Acts 17:21 - Forerunner Commentary

Acts 17:21

19 And they took him and brought him to the¹ Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak?

20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.”

21 For 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.

Addressing the Areopagus

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the¹ Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;

23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you:

24 ^a“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is ^bLord of heaven and earth, ^cdoes not dwell in temples made with hands.

25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He ^agives to all life, breath, and all things.

26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and ^athe boundaries of their dwellings,

27 ^aso that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, ^bthough He is not far from each one of us;

28 for ^ain Him we live and move and have our being, ^bas also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, ^awe ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.

30 Truly, ^athese times of ignorance God overlooked, but ^bnow commands all men everywhere to repent,

31 because He has appointed a day on which ^aHe will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by ^braising Him from the dead.”

32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter.”

33 So Paul departed from among them.

34 However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Verse Comparison: Acts 17:21

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Acts 17:22 >>

American Standard Version
(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.)

Amplified® Bible
For the Athenians, all of them, and the foreign residents {and} visitors among them spent all their leisure time in nothing except telling or hearing something newer than the last--

Contemporary English Version
More than anything else the people of Athens and the foreigners living there loved to hear and to talk about anything new.

Darby English Version
Now all [the] Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else than to tell and to hear the news.

Good News Bible
(For all the citizens of Athens and the foreigners who lived there liked to spend all their time telling and hearing the latest new thing.)

International Standard Version
Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there used to spend their time in nothing else than repeating or listening to the latest ideas.

King James Version
(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.)

New American Standard Bible
(Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

New International Version
(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.)

New King James Version
For 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.

N.A.S.B. in E-Prime
(Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

Young's Literal Translation
and all Athenians, and the strangers sojourning, for nothing else were at leisure but to say something, and to hear some newer thing.

New English Translation
(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time¹ in nothing else than telling² or listening to something new.)³

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