Acts 17

¹And whanne thei hadden passid bi Amfipolis and Appollonye, thei camen to Thessolonyk, where was a synagoge of Jewis.

²And bi custom Poul entride to hem, and bi thre sabatis he declaride to hem of scripturis,

³and openyde, and schewide that it bihofte Crist to suffre, and rise ayen fro deth, and that this is Jhesus Crist, whom Y telle to you.

⁴And summe of hem bileueden, and weren ioyned to Poul and to Silas; and a greet multitude of hethene men worschipide God, and noble wymmen not a fewe.

⁵But the Jewis hadden enuye, and token of the comyn puple summe yuele men, and whanne thei hadden maad a cumpenye, thei moueden the citee. And thei camen to Jasouns hous, and souyten hem to brynge forth among the puple.

⁶And whanne thei founden hem not, thei drowen Jasoun and summe britheren to the princis of the citee, and crieden, That these it ben, that mouen the world, and hidir thei camen,

⁷whiche Jason resseyuede. And these alle don ayens the maundementis of the emperour, and seien, that Jhesu is anothir king.

⁸And thei moueden the puple, and the princis of the citee, herynge these thingis.

⁹And whanne satisfaccioun was takun of Jason, and of othere, thei leten Poul and Silas go.

¹⁰And anoon bi niyt britheren leten Silas go in to Beroan. And whanne thei camen thidur, thei entriden in to the synagoge of the Jewis.

¹¹But these weren the worthier of hem that ben at Thessolonik, whiche resseyueden the word with al desire, eche dai sekinge scripturis, if these thingis hadden hem so.

¹²And manye of hem bileueden and of hethen wymmen onest and men not a fewe.

¹³But whanne the Jewis in Tessalonyk hadden knowe, that also at Bero the word of God was prechid of Poul, thei camen thidir, mouynge and disturblynge the multitude.

¹⁴And tho anoon britheren delyuerden Poul, that he schulde go to the see; but Sylas and Tymothe dwelten there.

¹⁵And thei that ledden forth Poul, ledden hym to Atenes. And whanne thei hadden take maundement of him to Silas and to Tymothe, that ful hiyyngli thei schulden come to hym, thei wenten forth.

¹⁶And while Poul abood hem at Atenys, his spirit was moued in him, for he saiy the citee youun to ydolatrie.

¹⁷Therfor he disputide in the synagoge with the Jewis, and with men that worschipiden God, and in the dom place, by alle daies to hem that herden.

¹⁸And summe Epeicureis, and Stoisens, and filosofris disputiden with hym. And summe seiden, What wole this sowere of wordis seie? And othere seiden, He semeth to be a tellere of newe fendis; for he telde to hem Jhesu, and the ayenrisyng.

¹⁹And thei token, and ledden hym to Ariopage, and seide, Moun we wite, what is this newe doctryne, that is seid of thee?

²⁰For thou bringist ynne summe newe thingis to oure eeris; therfor we wolen wite, what these thingis wolen be.

²¹For alle men of Athenys and comlingis herborid yauen tent to noon other thing, but ether to seie, ethir to here, sum newe thing.

²²And Poul stood in the myddil of Ariopage, and seide, Men of Athenys, bi alle thingis Y se you as veyn worschipers.

²³For Y passide, and siy youre maumetis, and foond an auter, in which was writun, To the vnknowun God. Therfor which thing ye vnknowynge worschipen, this thing Y schew to you.

²⁴God that made the world and alle thingis that ben in it, this, for he is Lord of heuene and of erthe, dwellith not in templis maad with hoond,

²⁵nethir is worschipid bi mannus hoondis, nether hath nede of ony thing, for he yyueth lijf to alle men, and brethinge, and alle thingis;

²⁶and made of oon al the kinde of men to enhabite on al the face of the erthe, determynynge tymes ordeyned, and termes of the dwellynge of hem,

²⁷to seke God, if perauenture thei felen hym, ether fynden, thouy he be not fer fro eche of you.

²⁸For in hym we lyuen, and mouen, and ben. As also summe of youre poetis seiden, And we ben also the kynde of hym.

²⁹Therfor sithen we ben the kynde of God, we schulen not deme, that godli thing is lijk gold, and siluer, ethir stoon, ethir to grauyng of craft and thouyt of man.

³⁰For God dispisith the tymes of this vnkunnyng, and now schewith to men, that alle euery where doon penaunce; for that he hath ordeyned a dai,

³¹in which he schal deme the world in equite, in a man in which he ordeynede, and yaf feith to alle men, and reiside hym fro deth.

³²And whanne thei hadden herd the ayenrysing of deed men, summe scorneden, and summe seiden, We schulen here thee eft of this thing.

³³So Poul wente out of the myddil of hem.

³⁴But summen drowen to hym, and bileueden. Among whiche Dynyse Aropagite was, and a womman, bi name Damaris, and othere men with hem.

Acts 17

¹Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:

²And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of 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.

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.

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.

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;

⁷Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Cesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

⁸And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.

⁹And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they 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.

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.

¹²Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.

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.

¹⁴And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.

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.

¹⁶Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

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.

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.

¹⁹And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is?

²⁰For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things 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.)

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.

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.

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;

²⁵Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

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;

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:

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.

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.

³⁰And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where 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.

³²And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.

³³So Paul departed from among them.

³⁴Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.