Acts 17:27
25 Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
26 From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.
God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps 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, ‘We are His offspring.’
29 Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.
- KJV
- 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:
- WEB
- 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.
- ASV
- 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:
- DARBY
- that they may seek God; if indeed they might feel after him and find him, although he is not far from each one of us:
- BLB
- to seek God, if perhaps indeed they might feel after Him and might find Him. And indeed, He is not far from each one of us.
- ÅB
- for at de skulle lete etter Gud, om de kunne føle seg fram til ham, selv om han ikke er langt borte fra en eneste en av oss.
- OTB
- slik at de skulle søke Gud, om de kanskje kunne føle seg frem til ham og finne ham, selv om han ikke er langt fra noen av oss.
- B1930
- forat de skulde lete efter Gud, om de dog kunde føle og finne ham, enda han ikke er langt borte fra nogen eneste av oss.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Jeremiah 23:23–24
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far away?”
Read in contextDeuteronomy 4:7
For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?
Read in contextRomans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.
Read in contextActs 14:17
Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
Read in contextPsalms 19:1–6
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Read in contextRomans 2:4
Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
Read in contextActs 15:17
so that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does these things
Read in contextPsalms 139:1–13
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
Read in context