Acts 17:11-30

English Standard Version

¹¹Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, ^(A)examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. ¹²^(B)Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek ^(C)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, ^(D)agitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴Then the brothers ^(E)immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and ^(F)Timothy remained there. ¹⁵^(G)Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as ^(H)Athens, and after receiving a command ^(I)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 ^(J)provoked within him as he saw that the city was ^(K)full of idols. ¹⁷So ^(L)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, ^(M)“What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because ^(N)he was preaching ^(O)Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹And they took him and brought him to ^(P)the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this ^(Q)new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰For you bring some ^(R)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: ^(S)‘To the unknown god.’ ^(T)What therefore you worship ^(U)as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴^(V)The God who made the world and everything in it, being ^(W)Lord of heaven and earth, ^(X)does not live in temples made by man,^[a] ²⁵nor is he served by human hands, ^(Y)as though he needed anything, since he himself ^(Z)gives to all mankind ^(AA)life and breath and everything. ²⁶And ^(AB)he made from one man every nation of mankind to live ^(AC)on all the face of the earth, ^(AD)having determined allotted periods and ^(AE)the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷^(AF)that they should seek God, ^(AG)and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. ^(AH)Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸for

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

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

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

²⁹^(AK)Being then God's offspring, ^(AL)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^(AM)The times of ignorance ^(AN)God overlooked, but ^(AO)now he ^(AP)commands all people everywhere to repent,