Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

David’s Kingdom Grows^(A)

14 Hiram king of the city of Tyre sent messengers to David. He also sent cedar logs, bricklayers, and carpenters to build a ·palace [^Lhouse] for David. ² Then David ·knew [understood; realized] that the Lord really had ·made [confirmed; established] him king of Israel and that he had made his kingdom ·great [highly exalted]. The Lord did this ·because he loved [for the sake of] his people Israel.

Paul Preaches in Athens

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for ·Silas and Timothy [^Lthem] in Athens, ·he [^Lhis spirit] was ·troubled [very distressed] because he saw that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ In the synagogue, he ·talked [or argued; reasoned] with the Jews and the ·Greeks who worshiped God [God-fearing Gentiles; ^Lpious/devout ones; see 17:4]. He also ·talked [or argued; reasoned] every day with ·people [^Lthose who happened to be present] in the ·marketplace [or public square].

¹⁸ Some of the Epicurean [^Cwho believed the goal of life was pleasure and did not believe the soul survived death] and Stoic philosophers [^Cwho believed life should be lived with indifference to pleasure and pain, and did not believe the soul was immortal] ·argued [conversed; debated] with him, saying, “What is this ·babbler [or charlatan; or ignorant show-off; ^Lword-scatterer] trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be telling us about ·some other gods [foreign gods; strange deities],” because Paul was ·telling them [preaching the Good News/Gospel] about Jesus and ·his rising from the dead [the resurrection]. ¹⁹ They got Paul and took him to ·a meeting of the Areopagus [or the Hill of Ares; or Mars Hill; ^CAres (Greek name) or Mars (Roman name) was the god of thunder and war; the council of Areopagus was the oldest and most prestigious court for intellectual and moral matters], where they said, “Please explain to us this new idea you have been teaching. ²⁰ [^LFor; Because] The things you are saying ·are new [or sound strange] to us, and we want to know what ·this teaching means [^Lthese things mean].” ²¹ (All the people of Athens and ·those from other countries [foreigners] who lived there spent all their time talking about and listening to the newest ideas.)

²² Then Paul stood ·before the meeting [^Lin the midst] of the Areopagus and said, “·People of Athens [^LMen, Athenians], I can see you are very religious in ·all things [every way]. ²³ [^LFor; Because] As I was going through your city, I ·saw [observed closely] the objects you worship. I found an altar that had these words written on it: to ·a god who is not known [^Tan unknown god]. ·You worship a god that you don’t know, and this is the God I am telling you about [^LWhat therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you]! ²⁴ The God who made the whole world and everything in it [Deut. 4:39; Ps. 146:6] is the Lord of the ·sky and the land [or heaven and earth]. He does not live in ·temples [shrines] built by human hands. ²⁵ This God is the One who gives life, breath, and everything else to ·people [^Lall; everyone; Gen. 1:29; 2:7]. He ·does not need any help from them [^Lis not served by human hands]; he has everything he needs. ²⁶ ·God began by making one person, and from him came all the different people [^LFrom one, God made every nation of people] ·who live everywhere in the world [or in order to inhabit the whole earth]. God ·decided exactly [determined; or allotted] ·when [or their appointed time in history; or the seasons of their year] and ·where they must live [or the boundaries of their lands]. ²⁷ God wanted them to ·look for [seek] him and perhaps ·search all around for [grope for; reach out to; feel their way towards] him and find him, though he is not far from any of us: ²⁸ ‘[^LFor] ·By his power [or In him] we live and move and ·exist [have our being; ^Ca quotation from the Cretan philosopher Epimenides, from about 600 bc].’ [^LAs] Some of your own poets have said: ‘For we are his ·children [offspring; ^Ca quotation from Aratus, a Stoic philosopher from Cilicia, who lived about 315–240 bc].’ ²⁹ Since we are God’s ·children [offspring], you must not think that ·God [the deity; or the divine nature] is like ·something [an image/likeness] ·that people imagine or make [^Lmade by human skill and imagination] from gold, silver, or rock. ³⁰ ·In the past, people did not understand God, and he ignored this [or God overlooked such times of ignorance]. But now, God ·tells [commands] all people in the world to ·change their hearts and lives [repent]. ³¹ [^LBecause] God has ·set [fixed; established] a day that he will judge all the world with ·fairness [righteousness], by the man he ·chose [appointed] long ago. And God has ·proved [or given assurance of] this to everyone by raising that man from the dead!”