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Acts 17:22-31
New King James Version
Acts 17:22-31
New King James Version
Addressing the Areopagus
22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the [a]Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 (A)God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is (B)Lord of heaven and earth, (C)does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He (D)gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one [b]blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and (E)the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 (F)so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, (G)though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for (H)in Him we live and move and have our being, (I)as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, (J)we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. 30 Truly, (K)these times of ignorance God overlooked, but (L)now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which (M)He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by (N)raising Him from the dead.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Acts 17:22 Lit. Hill of Ares, or Mars’ Hill
- Acts 17:26 NU omits blood
Acts 17:22-31
New International Version
Acts 17:22-31
New International Version
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus(A) and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.(B) 23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship(C)—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it(D) is the Lord of heaven and earth(E) and does not live in temples built by human hands.(F) 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.(G) 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.(H) 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.(I) 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[a](J) As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[b]
29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.(K) 30 In the past God overlooked(L) such ignorance,(M) but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.(N) 31 For he has set a day when he will judge(O) the world with justice(P) by the man he has appointed.(Q) He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”(R)
Footnotes
- Acts 17:28 From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides
- Acts 17:28 From the Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus
Acts 17:22-31
New Living Translation
Acts 17:22-31
New Living Translation
22 So Paul, standing before the council,[a] addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.
24 “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man[b] he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your[c] own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.
30 “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”
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New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.