Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
22 Then Paul stood before the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, “Men of Athens, I can see that you are very religious in all things. 23 I was going through your city, and I saw the things you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: “TO A GOD WHO IS NOT KNOWN.” You worship a god that you don’t know. This is the God I am telling you about! 24 He is the God who made the whole world and everything in it. He is the Lord of the land and the sky. He does not live in temples that men build! 25 This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to people. He does not need any help from them. He has everything he needs. 26 God began by making one man. From him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. He decided exactly when and where they must live. 27 God wanted them to look for him and perhaps search all around for him and find him. But he is not far from any of us: 28 ‘By his power we live and move and exist.’ Some of your own poets have said: ‘For we are his children.’ 29 We are God’s children. So, you must not think that God is like something that people imagine or make. He is not like gold, silver, or rock. 30 In the past, people did not understand God, but God ignored this. But now, God tells everyone in the world to change his heart and life. 31 God has decided on a day that he will judge all the world. He will be fair. He will use a man to do this. God chose that man long ago. And God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from death!”
8 You people, praise our God.
Loudly sing his praise.
9 He protects our lives
and does not let us be defeated.
10 God, you have tested us.
You have purified us like silver.
11 You let us be trapped.
You put a heavy load on us.
12 You let our enemies walk on our heads.
We went through fire and flood.
But you brought us to a place with good things.
13 I will come to your Temple with burnt offerings.
I will give you what I promised.
14 I promised to give you these things
when I was in trouble.
15 I will bring you offerings of fat animals.
And I will offer male sheep, bulls and goats. Selah
16 All of you who fear God, come and listen.
I will tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth.
I praised him with my tongue.
18 If I had known of any sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God has listened.
He has heard my prayer.
20 Praise God.
He did not ignore my prayer.
He did not hold back his love from me.
13 If you are always trying to do good, no one can really hurt you. 14 But you may suffer for doing right. Even if that happens, you are blessed.
“Don’t be afraid of the things they fear.
Do not dread those things.
15 But respect Christ as the holy Lord in your hearts.” Isaiah 8:12-13
Always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have. 16 But answer in a gentle way and with respect. Always feel that you are doing right. Then, those who speak evil of your good life in Christ will be made ashamed. 17 It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong. Yes, it is better, if that is what God wants. 18 Christ himself died for you. And that one death paid for your sins. He was not guilty, but he died for those who are guilty. He did this to bring you all to God. His body was killed, but he was made alive in the spirit. 19 And in the spirit he went and preached to the spirits in prison. 20 These were the spirits who refused to obey God long ago in the time of Noah. God was waiting patiently for them while Noah was building the boat. Only a few people—eight in all—were saved by water. 21 That water is like baptism that now saves you—not the washing of dirt from the body, but the promise made to God from a good heart. And this is because Jesus Christ was raised from death. 22 Now Jesus has gone into heaven and is at God’s right side. He rules over angels, authorities, and powers.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, you will do the things I command. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper.[a] He will give you this Helper to be with you forever. 17 The Helper is the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it does not see him or know him. But you know him. He lives with you and he will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you all alone like orphans. I will come back to you. 19 In a little while the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live, too. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father. You will know that you are in me and I am in you. 21 He who knows my commands and obeys them is the one who loves me. And my Father will love him who loves me. I will love him and will show myself to him.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.