PAUL IN ATHENS

16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshiped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.c 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some said, “What is this ignorant show-offA trying to say?”

Others replied, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign deities”—because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.d

19 They took him and brought him to the Areopagus,B and said, “May we learn about this new teaching you are presenting?e 20 Because what you say sounds strange to us, and we want to know what these things mean.”