Paul and those with him sailed from Paphos and came to Perga, in Pamphylia. There John Mark left them to return to Jerusalem. They continued their trip from Perga and went to Antioch, a city in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were read, the leaders of the synagogue sent a message to Paul and Barnabas: “Brothers, if you have any message that will encourage the people, please speak.”
Paul stood up, raised his hand, and said, “You Israelites and you who worship God, please listen! The God of the Israelites chose our ancestors. He made the people great during the time they lived in Egypt, and he brought them out of that country with great power. And he was patient with them for forty years in the desert. God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the land to his people. All this happened in about four hundred fifty years.
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, so God gave them Saul son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin and was king for forty years. After God took him away, God made David their king. God said about him: ‘I have found in David son of Jesse the kind of man I want. He will do all I want him to do.’ So God has brought Jesus, one of David’s descendants, to Israel to be its Savior, as he promised. Before Jesus came, John preached to all the people of Israel about a baptism of changed hearts and lives. When he was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the Christ. He is coming later, and I am not worthy to untie his sandals.’
“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and others who worship God, listen! The news about this salvation has been sent to us. Those who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not realize that Jesus was the Savior. They did not understand the words that the prophets wrote, which are read every Sabbath day. But they made them come true when they said Jesus was guilty. They could not find any real reason for Jesus to be put to death, but they asked Pilate to have him killed. When they had done to him all that the Scriptures had said, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him up from the dead! After this, for many days, those who had gone with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem saw him. They are now his witnesses to the people. We tell you the Good News about the promise God made to our ancestors. God has made this promise come true for us, his children, by raising Jesus from the dead. We read about this also in Psalm 2:
‘You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.’
God raised Jesus from the dead, and he will never go back to the grave and become dust. So God said:
‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings
that I promised to David.’
But in another place God says:
‘You will not let your Holy One rot.’
David did God’s will during his lifetime. Then he died and was buried beside his ancestors, and his body did rot in the grave. But the One God raised from the dead did not rot in the grave. Brothers, understand what we are telling you: You can have forgiveness of your sins through Jesus. The law of Moses could not free you from your sins. But through Jesus everyone who believes is free from all sins.
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