Passage

Acts 17.23-31

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"21. (Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.) 22. And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things, I perceive that ye are very religious."

"23. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you. 24. The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25. neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26. and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation; 27. that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us: 28. for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29. Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man. 30. The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent: 31. inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."

"32. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again. 33. Thus Paul went out from among them." (Acts 17:21-33, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"21. Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing. 22. Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things."

"23. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you. 24. The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, 25. neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things. 26. He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27. that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28. ‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ 29. Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man. 30. The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, 31. because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”"

"32. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.” 33. Thus Paul went out from among them." (Acts 17:21-33, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"21. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) 22. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. ^{Mars' hill: or, court of the Areopagites}"

"23. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. ^{devotions: or, gods that ye worship} 24. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25. Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26. And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28. For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31. Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. ^{hath given: or, offered faith}"

"32. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 33. So Paul departed from among them." (Acts 17:21-33, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"21. and all Athenians, and the strangers sojourning, for nothing else were at leisure but to say something, and to hear some newer thing. 22. And Paul, having stood in the midst of the Areopagus, said, 'Men, Athenians, in all things I perceive you as over-religious;"

"23. for passing through and contemplating your objects of worship, I found also an erection on which had been inscribed: To God, unknown; whom, therefore, not knowing, ye do worship, this One I announce to you. 24. 'God, who did make the world, and all things in it, this One, of heaven and of earth being Lord, in temples made with hands doth not dwell, 25. neither by the hands of men is He served, needing anything, He giving to all life, and breath, and all things; 26. He made also of one blood every nation of men, to dwell upon all the face of the earth, having ordained times before appointed, and the bounds of their dwellings, 27. to seek the Lord, if perhaps they did feel after Him and find,, though, indeed, He is not far from each one of us, 28. for in Him we live, and move, and are; as also certain of your poets have said: For of Him also we are offspring. 29. 'Being, therefore, offspring of God, we ought not to think the Godhead to be like to gold, or silver, or stone, graving of art and device of man; 30. the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform, 31. because He did set a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom He did ordain, having given assurance to all, having raised him out of the dead.'"

"32. And having heard of a rising again of the dead, some, indeed, were mocking, but others said, 'We will hear thee again concerning this;' 33. and so Paul went forth from the midst of them," (Acts 17:21-33, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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TBD
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Quoted in

Salvation of the Unevangelized

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.