²² So Paul stood up in front of the council and said:

People of Athens, I see that you are very religious. ^23 (A) As I was going through your city and looking at the things you worship, I found an altar with the words, “To an Unknown God.” You worship this God, but you don't really know him. So I want to tell you about him. ^24 (B) This God made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and earth, and he doesn't live in temples built by human hands. ^25 (C) He doesn't need help from anyone. He gives life, breath, and everything else to all people. ^26 (D) From one person God made all nations who live on earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be.

^27 (E) God has done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find him. He isn't far from any of us, ²⁸ and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. “We are his children,” just as some of your poets have said.

²⁹ Since we are God's children, we must not think that he is like an idol made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn't like anything that humans have thought up and made. ³⁰ In the past, God forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing. But now he says that everyone everywhere must turn to him. ³¹ He has set a day when he will judge the world's people with fairness. And he has chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him. God has given proof of this to all of us by raising Jesus from death.

Treasures in Heaven

(Luke 12.33,34)

^19 (A) Don't store up treasures on earth! Moths and rust can destroy them, and thieves can break in and steal them. ^20 (B) Instead, store up your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy them, and thieves cannot break in and steal them. ²¹ Your heart will always be where your treasure is.