LESSON
76
PAUL PREACHES IN ATHENS
Acts
17:16-34
New Living Translation (NLT)
16 While Paul was waiting for them in
Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to
reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the
public square to all who happened to be there. 18 He also had a debate with
some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and
his resurrection, they said, “What’s this babbler trying to say with these
strange ideas he’s picked up?” Others said, “He seems to be preaching about
some foreign gods.” 19 Then they took him to the
high council of the city.[a] “Come and tell us about this new
teaching,” they said. 20 “You are saying some rather
strange things, and we want to know what it’s all about.” 21 (It should be explained
that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all
their time discussing the latest ideas.) 22 So Paul, standing before the
council,[b] addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens,
I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23 for as I was walking along I
saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To
an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m
telling you about. 24 “He is the God who made the
world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t
live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve
his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything,
and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man[c] he created all the nations throughout
the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he
determined their boundaries. 27 “His purpose was for the
nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though
he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move
and exist. As some of your[d] own poets have said, ‘We are his
offspring.’ 29 And since this is true, we
shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or
stone. 30 “God overlooked people’s
ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone
everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. 31 For he has set a day for
judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to
everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” 32 When they heard Paul speak
about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed in contempt, but others said,
“We want to hear more about this later.”33 That ended Paul’s discussion
with them, 34 but some joined him and became
believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council,[e] a woman named Damaris, and others with them
