¹⁰ “You stand today, all of you, before the Lord your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders and your officers, that is, all the men of Israel, ¹¹ your little ones, your wives, and the stranger who is within your camps, from ^(A)the one who gathers your firewood to the one who draws your water, ¹² so that you may enter into the covenant with the Lord your God, and into His oath which the Lord your God is making with you today, ¹³ in order that He may establish you today as His people, and that ^(B)He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

¹⁴ “Now it is not with you alone that I am ^(C)making this covenant and this oath, ^15 (D)but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God, and with those who are not with us here today ¹⁶ (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we passed through the midst of the nations through which you passed; ¹⁷ moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols made of ^(E)wood and stone, silver and gold, which they had with them); ^18 (F)so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you ^(G)a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood. ¹⁹ And it shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will consider himself fortunate in his heart, saying, ‘I will do well though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order ^[a]to destroy the watered land along with the dry.’ ²⁰ The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and ^(H)His wrath will ^[b](I)burn against that person, and every curse that is written in this book will lie upon him, and the Lord will ^(J)wipe out his name from under heaven. ²¹ Then the Lord will single him out for disaster from all the tribes of Israel, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant ^(K)which is written in this Book of the Law.

²² “Now the future generation, your sons who rise up after you and ^(L)the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of that land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it, will say, ²³ ‘All its land is ^(M)brimstone and salt, ^(N)burned debris, ^[c]unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows on it, like the overthrow of ^(O)Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and in His wrath.’ ²⁴ All the nations will say, ‘^(P)Why has the Lord done all this to this land? Why this great ^[d]outburst of anger?’ ²⁵ Then people will say, ‘It is ^(Q)because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. ²⁶ And they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they have not known and whom He had not ^[e]assigned to them. ²⁷ Therefore, the anger of the Lord burned against that land, ^(R)to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book; ²⁸ and ^(S)the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger, fury, and in great wrath, and hurled them into another land, as it is this day.’

²⁹ “^(T)The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but ^(U)the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, so that we may ^[f]follow all the words of this Law.

Paul in Thessalonica

17 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to ^(A)Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ² And ^(B)according to Paul’s custom, he ^[a]visited them, and for three ^(C)Sabbaths reasoned with them from ^(D)the Scriptures, ^3 [b]explaining and ^[c]giving evidence that the ^[d]Christ ^(E)had to suffer and ^(F)rise from the dead, and saying, “^(G)This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the ^[e]Christ.” ^4 (H)And some of them were persuaded and joined ^(I)Paul and Silas, ^[f]along with a large number of the ^(J)God-fearing ^(K)Greeks and ^[g]a significant number of the ^(L)leading women. ⁵ But ^(M)the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and they attacked the house of ^(N)Jason and were seeking to bring them out to the people. ⁶ When they did not find them, they began ^(O)dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset ^[h](P)the world have come here also; ^7 [i]and Jason ^(Q)has welcomed them, and they all act ^(R)contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” ⁸ They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. ⁹ And when they had received a ^[j]pledge from ^(S)Jason and the others, they released them.

Paul in Berea

^10 (T)The brothers immediately sent ^(U)Paul and Silas away by night to ^(V)Berea, ^[k]and when they arrived, they went into ^(W)the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ Now these people were more noble-minded than those in ^(X)Thessalonica, ^[l]for they received the word with ^[m]great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. ¹² Therefore, ^(Y)many of them believed, ^[n]along with a significant number of ^(Z)prominent Greek ^(AA)women and men. ¹³ But when the Jews of ^(AB)Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in ^(AC)Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴ Then immediately ^(AD)the brothers sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and ^(AE)Silas and ^(AF)Timothy remained there. ¹⁵ Now ^(AG)those who escorted Paul brought him as far as ^(AH)Athens; and receiving a command for ^(AI)Silas and Timothy to ^(AJ)come to him as soon as possible, they left.

Restoration Promised

30 “So it will be when all of these things have come upon you, ^(A)the blessing and the curse which I have placed before you, and you ^[a]call them to mind ^(B)in all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you, ² and you ^(C)return to the Lord your God and ^[b]obey Him ^(D)with all your heart and soul in accordance with everything that I am commanding you today, you and your sons, ³ then the Lord your God will ^(E)restore ^[c]you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and ^(F)will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has ^(G)scattered you. ⁴ If any of your scattered countrymen are at the ^[d]ends of the earth, ^(H)from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will ^[e]bring you back. ^5 (I)The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will be good to you and ^(J)make you more numerous than your fathers.

⁶ “Moreover, ^(K)the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your ^[f]descendants, ^(L)to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live. ^7 (M)And the Lord your God will ^[g]inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. ⁸ And you will again ^[h]obey the Lord, and ^[i]follow all His commandments which I am commanding you today. ^9 (N)Then the Lord your God will prosper you ^[j]abundantly in every work of your hand, in the ^[k]children of your womb, the ^[l]offspring of your cattle, and in the ^[m]produce of your ground, for ^(O)the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; ^10 [n]if you ^[o]obey the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which ^(P)are written in this Book of the Law, ^[p]if you turn to the Lord your God ^(Q)with all your heart and soul.

¹¹ “For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far away. ¹² It is not in heaven, ^[q]that you could say, ‘^(R)Who will go up to heaven for us and get it for us, and proclaim it to us, so that we may ^[r]follow it?’ ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, ^[s]that you could say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and get it for us and proclaim it to us, so that we may ^[t]follow it?’ ¹⁴ On the contrary, the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may ^[u]follow it.

Choose Life

¹⁵ “See, ^(S)I have placed before you today life and ^[v]happiness, and death and ^[w]adversity, ¹⁶ in that I am commanding you today ^(T)to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, so that you ^(U)may live and become numerous, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to take possession of it. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but allow yourself to be led astray and you worship other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I declare to you today that ^(V)you will certainly perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter ^[x]and take possession of it. ^19 (W)I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, ^(X)the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your ^[y]descendants, ^20 (Y)by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and ^(Z)by holding close to Him; ^(AA)for ^[z]this is your life and the length of your days, ^[aa]so that you may live in ^(AB)the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Paul in Athens

¹⁶ Now while Paul was waiting for them in ^(A)Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he observed that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he was reasoning ^(B)in the synagogue with the Jews and ^(C)the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present. ¹⁸ And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers as well were ^[a]conversing with him. Some were saying, “What could ^(D)this ^[b]scavenger of tidbits want to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching ^(E)Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹ And they ^(F)took him and brought him ^[c]to the ^[d](G)Areopagus, saying, “May we know what ^(H)this new teaching is ^[e]which you are proclaiming? ²⁰ For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.” ²¹ (Now all the Athenians and the strangers ^(I)visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

Sermon on Mars Hill

²² So Paul stood in the midst of the ^[f]Areopagus and said, “Men of ^(J)Athens, I see that you are very ^(K)religious in all respects. ²³ For while I was passing through and examining the ^(L)objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what ^(M)you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. ^24 (N)The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is ^(O)Lord of heaven and earth, does not ^(P)dwell in temples made by hands; ²⁵ nor is He served by human hands, ^(Q)as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; ²⁶ and ^(R)He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having ^(S)determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷ that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, ^(T)though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸ for ^(U)in Him we live and move and ^[g]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’ ²⁹ Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ^(V)ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought. ³⁰ So having ^(W)overlooked ^(X)the times of ignorance, God is ^(Y)now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent, ³¹ because He has set ^(Z)a day on which ^(AA)He will judge ^[h](AB)the world in righteousness ^[i]through a Man whom He has ^(AC)appointed, having furnished proof to all people ^[j]by ^(AD)raising Him from the dead.”

³² Now when they heard of ^(AE)the resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We shall hear from you ^[k]again concerning this.” ³³ So Paul went out from among them. ³⁴ But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the ^(AF)Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.