Acts 17:22–31

²²Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, “Men of Athens! I see that you are very religious in every way. ²³As I walked around, I looked carefully at the things you worship. I even found an altar with To an Unknown God written on it. Now I am going to tell you about this ‘unknown god’ that you worship.

²⁴“He is the God who made the world. He also made everything in it. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in temples built by hands. ²⁵He is not served by human hands. He doesn’t need anything. He himself gives life and breath to all people. He also gives them everything else they have. ²⁶From one man he made all the people of the world. Now they live all over the earth. He decided exactly when they should live. And he decided exactly where they should live. ²⁷God did this so that people would seek him. Then perhaps they would reach out for him and find him. They would find him even though he is not far from any of us. ²⁸‘In him we live and move and exist.’ As some of your own poets have also said, ‘We are his children.’

²⁹“Yes, we are God’s children. So we shouldn’t think that God is made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn’t a statue planned and made by clever people. ³⁰In the past, God didn’t judge people for what they didn’t know. But now he commands all people everywhere to turn away from their sins. ³¹He has set a day when he will judge the world fairly. He has appointed a man to be its judge. God has proved this to all people by raising that man from the dead.”