While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply disturbed in his spirit to see that the city was full of idols.
So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day.
Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.
So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, where they asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?
For you are bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”
. . .
When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment.
We boarded an Adramyttian ship about to sail for ports along the coast of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
The next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul with consideration, allowing him to visit his friends and receive their care.
After putting out from there, we sailed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.
And when we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.
. . .
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,
As soon as night had fallen, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went into the Jewish synagogue.
Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
As a result, many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.
Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:
“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today to defend myself against all the accusations of the Jews,
especially since you are acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen to me patiently.
Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from the earliest days of my youth, among my own people and in Jerusalem.
They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.
. . .
In those days when the disciples were increasing in number, the Grecian Jews among them began to grumble against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census should be taken of the whole empire.
This was the first census to take place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
And everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.
He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to him in marriage and was expecting a child.
. . .
He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night, who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth—the LORD is His name—
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.
The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.
Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. O LORD, You have appointed them to execute judgment; O Rock, You have established them for correction.
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
“Return, O faithless children,” declares the LORD, “for I am your master, and I will take you—one from a city and two from a family—and bring you to Zion.
At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came and tested Jesus by asking Him to show them a sign from heaven.
But He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘The weather will be fair, for the sky is red,’
and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.
A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Then He left them and went away.
When they crossed to the other side, the disciples forgot to take bread.
. . .
When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain and sat down. His disciples came to Him,
and He began to teach them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
. . .
Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, and set apart for the gospel of God—
the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,
and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Through Him and on behalf of His name, we received grace and apostleship to call all those among the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
. . .
But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”
To those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life.
For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”
“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.