16  Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.

17  So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.

18  And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,"—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

19  And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?

20  "For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean."

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

Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (NASB)

1  "Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it,

2  so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

3  "O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4  "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!

5  "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

6  "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.

7  "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

8  "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.

9  "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

10  The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

11  Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

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

13  But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

14  Then immediately the brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there.

15  Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.

35  Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, "Release those men."

36  And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go in peace."

37  But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us in public without trial, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out."

38  The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans,

39  and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them to leave the city.

40  They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.

1  Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

2  And according to Paul's custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

3  explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ."

4  And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women.

5  But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people.

6  When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, "These men who have upset the world have come here also;

7  and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus."

8  They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.

9  And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them.

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

2  So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

3  Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

4  So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

5  My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

6  when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

7  for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.

8  My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

9  But those who seek to destroy my life shall go down into the depths of the earth;

10  they shall be given over to the power of the sword; they shall be a portion for jackals.

11  But the king shall rejoice in God; all who swear by him shall exult, for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

16  As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.

17  She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

18  And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

19  But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

20  And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.

21  They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”

22  The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

23  And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.

24  Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,

26  and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

27  When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

28  But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

29  And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.

30  Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31  And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

32  And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.

33  And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

34  Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Mother's Day

1 Timothy 2:15 (NASB)  Mother's Day

15  But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.

6  They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

7  and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;

8  and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

9  A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

10  When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

11  So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis;

12  and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days.

13  And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

14  A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

15  And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.

36  After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are."

37  Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also.

38  But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.

39  And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

40  But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.

41  And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

1  Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

2  and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium.

3  Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4  Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe.

5  So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

Mark 16:1-8 (NASB)

1  When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.

2  Very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen.

3  They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"

4  Looking up, they *saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.

5  Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.

6  And he *said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.

7  "But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.'"

8  They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.