Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Paul Speaks to the Areopagus
22 So Paul stood there in the middle of the Areopagus and[a] said, “Men of Athens, I see you are very religious in every respect.[b] 23 For as I[c] was passing through and observing carefully your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an unknown God.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it,[d] this I proclaim to you— 24 the God who made the world and all the things in it. This one, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands as if he[e] needed anything, because[f] he himself gives to everyone life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of humanity to live on all the face of the earth, determining their fixed times and the fixed boundaries of their habitation, 27 to search for God, if perhaps indeed they might feel around for him and find him.[g] And indeed he is not far away from each one of us, 28 for in him we live and move and exist,[h] as even some of your own[i] poets have said: ‘For we also are his[j] offspring.’[k] 29 Therefore, because we[l] are offspring of God, we ought not to think the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought. 30 Therefore although[m] God has overlooked the times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man who he has appointed, having provided proof to everyone by[n] raising him from the dead.”
8 Bless our God, O peoples,
and cause the sound of his praise to be heard,
9 the one who has kept our soul among the living,
and has not allowed our foot to slip.
10 For you have tested us, O God;
you have tried us as silver is tried.
11 You brought us into the net;
you placed a heavy burden[a] on our backs.
12 You let men[b] ride over our heads.
We went through fire and through water,
but you have brought us out to the place of abundance.[c]
13 I will come into your house[d] with burnt offerings.
I will pay to you my vows
14 that my lips uttered,
and my mouth spoke in my distress.
15 Burnt offerings of fat animals I will offer to you,
with the smoke of rams.
I will do[e] cattle with rams. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you God-fearers, and I will tell
what he has done for me.[f]
17 I called to him with my mouth,
and he was extolled with my tongue.[g]
18 If I had considered evil in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
19 However, God has listened;
he has attended to the sound of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
who has not turned aside my prayer,
or his loyal love from me.
Suffer for Doing What is Good
13 And who is the one who will harm you if you are a zealous adherent for what is good? 14 But even if you might suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their intimidation or be disturbed,[a] 15 but set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you for an accounting concerning the hope that is in you. 16 But do so with courtesy and respect, having a good conscience, so that in the things in which you are slandered, the ones who malign your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it[b], than for doing evil.
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins,
the just for the unjust,
in order that he could bring you to God,
being put to death in the flesh,
but made alive in the spirit,
19 in which also he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
20 who were formerly disobedient, when the patience of God waited in the days of Noah, while[c] an ark was being constructed, in which a few—that is, eight souls—were rescued through water. 21 And[d] also, corresponding to this, baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, with angels and authorities and powers having been subjected to him.
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, in order that he may be with you forever[a]— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world is not able to receive, because it does not see him or know him.[b] You know him, because he resides with you and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. 19 Yet a little time and the world will see me no longer, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 The one who has my commandments and keeps them—that one is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.”
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