Acts 13:16-43

16So Paul stood up. He raised his hand towards the people so that they would listen to him. Then he said to them, ‘Some of you are Jews, like us. Some of you are Gentiles who now worship our God. All of you, listen carefully to me.

17The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors to be his people. While they lived in Egypt, God caused his people to become a very large group. They lived as foreign people in Egypt. But God used his great power to bring them out from that country.

18The people of Israel did not obey God. But God took care of them in the wilderness for 40 years.

19He destroyed seven nations of people who lived in the land of Canaan. God gave their land to his own people so that they could live there.

20All of these things happened during about 450 years. After this, God gave to his people leaders who were called judges. They ruled Israel until the time when God's prophet Samuel was alive.

21Then the people of Israel asked Samuel to choose a king for them. So God gave Saul to them as their king. Saul was the son of Kish and he was from the tribe of Benjamin. He ruled Israel for 40 years.

22Then God removed Saul as king. He caused David to be their king instead. God said this about David: “I have watched David, the son of Jesse. He does things that make me happy. I know that he will do everything that I want.”

23God promised to send to the people of Israel someone who would save us. Jesus is the man that God sent to save us. He is a descendant of King David.

24Before Jesus began his work in this world, John spoke a message to all the people of Israel. He told people to stop doing wrong things and to turn to God. Then he would baptize them.

25When John had almost finished his work, he said to the people, “Perhaps you think that I am the special man that God will send. I am not that man. But listen! That man will come soon. I am not good enough even to undo his shoes for him.” ’

26Paul then said, ‘I speak to all you people here. Some of you, like us, have Abraham as your ancestor. Some of you are Gentiles who now worship our God. God has sent this message to all of us. It tells us how he will save us.

27The people who were living in Jerusalem, and their leaders, did not understand about Jesus. They did not know that he was God's special man. Every Jewish day of rest, someone reads aloud the messages of God's prophets. But the people in Jerusalem did not understand. Instead, they said that Jesus had done bad things. They said that he should die. In that way, they caused the message of the prophets to become true.

28The Jewish leaders could not find any reason to kill Jesus for what he had done. But they continued to say to Pilate, “Your soldiers must kill him.”

29When the soldiers did that, it happened just like the prophets had written about him long ago. After that, some of Jesus' disciples took him down from the cross where he had died. They took his body and they buried it.

30But after Jesus died, God caused him to become alive again.

31For many days after this, Jesus appeared to his disciples. The people who had earlier travelled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem saw him. They are now telling the people of Israel all about it.

32So we have come here to tell you this good news. God promised our ancestors that he would do these great things for his people.

33Now he has done these things for us who are alive today. He has raised up Jesus to live again. We can read about this in the second Psalm. God says, “You are my Son. Today, I have become your Father.”

34God caused Jesus to live again so that nothing would destroy his body. He will not die again. This is what God said to our ancestors: “I will surely help you with good things, just like I promised to King David.”

35God also says this in another Psalm: “Your servant who loves you will not remain dead. You will not let anything destroy the body of your Holy One.”

36While David was alive, he served God as God wanted him to do. Then he died and men buried him next to his ancestors. So worms destroyed David's body.

37But as for Jesus, God caused him to become alive again. He did not die again and nothing destroyed his body.

38My friends, I want all of you to know this. God forgives us for the bad things that we have done. He does this because of what Jesus did. That is my message to you.

39God can cause anyone to become right with him. If you believe in Jesus, God will make you free from your sins. God's Law that he gave to Moses cannot do this for you. That Law cannot make you free, even if you obey all of it.

40Be careful then! Remember what God's prophets spoke about long ago. Do not let that happen to you. This is what one of them wrote:

41“Listen to me, you people who laugh at God! You will be surprised at the great things that I do. And then you will die. I am working now, while you are still alive. But still you will not believe what is true. Even if someone explains everything to you, you will never believe.” ’

42After Paul spoke this message, he and Barnabas were leaving the meeting place. The people there said to them, ‘Please return on our next day of rest. Then you can tell us more about what you have already told us.’

43When the meeting finished, many people followed Paul and Barnabas. Some of them were Jews. Others were Gentiles who now worshipped God. Paul and Barnabas said to them, ‘God has been very kind to you. You should continue to trust him.’