Professor Horner’s Reading Plan

¹One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus.

²They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating.

³(The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands, as required by their ancient traditions.

⁴Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to — such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles. )

⁵So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

⁶Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

⁷Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’

⁸For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

⁹Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition.

¹⁰For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’

¹¹But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’

¹²In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents.

¹³And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

¹⁴Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand.

¹⁵It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart. ”

¹⁶

¹⁷Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used.

¹⁸“Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you?

¹⁹Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

²⁰And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you.

²¹For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,

²²adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness.

²³All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

²⁴Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret.

²⁵Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit,

²⁶and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter. Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia,

²⁷Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children — my own family, the Jews. It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.”

²⁹“Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.”

³⁰And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

³¹Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns.

³²A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.

³³Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue.

³⁴Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!”

³⁵Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!

³⁶Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news.

³⁷They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”

¹A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.

²The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you.

³Live here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I hereby confirm that I will give all these lands to you and your descendants, just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father.

⁴I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

⁵I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.”

⁶So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁷When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “They will kill me to get her, because she is so beautiful.”

⁸But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah.

⁹Immediately, Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” “Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.

¹⁰“How could you do this to us?” Abimelech exclaimed. “One of my people might easily have taken your wife and slept with her, and you would have made us guilty of great sin.”

¹¹Then Abimelech issued a public proclamation: “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death!”

¹²When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the LORD blessed him.

¹³He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow.

¹⁴He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him.

¹⁵So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.

¹⁶Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too powerful for us.”

¹⁷So Isaac moved away to the Gerar Valley, where he set up their tents and settled down.

¹⁸He reopened the wells his father had dug, which the Philistines had filled in after Abraham’s death. Isaac also restored the names Abraham had given them.

¹⁹Isaac’s servants also dug in the Gerar Valley and discovered a well of fresh water.

²⁰But then the shepherds from Gerar came and claimed the spring. “This is our water,” they said, and they argued over it with Isaac’s herdsmen. So Isaac named the well Esek (which means “argument”).

²¹Isaac’s men then dug another well, but again there was a dispute over it. So Isaac named it Sitnah (which means “hostility”).

²²Abandoning that one, Isaac moved on and dug another well. This time there was no dispute over it, so Isaac named the place Rehoboth (which means “open space”), for he said, “At last the LORD has created enough space for us to prosper in this land.”

²³From there Isaac moved to Beersheba,

²⁴where the LORD appeared to him on the night of his arrival. “I am the God of your father, Abraham,” he said. “Do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you. I will multiply your descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will do this because of my promise to Abraham, my servant.”

²⁵Then Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD. He set up his camp at that place, and his servants dug another well.

²⁶One day King Abimelech came from Gerar with his adviser, Ahuzzath, and also Phicol, his army commander.

²⁷“Why have you come here?” Isaac asked. “You obviously hate me, since you kicked me off your land.”

²⁸They replied, “We can plainly see that the LORD is with you. So we want to enter into a sworn treaty with you. Let’s make a covenant.

²⁹Swear that you will not harm us, just as we have never troubled you. We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace. And now look how the LORD has blessed you!”

³⁰So Isaac prepared a covenant feast to celebrate the treaty, and they ate and drank together.

³¹Early the next morning, they each took a solemn oath not to interfere with each other. Then Isaac sent them home again, and they left him in peace.

³²That very day Isaac’s servants came and told him about a new well they had dug. “We’ve found water!” they exclaimed.

³³So Isaac named the well Shibah (which means “oath”). And to this day the town that grew up there is called Beersheba (which means “well of the oath”).

³⁴At the age of forty, Esau married two Hittite wives: Judith, the daughter of Beeri, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon.

³⁵But Esau’s wives made life miserable for Isaac and Rebekah.

¹Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.

²“Honor your father and mother.” This is the first commandment with a promise:

³If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”

⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord.

⁵Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.

⁶Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. As slaves of Christ, do the will of God with all your heart.

⁷Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

⁸Remember that the Lord will reward each one of us for the good we do, whether we are slaves or free.

⁹Masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Don’t threaten them; remember, you both have the same Master in heaven, and he has no favorites.

¹⁰A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.

¹¹Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

¹²For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

¹³Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm.

¹⁴Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.

¹⁵For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.

¹⁶In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.

¹⁷Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

¹⁹And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.

²⁰I am in chains now, still preaching this message as God’s ambassador. So pray that I will keep on speaking boldly for him, as I should.

²¹To bring you up to date, Tychicus will give you a full report about what I am doing and how I am getting along. He is a beloved brother and faithful helper in the Lord’s work.

²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose — to let you know how we are doing and to encourage you.

²³Peace be with you, dear brothers and sisters, and may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you love with faithfulness.

²⁴May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom:

²Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

³For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.

⁴They will reject the truth and chase after myths.

⁵But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you.

⁶As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.

⁸And now the prize awaits me — the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.

⁹Timothy, please come as soon as you can.

¹⁰Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia.

¹¹Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry.

¹²I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

¹³When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers.

¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done.

¹⁵Be careful of him, for he fought against everything we said.

¹⁶The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them.

¹⁷But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death.

¹⁸Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁹Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and those living in the household of Onesiphorus.

²⁰Erastus stayed at Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick at Miletus.

²¹Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus sends you greetings, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters.

²²May the Lord be with your spirit. And may his grace be with all of you.

¹Job continued speaking:

²“I vow by the living God, who has taken away my rights, by the Almighty who has embittered my soul —

³As long as I live, while I have breath from God,

⁴my lips will speak no evil, and my tongue will speak no lies.

⁵I will never concede that you are right; I will defend my integrity until I die.

⁶I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear for as long as I live.

⁷“May my enemy be punished like the wicked, my adversary like those who do evil.

⁸For what hope do the godless have when God cuts them off and takes away their life?

⁹Will God listen to their cry when trouble comes upon them?

¹⁰Can they take delight in the Almighty? Can they call to God at any time?

¹¹I will teach you about God’s power. I will not conceal anything concerning the Almighty.

¹²But you have seen all this, yet you say all these useless things to me.

¹³“This is what the wicked will receive from God; this is their inheritance from the Almighty.

¹⁴They may have many children, but the children will die in war or starve to death.

¹⁵Those who survive will die of a plague, and not even their widows will mourn them.

¹⁶“Evil people may have piles of money and may store away mounds of clothing.

¹⁷But the righteous will wear that clothing, and the innocent will divide that money.

¹⁸The wicked build houses as fragile as a spider’s web, as flimsy as a shelter made of branches.

¹⁹The wicked go to bed rich but wake to find that all their wealth is gone.

²⁰Terror overwhelms them like a flood, and they are blown away in the storms of the night.

²¹The east wind carries them away, and they are gone. It sweeps them away.

²²It whirls down on them without mercy. They struggle to flee from its power.

²³But everyone jeers at them and mocks them.

¹O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.

²I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.

³Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!

⁴I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.

⁵You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise you with songs of joy.

⁶I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.

⁷Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.

⁸I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.

⁹But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin. They will go down into the depths of the earth.

¹⁰They will die by the sword and become the food of jackals.

¹¹But the king will rejoice in God. All who swear to tell the truth will praise him, while liars will be silenced.

¹Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.

²Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth — a stranger, not your own lips.

³A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.

⁴Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood, but jealousy is even more dangerous.

⁵An open rebuke is better than hidden love!

⁶Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.

⁷A person who is full refuses honey, but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.

⁸A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest.

⁹The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.

¹⁰Never abandon a friend — either yours or your father’s. When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance. It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away.

¹¹Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad. Then I will be able to answer my critics.

¹²A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

¹³Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt. Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.

¹⁴A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning will be taken as a curse!

¹⁵A quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping on a rainy day.

¹⁶Stopping her complaints is like trying to stop the wind or trying to hold something with greased hands.

¹⁷As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

¹⁸As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit, so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded.

¹⁹As a face is reflected in water, so the heart reflects the real person.

²⁰Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.

²¹Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised.

²²You cannot separate fools from their foolishness, even though you grind them like grain with mortar and pestle.

²³Know the state of your flocks, and put your heart into caring for your herds,

²⁴for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.

²⁵After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in,

²⁶your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field.

²⁷And you will have enough goats’ milk for yourself, your family, and your servant girls.

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years.

²He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the LORD had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites.

³He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had broken down. He constructed altars for the images of Baal and set up Asherah poles. He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them.

⁴He built pagan altars in the Temple of the LORD, the place where the LORD had said, “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever.”

⁵He built these altars for all the powers of the heavens in both courtyards of the LORD’s Temple.

⁶Manasseh also sacrificed his own sons in the fire in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the LORD’s sight, arousing his anger.

⁷Manasseh even took a carved idol he had made and set it up in God’s Temple, the very place where God had told David and his son Solomon: “My name will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem — the city I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel.

⁸If the Israelites will be careful to obey my commands — all the laws, decrees, and regulations given through Moses — I will not send them into exile from this land that I set aside for your ancestors.”

⁹But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the LORD had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land.

¹⁰The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings.

¹¹So the LORD sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon.

¹²But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the LORD his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors.

¹³And when he prayed, the LORD listened to him and was moved by his request. So the LORD brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh finally realized that the LORD alone is God!

¹⁴After this Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, from west of the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley to the Fish Gate, and continuing around the hill of Ophel. He built the wall very high. And he stationed his military officers in all of the fortified towns of Judah.

¹⁵Manasseh also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the LORD’s Temple. He tore down all the altars he had built on the hill where the Temple stood and all the altars that were in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city.

¹⁶Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He also encouraged the people of Judah to worship the LORD, the God of Israel.

¹⁷However, the people still sacrificed at the pagan shrines, though only to the LORD their God.

¹⁸The rest of the events of Manasseh’s reign, his prayer to God, and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are recorded in The Book of the Kings of Israel.

¹⁹Manasseh’s prayer, the account of the way God answered him, and an account of all his sins and unfaithfulness are recorded in The Record of the Seers. It includes a list of the locations where he built pagan shrines and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself and repented.

²⁰When Manasseh died, he was buried in his palace. Then his son Amon became the next king.

²¹Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years.

²²He did what was evil in the LORD’s sight, just as his father, Manasseh, had done. He worshiped and sacrificed to all the idols his father had made.

²³But unlike his father, he did not humble himself before the LORD. Instead, Amon sinned even more.

²⁴Then Amon’s own officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace.

²⁵But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and they made his son Josiah the next king.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Jonah a second time:

²“Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”

³This time Jonah obeyed the LORD’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all.

⁴On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”

⁵The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

⁶When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes. He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.

⁷Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city: “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all.

⁸People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God. They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.

⁹Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”

¹⁰When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

¹Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

²As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people.

³He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.”

⁴Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.

⁵But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd.

⁶Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.

⁷And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”

⁸The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports.

⁹So the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them.

¹⁰That very night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.

¹¹And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth.

¹²As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.

¹³But when some Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God in Berea, they went there and stirred up trouble.

¹⁴The believers acted at once, sending Paul on to the coast, while Silas and Timothy remained behind.

¹⁵Those escorting Paul went with him all the way to Athens; then they returned to Berea with instructions for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him.

¹⁶While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city.

¹⁷He 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.

¹⁸He 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.”

¹⁹Then they took him to the high council of the city. “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.)

²²So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way,

²³for 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,

²⁵and 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.

²⁶From one man 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.

²⁸For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

²⁹And 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.

³¹For 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.”

³²When 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.”

³³That ended Paul’s discussion with them,

³⁴but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.