22.Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23.For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:
to an unknown god.
So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.24.“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25.And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26.From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27.God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. 28.‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’17:28 From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’17:28 From the Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus29.“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. 30.In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31.For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”32.When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33.At that, Paul left the Council. 34.Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.
13.Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14.Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15.One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16.Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.17.When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18.Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19.A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.19:19 A drachma was a silver coin worth about a day’s wages.
8.To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9.to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10.to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,12:10 Or languages; also in verse 28 and to still another the interpretation of tongues.12:10 Or languages; also in verse 28 11.All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
28.And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29.Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30.Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues12:30 Or other languages? Do all interpret? 31.Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Love Is Indispensable
And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
1.Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2.You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3.Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
13.And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1.If I speak in the tongues13:1 Or languages of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2.If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3.If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,13:3 Some manuscripts body to the flames but do not have love, I gain nothing.4.Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5.It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7.It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8.Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
16.So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17.For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever5:17 Or you do not do what you want. 18.But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.19.The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20.idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21.and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.22.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23.gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
17.“ ‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.18.Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.19.I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.20.The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.21.And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’2:21 Joel 2:28-3222.“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23.This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,2:23 Or of those not having the law (that is, Gentiles) put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24.But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
1.Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2.The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3.Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4.As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5.So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia
6.Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7.When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8.So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9.During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10.After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi
11.From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12.From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district16:12 The text and meaning of the Greek for the leading city of that district are uncertain. of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.
13.On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14.One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15.When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16.Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17.She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18.She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.
19.When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20.They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21.by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”
22.The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23.After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24.When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25.About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26.Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27.The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28.But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29.The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30.He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31.They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32.Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33.At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34.The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
35.When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” 36.The jailer told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”
37.But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”
38.The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed. 39.They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40.After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.
11.And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of8:11 Some manuscripts bodies through his Spirit who lives in you.
7.Since no one knows the future,
who can tell someone else what is to come?
1.The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
10.Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11.or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12.Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13.You must be blameless before the Lord your God.14.The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.
11.Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
