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¹ Paul and his crew passed through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia before arriving in Thessalonica. There was a Jewish church there, so they stopped to say hello. ² Like he did all the time, Paul went to the church to preach on the day of rest for three weeks. He used the Good Book to reason with people. ³ He explained what the Good Book had predicted about how the Top Hand must have the roughest ride anyone ever had, then die, and then come riding back from the grave three days later. Paul told 'em, "This cowboy, Jesus, is the Top Hand." ⁴ A few Jews dared to join Paul and Silas. There were many Greeks who believed along with a quite a few well-to-do ladies.

⁵ But there were those hard-hearted Jews who wouldn't believe. They became so jealous of Paul that they rounded up some shady characters and convinced them to run through town and shoot out the lights and windows. These fellows tore up the town and then headed toward the home of Jason. They kicked the door down looking for Paul and Silas in order to lynch them. ⁶ Since they weren't there, they settled on Jason. The angry mob dragged him, and some other believers to the city council and said, "Paul and Silas have stirred up trouble all over the world, and now they've got their sights on our little town. ⁷ This cowboy here, Jason, has welcomed them into his home and wants to help them destroy us. They are all guilty of treason against Rome. They tell everyone not to listen to Caesar, but worship a cowboy named Jesus." ⁸ With these words, the city council and all those who had come to see this circus act were instantly thrown into mayhem. ⁹ The city council made Jason and the others post a heavy bail, and they let them go.

Paul and Silas Head for Berea

¹⁰ That night, under cover of darkness, Paul and Silas slipped out of town and headed southwest to Berea. Once again, they went to the local Jewish church. ¹¹ But the folks in this town were different than those in Thessalonica. They listened to what Paul had to say. But the best part was that they themselves looked at the passages in the Good Book to see if what Paul and Silas said was the truth. ¹² As a result, a whole herd of Jews, as well as many well-off Greek men and women, started believing in Jesus.

¹³ But as luck would have it, the Jews in Thessalonica heard Paul and Silas were in Berea preaching the good word. They rounded up a lynch mob and thundered down there with blood in their eyes. ¹⁴ The new Berean cowboys smuggled Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed behind. ¹⁵ The good-hearted believers traveled with Paul all the way to Athens and then rode back with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him there.

Paul Preaches in Athens

¹⁶ Paul waited on his pards to get to Athens. He strolled the city and was torn-up inside with all the idols of other gods he saw there. ¹⁷ He went to the local Jewish church to try to talk some sense into the Jews and God-following mavericks. He even preached in the town square to anyone who would listen.

¹⁸ Now Greece was known for its philosophers, and Paul talked at length with them; ones who followed the Epicurean style as well as the Stoic ones. Some of them rolled their eyes at him, and others acted all high and mighty, saying, "Let us listen to him. He is teaching us about some foreign gods."

¹⁹ Then they invited him to come speak at the courthouse square. They introduced Paul by saying, "We would like to hear more about this new teaching you bring. ²⁰ Gods walking around like humans and coming back from the dead seem mighty strange, and we'd like to know more." ²¹ (The cool thing to do in Athens was to sit around and discuss news and the latest ideas.)

²² Paul stood up and said, "People of Athens, I have walked through your city, and I can see you are a very religious bunch. ²³ As I walked, I saw many statues and idols that y'all worship. There was even an altar with an inscription that said, 'To the Unknown God.' Y'all don't even know the God you worship, but I'm fixing to introduce you to him. He has a name.

²⁴ "He is the God who made everything, including the dirt you stand on now. He's not a God who needs a barn to live in. ²⁵ As a matter of fact, he doesn't need us for anything. But here's the cool part, he doesn't need anything from us, yet he gives us the air we breathe and the heart that beats in our chest. ²⁶ He started this world with one cowboy. It was through this cowboy that every ranch and every cowpoke who ever pushed a cow came to be. God decided the boundaries and how good the grass would be on each of them. He determined long ago when each would rise and fall.

²⁷ "The only thing God wants is for all cowboys to find the trail that leads to him and follow it. It ain't a hard trail to follow if a cowboy has the right heart. ²⁸ Listen, we owe everything to him. Even some of your own bards have said, 'We are his kiddos.' ²⁹ And since all this is the truth, we really can't expect God to be some chainsaw carving or a sculpted bronze idol made by mortal hands.

³⁰ "But man can be pretty ignorant sometimes and choose things like idols over the real God. He let y'all get away with this for a while, but he's finally said enough is enough. He is telling you right now to turn from your sorry ways and set your eyes on him and only him. ³¹ God has marked his calendar with the day he will judge the world. The man God raised from the dead on the third day is going to return with justice in his eyes."

³² When Paul talked about people being raised from the dead, that's when some people started making fun of him. But a few said, "Tell us more, later." ³³ The discussion had reached its end, ³⁴ but some folks saddled up to ride for Jesus. Among these new cowboys were Dionysius (a fellow with some clout in the city), a lady named Damaris, and a few others.