Acts 17:16-34.
Acts 17.16-34
Paul in Athens
While Paul was waiting in Athens, he was upset to see all the idols in
the city. He went to the Jewish meeting place to speak to the Jews
and to anyone who worshiped with them. Day after day he also spoke to
everyone he met in the market. Some of them were Epicureans and some
were Stoics, and they started arguing with him.People were asking,
"What is this know-it-all trying to say?" Some even said, "Paul must
be preaching about foreign gods! That's what he means when he talks
about Jesus and about people rising from death." They brought Paul
before a council called the Areopagus, and said, "Tell us what your
new teaching is all about. We have heard you say some strange things,
and we want to know what you mean." More than anything else the people
of Athens and the foreigners living there loved to hear and to talk
about anything new. So Paul stood up in front of the council and
said: People of Athens, I see that you are very religious. As I was
going through your city and looking at the things you worship, I found
an altar with the words, "To an Unknown God." You worship this God,
but you don't really know him. So I want to tell you about him. This
God made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and
earth, and he doesn't live in temples built by human hands. He
doesn't need help from anyone. He gives life, breath, and everything
else to all people. From one person God made all nations who live on
earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be. God has
done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find
him. He isn't far from any of us, and he gives us the power to live,
to move, and to be who we are. "We are his children," just as some of
your poets have said. Since we are God's children, we must not think
that he is like an idol made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn't
like anything that humans have thought up and made. In the past, God
forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing. But
now he says that everyone everywhere must turn to him. He has set a
day when he will judge the world's people with fairness. And he has
chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him. God has given proof of
this to all of us by raising Jesus from death. As soon as the people
heard Paul say that a man had been raised from death, some of them
started laughing. Others said, "We will hear you talk about this some
other time." When Paul left the council meeting, some of the men put
their faith in the Lord and went with Paul. One of them was a council
member named Dionysius. A woman named Damaris and several others also
put their faith in the Lord."
God bless you.
Paul in Athens
While Paul was waiting in Athens, he was upset to see all the idols in
the city. He went to the Jewish meeting place to speak to the Jews
and to anyone who worshiped with them. Day after day he also spoke to
everyone he met in the market. Some of them were Epicureans and some
were Stoics, and they started arguing with him.People were asking,
"What is this know-it-all trying to say?" Some even said, "Paul must
be preaching about foreign gods! That's what he means when he talks
about Jesus and about people rising from death." They brought Paul
before a council called the Areopagus, and said, "Tell us what your
new teaching is all about. We have heard you say some strange things,
and we want to know what you mean." More than anything else the people
of Athens and the foreigners living there loved to hear and to talk
about anything new. So Paul stood up in front of the council and
said: People of Athens, I see that you are very religious. As I was
going through your city and looking at the things you worship, I found
an altar with the words, "To an Unknown God." You worship this God,
but you don't really know him. So I want to tell you about him. This
God made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and
earth, and he doesn't live in temples built by human hands. He
doesn't need help from anyone. He gives life, breath, and everything
else to all people. From one person God made all nations who live on
earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be. God has
done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find
him. He isn't far from any of us, and he gives us the power to live,
to move, and to be who we are. "We are his children," just as some of
your poets have said. Since we are God's children, we must not think
that he is like an idol made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn't
like anything that humans have thought up and made. In the past, God
forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing. But
now he says that everyone everywhere must turn to him. He has set a
day when he will judge the world's people with fairness. And he has
chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him. God has given proof of
this to all of us by raising Jesus from death. As soon as the people
heard Paul say that a man had been raised from death, some of them
started laughing. Others said, "We will hear you talk about this some
other time." When Paul left the council meeting, some of the men put
their faith in the Lord and went with Paul. One of them was a council
member named Dionysius. A woman named Damaris and several others also
put their faith in the Lord."
God bless you.
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