all of them are against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.8
The authorities of the city and all the people were alarmed when they heard these things.9
So they took bail from Jason and some of the brethren and then let them go.10 ¶
Then the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night to the city of Berea; and when they arrived there, they entered into the synagogue of the Jews.11
For the Jews there were more liberal than the Jews who were in Thessalonica, in that they gladly heard the word daily and searched the scriptures to find out if these things were so.12
And many of them believed; and of the Greeks there were many men and notable women.13
But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God was preached by Paul in the city of Berea, they came there also, and ceased not to stir up and alarm the people.14
Then the brethren sent Paul away to go to the sea; but Silas and Timotheus remained in that city.15
And those who escorted Paul went with him as far as the city of Athens; and when they were leaving him, they received from him an epistle to Silas and Timotheus, requesting them to come to him in haste.16 ¶
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, he saw the whole city full of idols, and he murmured thereat in his spirit.17
And he spoke in the synagogue to the Jews and to those who feared God, and in the market place daily with them who were there.18
Philosophers, also, who were of the teaching of Epicurus, and others, who were called Stoics, argued with him. And some of them said, What does this babbler want? And others said, He preaches foreign gods, because he preached to them Jesus and his resurrection.19
So they arrested him and brought him to the court house which is called Areopagus, and said to him, May we know what is this new doctrine which you preach?20
For you proclaim strange words to our ears and we want to know what these things mean.21
(For all the Athenians and the strangers who were there, were uninterested in anything except something new to tell or to hear.)22 ¶
When Paul stood in the court at Areopagus, he said, Men of Athens, I see that above all things you are extravagant in the worship of idols.23
For as I walked about, and viewed the house of your idols, I found an altar with this inscription: THIS IS THE ALTAR OF THE UNKNOWN GOD. He therefore, while you know him not but yet worship him, is the very one I am preaching to you.24
For the God who made the world and all things therein, and who is the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;25
Neither is he ministered to by human hands, nor is he in need of anything, for it is he who gave life and breath to all men.26
And he has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and he has appointed seasons by his command, and has set limits to the age of men;27
So that they should seek and search after God, and find him by means of his creations, because he is not far from any one of us;28
For in him we live and move and have our being, as some of your own wise men have said, For we are his kindred.29
Now therefore, man, being of the family of God, is not bound to worship resemblances made of gold or silver or stone shapen by the skill and knowledge of man into resemblances of the Deity.30
For the times of ignorance God has made to pass, and at this time he has commanded all men, everywhere, to repent.31
For he has appointed a day in which he will judge all the earth with righteousness by the man whom he has chosen, he who has turned every man towards his faith; on that account he has raised him from the dead.32 ¶
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, and others said, We will hear you again on this matter.33
So Paul left them.34
Some of them, however, followed him and were converted; one of them was Dionysius, one of the judges of Areopagus, and another a woman named Damaris, and others with them.