God the Refuge of His People and Conqueror of the Nations

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song ^(A)for Alamoth.

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.”

²⁴ Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in ^[a]doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. ^(A)The works that I do in My Father’s name, they ^(B)bear witness of Me. ²⁶ But ^(C)you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, ^[b]as I said to you. ^27 (D)My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ^29 (E)My Father, ^(F)who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ^30 (G)I and My Father are one.”

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

³¹ Then ^(H)the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. ³² Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

³³ The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for ^(I)blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, ^(J)make Yourself God.”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ^(K)‘I said, “You are gods” ’? ³⁵ If He called them gods, ^(L)to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture ^(M)cannot be broken), ³⁶ do you say of Him ^(N)whom the Father sanctified and ^(O)sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ ^(P)because I said, ‘I am ^(Q)the Son of God’? ^37 (R)If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸ but if I do, though you do not believe Me, ^(S)believe the works, that you may know and ^[c]believe ^(T)that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” ^39 (U)Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

The Believers Beyond Jordan

⁴⁰ And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place ^(V)where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. ⁴¹ Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, ^(W)but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” ⁴² And many believed in Him there.