¹⁶So Paul stood up, and umotioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and vyou who fear God, listen. ¹⁷wThe God of this people Israel xchose our fathers and ymade the people great zduring their stay in the land of Egypt, and awith uplifted arm he led them out of it. ¹⁸And for about bforty years che put up with2 them in the wilderness. ¹⁹And dafter destroying eseven nations in the land of Canaan, fhe gave them their land as an inheritance. ²⁰All this took about 450 years. And after that ghe gave them judges until hSamuel the prophet. ²¹Then ithey asked for a king, and God gave them Saul jthe son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²²And kwhen he had removed him, lhe raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, m‘I have found in David the son of Jesse na man after my heart, owho will do all my will.’ ²³pOf this man's offspring God has brought to Israel qa Savior, Jesus, ras he promised. ²⁴Before his coming, sJohn had proclaimed ta baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵And as John was finishing his course, uhe said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you vwho fear God, to us has been sent wthe message of xthis salvation. ²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ythey did not recognize him nor understand zthe utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, afulfilled them by condemning him. ²⁸And bthough they found in him no guilt worthy of death, cthey asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹And when dthey had carried out all that was written of him, ethey took him down from fthe tree and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰But gGod raised him from the dead, ³¹and for many days hhe appeared to those iwho had come up with him jfrom Galilee to Jerusalem, kwho are now lhis witnesses to the people. ³²And we bring you the good news mthat what God promised to the fathers, ³³nthis he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

o“‘You are my Son,

today I have begotten you.’

³⁴And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, pqno more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you rthe holy and sure blessings of David.’

³⁵Therefore he says also in another psalm,

s“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

³⁶For David, after he had tserved the purpose of God in his own generation, ufell asleep and vwas laid with his fathers and saw corruption, ³⁷but he whom wGod raised up did not see corruption. ³⁸Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, xthat through this man yforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹and by him zeveryone who believes is freed3 from everything afrom which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

⁴¹b“‘Look, you scoffers,

be astounded and perish;

for I am doing a work in your days,

a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”

⁴²As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. ⁴³And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and cdevout dconverts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them eto continue in fthe grace of God.

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