Acts 17:10-21

New King James Version

Ministering at Berea

¹⁰Then ^(A)the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹These were more ^[a]fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and ^(B)searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. ¹²Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. ¹³But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds. ¹⁴^(C)Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there. ¹⁵So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and ^(D)receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed.

The Philosophers at Athens

¹⁶Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, ^(E)his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was ^[b]given over to idols. ¹⁷Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸^[c]Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this ^[d]babbler want to say?”

Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them ^(F)Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹And they took him and brought him to the ^[e]Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? ²⁰For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” ²¹For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

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Footnotes

Acts 17:11 Lit. noble
Acts 17:16 full of idols
Acts 17:18 NU, M add also
Acts 17:18 Lit. seed picker, an idler who makes a living picking up scraps
Acts 17:19 Lit. Hill of Ares, or Mars’ Hill

Psalm 14-16

New King James Version

Folly of the Godless, and God’s Final Triumph^(A)

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

14 The ^(B)fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

²^(C)The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
³^(D)They have all turned aside,
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.

⁴Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And ^(E)do not call on the Lord?
⁵There they are in great fear,
For God is with the generation of the righteous.
⁶You shame the counsel of the poor,
But the Lord is his ^(F)refuge.

⁷^(G)Oh,^[a] that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
^(H)When the Lord brings back ^[b]the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad.

The Character of Those Who May Dwell with the Lord

A Psalm of David.

15 Lord, ^(I)who may ^[c]abide in Your tabernacle?
Who may dwell in Your holy hill?

²He who walks uprightly,
And works righteousness,
And speaks the ^(J)truth in his heart;
³He who ^(K)does not backbite with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
^(L)Nor does he ^[d]take up a reproach against his friend;
⁴^(M)In whose eyes a vile person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord;
He who ^(N)swears to his own hurt and does not change;
⁵He who does not put out his money at usury,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things ^(O)shall never be moved.

The Hope of the Faithful, and the Messiah’s Victory

A ^(P)Michtam of David.

16 Preserve^[e] me, O God, for in You I put my trust.

²O my soul, you have said to the Lord,
“You are my Lord,
^(Q)My goodness is nothing apart from You.”
³As for the saints who are on the earth,
“They are the excellent ones, in ^(R)whom is all my delight.”

⁴Their sorrows shall be multiplied who hasten after another god;
Their drink offerings of ^(S)blood I will not offer,
^(T)Nor take up their names on my lips.

⁵O Lord, You are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You ^[f]maintain my lot.
⁶The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.

⁷I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My ^[g]heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
⁸^(U)I have set the Lord always before me;
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

⁹Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will ^[h]rest in hope.
¹⁰^(V)For You will not leave my soul in ^[i]Sheol,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to ^[j]see corruption.
¹¹You will show me the ^(W)path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.