8. When the city leaders and the other people heard this, they became very upset.
9. They made Jason and the other believers deposit money to guarantee that there would be no more trouble. Then they let them go.
10. That same night the believers sent Paul and Silas to another city named Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.
11. The people in Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica. They were so glad to hear the message Paul told them. They studied the Scriptures every day to make sure that what they heard was really true.
12. The result was that many of them believed, including many important Greek women and men.
13. But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was telling people God’s message in Berea, they came there too. They upset the people and made trouble.
14. So the believers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea.
15. Those who went with Paul took him to the city of Athens. They returned with a message for Silas and Timothy to come and join him as soon as they could.
16. While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, he was upset because he saw that the city was full of idols.
17. In the synagogue he talked with the Jews and with the Greeks who were worshipers of the true God. He also went to the public square every day and talked with everyone who came by.
18. Some of the Epicurean and some of the Stoic philosophers argued with him. Some of them said, “This man doesn’t really know what he is talking about. What is he trying to say?” Paul was telling them the Good News about Jesus and the resurrection. So they said, “He seems to be telling us about some other gods.”
19. They took Paul to a meeting of the Areopagus council. They said, “Please explain to us this new idea that you have been teaching.
20. The things you are saying are new to us. We have never heard this teaching before, and we want to know what it means.”
21. (The people of Athens and the foreigners who lived there spent all their time either telling or listening to all the latest ideas.)
22. Then Paul stood up before the meeting of the Areopagus council and said, “Men of Athens, everything I see here tells me you are very religious.
23. I was going through your city and I saw the things you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: ‘to an unknown god.’ You worship a god that you don’t know. This is the God I want to tell you about.