Acts 17:10-31

English Standard Version

Paul and Silas in Berea

¹⁰^(A)The brothers^[a] immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they ^(B)went into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, ^(C)examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. ¹²^(D)Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek ^(E)women of high standing as well as men. ¹³But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, ^(F)agitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴Then the brothers ^(G)immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and ^(H)Timothy remained there. ¹⁵^(I)Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as ^(J)Athens, and after receiving a command ^(K)for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.

Paul in Athens

¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was ^(L)provoked within him as he saw that the city was ^(M)full of idols. ¹⁷So ^(N)he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, ^(O)“What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because ^(P)he was preaching ^(Q)Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹And they took him and brought him to ^(R)the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this ^(S)new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰For you bring some ^(T)strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” ²¹Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

²²So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ^(U)‘To the unknown god.’ ^(V)What therefore you worship ^(W)as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴^(X)The God who made the world and everything in it, being ^(Y)Lord of heaven and earth, ^(Z)does not live in temples made by man,^[b] ²⁵nor is he served by human hands, ^(AA)as though he needed anything, since he himself ^(AB)gives to all mankind ^(AC)life and breath and everything. ²⁶And ^(AD)he made from one man every nation of mankind to live ^(AE)on all the face of the earth, ^(AF)having determined allotted periods and ^(AG)the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷^(AH)that they should seek God, ^(AI)and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. ^(AJ)Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸for

^(AK)“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;^[c]

as even some of ^(AL)your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’^[d]

²⁹^(AM)Being then God's offspring, ^(AN)we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰^(AO)The times of ignorance ^(AP)God overlooked, but ^(AQ)now he ^(AR)commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹because he has fixed ^(AS)a day on which ^(AT)he will judge the world ^(AU)in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and ^(AV)of this he has given assurance to all ^(AW)by raising him from the dead.”