Acts 17:23

King James Version (KJV)

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.

Translations

Acts 17:23 - Amplified Bible

For as I passed along and carefully observed your objects of worship, I came also upon an altar with this inscription, To the unknown god. Now what you are already worshiping as unknown, this I set forth to you.

Acts 17:23 - American Standard Version

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.

Acts 17:23 - Bible in Basic English

For when I came by, I was looking at the things to which you give worship, and I saw an altar with this writing on it, TO THE GOD OF WHOM THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE. Now, what you, without knowledge, give worship to, I make clear to you.

Acts 17:23 - Darby Bible

for, passing through and beholding your shrines, I found also an altar on which was inscribed, To the unknown God. Whom therefore ye reverence, not knowing [him], him I announce to you.

Acts 17:23 - English Standard Version

For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, "To the unknown god." What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

Acts 17:23 - King James Version

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.

Acts 17:23 - La Biblia de las Americas

Porque mientras pasaba y observaba los objetos de vuestra adoraciòn, hallé también un altar con esta inscripciòn: AL DIOS DESCONOCIDO. Pues lo que vosotros adoráis sin conocer, eso os anuncio yo.

Acts 17:23 - The Message

Acts 17:23 - New American Standard Bible

~"For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, `TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

Acts 17:23 - Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy

~"Porque mientras pasaba y observaba los objetos de su adoraciòn, hallé también un altar con esta inscripciòn: 'AL DIOS DESCONOCIDO.' Pues lo que ustedes adoran sin conocer, eso les anuncio yo.

Acts 17:23 - World English Bible

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.

Acts 17:23 - Young's Living Translation

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.

Acts 17:23 - Additional Comments

THE UNKNOWN GOD - some say this referred to the time when Epimenides of Crete, a great prophet, came to Athens when the city was suffering from an epidemic. He turned sheep loose into the city & wherever the sheep happened to stop, there they were sacrificed. If no altar was near, the Athenians sacrificed to the unknown god who should be worshipped there, & who they thought had the power to stop the plague if he would just get over being angry with the Athenians.
He says they have worshipped the true One, for if they had worshipped anything real, it had to be the one true God.
"I proclaim to you" -- he is not borrowing from others, but is presenting something new to them, in an organized fashion, discounting the earlier came of him as a "babbler" (verse 18).

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