When he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with devoted hearts,

For Moses has had those who proclaim him in every town from ancient times, because he is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar’s decrees, saying there is another king named Jesus!”

So he was addressing the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue, and in the marketplace every day those who happened to be there.

(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to something new.)

So Paul stood before the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects.

The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands,

This went on for two years, so that all who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” for about two hours.

serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me because of the plots of the Jews.

“And now I know that none of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom will see me again.

Paul looked directly at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience before God to this day.”

For we have found this man to be a troublemaker, one who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

Now all the Jews know the way I lived from my youth, spending my life from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.

I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged at them, I went to persecute them even in foreign cities.

When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and a violent storm continued to batter us, we finally abandoned all hope of being saved.

and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before Caesar, and God has graciously granted you the safety of all who are sailing with you.’

and the rest were to follow, some on planks and some on pieces of the ship. And in this way all were brought safely to land.

To all those loved by God in Rome, called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

First of all, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.