¹³ But the prince*+ of the royal realm of Persia+ was standing in opposition+ to me for twenty-one days, and, look! Mi′cha·el,*+ one of the foremost* princes,+ came to help me; and I, for my part, remained* there beside the kings of Persia.+

²² Paul now stood in the midst of the Ar·e·op′a·gus+ and said:

“Men of Athens, I behold that in all things YOU seem to be more given to the fear of the deities*+ than others are.

⁴ Certainly if God did not hold back from punishing the angels+ that sinned, but, by throwing them into Tar′ta·rus,*+ delivered them to pits of dense darkness to be reserved for judgment;+

¹⁴ They are, in fact, expressions inspired+ by* demons and perform signs,+ and they go forth to the kings+ of the entire inhabited earth,*+ to gather them together to the war+ of the great day+ of God the Almighty.+