Acts 17:21

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

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

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • 2 Tim 2:16-17 : 16 But avoid profane chatter, because those occupied with it will stray further and further into ungodliness, 17 and their message will spread its infection like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are in this group.
  • Eph 5:16 : 16 taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
  • Col 4:5 : 5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunities.
  • 2 Thess 3:11-12 : 11 For we hear that some among you are living an undisciplined life, not doing their own work but meddling in the work of others. 12 Now such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and so provide their own food to eat.
  • 1 Tim 5:13 : 13 And besides that, going around from house to house they learn to be lazy, and they are not only lazy, but also gossips and busybodies, talking about things they should not.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Acts 17:15-20
    6 verses
    85%

    15Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens, and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.

    16Paul at Athens While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was greatly upset because he saw the city was full of idols.

    17So 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.

    18Also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were asking,“What does this foolish babbler want to say?” Others said,“He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.”(They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)

    19So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, saying,“May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming?

    20For you are bringing some surprising things to our ears, so we want to know what they mean.”

  • Acts 17:22-23
    2 verses
    83%

    22So Paul stood before the Areopagus and said,“Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects.

    23For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription:‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you.

  • Acts 28:21-22
    2 verses
    73%

    21They replied,“We have received no letters from Judea about you, nor have any of the brothers come from there and reported or said anything bad about you.

    22But we would like to hear from you what you think, for regarding this sect we know that people everywhere speak against it.”

  • Acts 14:15
    72%

    15“Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them.

  • Acts 2:11-12
    2 verses
    70%

    11both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs– we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!”

    12All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another,“What does this mean?”

  • Acts 19:25-26
    2 verses
    70%

    25He gathered these together, along with the workmen in similar trades, and said,“Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this business.

    26And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded and turned away a large crowd, not only in Ephesus but in practically all of the province of Asia, by saying that gods made by hands are not gods at all.

  • Acts 19:37
    70%

    37For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess.

  • Acts 19:32
    70%

    32So then some were shouting one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had met together.

  • Acts 17:11-13
    3 verses
    69%

    11These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they eagerly received the message, examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so.

    12Therefore many of them believed, along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men.

    13But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God in Berea, they came there too, inciting and disturbing the crowds.

  • Acts 19:28-29
    2 verses
    69%

    28When they heard this they became enraged and began to shout,“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

    29The city was filled with the uproar, and the crowd rushed to the theater together, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

  • Acts 19:10
    69%

    10This 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.

  • Acts 21:28-29
    2 verses
    69%

    28shouting,“Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this sanctuary! Furthermore he has brought Greeks into the inner courts of the temple and made this holy place ritually unclean!”

    29(For they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him previously, and they assumed Paul had brought him into the inner temple courts.)

  • Acts 19:40
    69%

    40For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause we can give to explain this disorderly gathering.”

  • Acts 24:11
    69%

    11As you can verify for yourself, not more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

  • Acts 21:22
    69%

    22What then should we do? They will no doubt hear that you have come.

  • Acts 21:19
    69%

    19When Paul had greeted them, he began to explain in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

  • Acts 13:44
    69%

    44On the next Sabbath almost the whole city assembled together to hear the word of the Lord.

  • Acts 17:8
    69%

    8They caused confusion among the crowd and the city officials who heard these things.

  • Acts 14:18
    68%

    18Even by saying these things, they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them.

  • Acts 17:32-34
    3 verses
    68%

    32Now when they heard about the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, but others said,“We will hear you again about this.”

    33So Paul left the Areopagus.

    34But some people joined him and believed. Among them were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

  • Acts 18:4
    68%

    4He addressed both Jews and Greeks in the synagogue every Sabbath, attempting to persuade them.

  • Acts 17:1-2
    2 verses
    68%

    1Paul and Silas at Thessalonica After they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

    2Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue, as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed them from the scriptures,

  • Acts 17:27
    68%

    27so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

  • Acts 19:23
    68%

    23At that time a great disturbance took place concerning the Way.

  • Acts 19:34-35
    2 verses
    68%

    34But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison,“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” for about two hours.

    35After the city secretary quieted the crowd, he said,“Men of Ephesus, what person is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image that fell from heaven?

  • Acts 15:12
    68%

    12The whole group kept quiet and listened to Barnabas and Paul while they explained all the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

  • Acts 2:7-8
    2 verses
    67%

    7Completely baffled, they said,“Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?

    8And how is it that each one of us hears them in our own native language?

  • Acts 18:13
    67%

    13saying,“This man is persuading people to worship God in a way contrary to the law!”

  • Acts 22:1
    67%

    1Paul’s Defense“Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense that I now make to you.”

  • 1 Cor 1:22
    67%

    22For Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks ask for wisdom,

  • Acts 13:15
    67%

    15After the reading from the law and the prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent them a message, saying,“Brothers, if you have any message of exhortation for the people, speak it.”

  • 1 Thess 3:1
    67%

    1So when we could bear it no longer, we decided to stay on in Athens alone.