Act 17:18-32 | ESV | STEP | Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him . And some said , What does this babbler wish to say ? Others said, He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities — because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection .

Acts 17:18-32

18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, ^a“What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because ^bhe was preaching ^cJesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to ^dthe Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this ^enew teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some ^fstrange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ^g‘To the unknown god.’ ^hWhat therefore you worship ⁱas unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 ^jThe God who made the world and everything in it, being ^kLord of heaven and earth, ^ldoes not live in temples made by man, ^{▼▼Greek made by hands} 25 nor is he served by human hands, ⁿas though he needed anything, since he himself ^ogives to all mankind ^plife and breath and everything. 26 And ^qhe made from one man every nation of mankind to live ^ron all the face of the earth, ^shaving determined allotted periods and ^tthe boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 ^uthat they should seek God, ^vand perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. ^wYet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for

^x“‘In him we live and move and have our being’; ^{▼▼Probably from Epimenides of Crete}
as even some of ^zyour own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ ^{▼▼From Aratus’s poem “Phainomena”}
29 ^abBeing then God’s offspring, ^acwe ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 ^adThe times of ignorance ^aeGod overlooked, but ^afnow he ^agcommands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed ^aha day on which ^aihe will judge the world ^ajin righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and ^akof this he has given assurance to all ^alby raising him from the dead.”

32 Now when they heard of ^amthe resurrection of the dead, ^ansome mocked. But others said, ^ao“We will hear you again about this.”