The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection

15 Now ^(A)I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the ^(B)gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, ^(C)in which you also stand, ² by which you also are saved, ^(D)if you hold firmly to ^[a]the word which I preached to you, ^(E)unless you believed in vain.

³ For ^(F)I handed down to you ^[b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died ^(G)for our sins ^(H)according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He was ^(I)raised on the third day ^(J)according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that ^(K)He appeared to ^[c](L)Cephas, then ^(M)to the twelve. ⁶ After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some ^(N)have fallen asleep; ⁷ then He appeared to ^[d](O)James, then to ^(P)all the apostles; ⁸ and last of all, as ^[e]to one untimely born, ^(Q)He appeared to me also.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee

^14 (A)Now after John was ^[a]taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, ^[b](B)preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “^(C)The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ^[c]is at hand; ^(D)repent and ^[d]believe in the gospel.”

⁴⁴ Now He said to them, “^(A)These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the ^(B)Law of Moses and the Prophets and ^(C)the Psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵ Then He ^(D)opened their ^[a]minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and He said to them, “^(E)So it is written, that the ^[b]Christ would suffer and ^(F)rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and that ^(G)repentance ^[c]for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed ^[d]in His name to ^(H)all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are ^(I)witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ And behold, ^(J)I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but ^(K)you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

²² “Men of Israel, listen to these words: ^(A)Jesus the Nazarene, ^(B)a Man ^[a]attested to you by God with ^[b]miracles and ^(C)wonders and ^[c]signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— ²³ this Man, delivered over by the ^(D)predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, ^(E)you nailed to a cross by the hands of ^[d]godless men and put Him to death. ^24 [e]But ^(F)God raised Him from the dead, putting an end to the ^[f]agony of death, since it ^(G)was impossible for Him to be held ^[g]in its power. ²⁵ For David says of Him,

²⁹ “^[k]Brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the ^(K)patriarch David that he both ^(L)died and ^(M)was buried, and ^(N)his tomb is ^[l]with us to this day. ³⁰ So because he was ^(O)a prophet and knew that ^(P)God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one ^[m]of his descendants on his throne, ³¹ he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the ^[n]Christ, that ^(Q)He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh ^[o]suffer decay. ³² It is this Jesus whom ^(R)God raised up, ^[p]a fact to which we are all ^(S)witnesses. ³³ Therefore, ^[q]since He has been exalted ^[r](T)at the right hand of God, and ^(U)has received ^(V)the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has ^(W)poured out this which you both see and hear. ³⁴ For it was not David who ascended into ^[s]heaven, but he himself says:

³⁶ Therefore let all the ^(Y)house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both ^(Z)Lord and ^[t]Christ—this Jesus ^(AA)whom you crucified.”

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were ^[u]pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “^[v]Brothers, ^(AB)what are we to do?” ³⁸ Peter said to them, “^(AC)Repent, and each of you be ^(AD)baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For ^(AE)the promise is for you and your children and for all who are ^(AF)far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” ⁴⁰ And with many other words he solemnly ^(AG)testified and kept on urging them, saying, “^[w]Be saved from this ^(AH)perverse generation!” ⁴¹ So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand ^[x](AI)souls. ⁴² They were ^(AJ)continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to ^(AK)the breaking of bread and ^(AL)to ^[y]prayer.

¹² But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk? ^13 (A)The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ^(B)the God of our fathers, has glorified His ^[a](C)servant Jesus, the one whom ^(D)you handed over and disowned in the presence of ^(E)Pilate, when he had ^(F)decided to release Him. ¹⁴ But you disowned ^(G)the Holy and Righteous One, and ^(H)asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ but put to death the ^[b](I)Prince of life, whom ^(J)God raised from the dead, ^[c]a fact to which we are ^(K)witnesses. ¹⁶ And on the basis of faith ^(L)in His name, it is ^[d]the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

¹⁷ “And now, brothers, I know that you acted ^(M)in ignorance, just as your ^(N)rulers also did. ¹⁸ But the things which ^(O)God previously announced by the mouths of all the prophets, ^(P)that His ^[e]Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled in this way. ¹⁹ Therefore ^(Q)repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that ^(R)times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰ and that He may send Jesus, the ^[f]Christ appointed for you, ^21 (S)whom heaven must receive until the ^[g]period of ^(T)restoration of all things, about which ^(U)God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times. ²² Moses said, ‘^(V)The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your countrymen; to Him you shall listen regarding everything He says to you. ^23 (W)And it shall be that every ^(X)soul that does not listen to that prophet ^(Y)shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ And likewise, ^(Z)all the prophets who have spoken from Samuel and his successors onward, have also announced these days. ²⁵ It is you who are ^(AA)the sons of the prophets and of the ^(AB)covenant which God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘^(AC)And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ God ^(AD)raised up His ^[h]Servant for you ^(AE)first, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

Sermon on Mars Hill

²² So Paul stood in the midst of the ^[a]Areopagus and said, “Men of ^(A)Athens, I see that you are very ^(B)religious in all respects. ²³ For while I was passing through and examining the ^(C)objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what ^(D)you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. ^24 (E)The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is ^(F)Lord of heaven and earth, does not ^(G)dwell in temples made by hands; ²⁵ nor is He served by human hands, ^(H)as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; ²⁶ and ^(I)He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having ^(J)determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷ that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, ^(K)though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸ for ^(L)in Him we live and move and ^[b]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’ ²⁹ Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ^(M)ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought. ³⁰ So having ^(N)overlooked ^(O)the times of ignorance, God is ^(P)now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent, ³¹ because He has set ^(Q)a day on which ^(R)He will judge ^[c](S)the world in righteousness ^[d]through a Man whom He has ^(T)appointed, having furnished proof to all people ^[e]by ^(U)raising Him from the dead.”

³² Now when they heard of ^(V)the resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We shall hear from you ^[f]again concerning this.” ³³ So Paul went out from among them. ³⁴ But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the ^(W)Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Paul’s Defense before Agrippa

26 ^(A)Now Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” Then Paul extended his hand and proceeded to make his defense:

² “Regarding all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today, ^3 [a]especially because you are an expert in all ^(B)customs and ^[b]questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ “So then, all Jews know ^(C)my way of life since my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and in Jerusalem, ⁵ since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a ^(D)Pharisee ^(E)according to the strictest ^(F)sect of our religion. ⁶ And now I am standing trial ^(G)for the hope of ^(H)the promise made by God to our fathers; ⁷ the promise ^(I)to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. For this ^(J)hope, O king, I am being ^(K)accused by Jews. ⁸ Why is it considered incredible among you people ^(L)if God raises the dead?

⁹ “So ^(M)I thought to myself that I had to act in strong opposition to ^(N)the name of Jesus ^[c]of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And this is ^[d]just what I ^(O)did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the ^[e]saints in prisons, after ^(P)receiving authority from the chief priests, but I also ^(Q)cast my vote against them when they were being put to death. ¹¹ And ^(R)as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was ^(S)extremely enraged at them, I kept pursuing them ^(T)even to ^[f]foreign cities.

¹² “^[g]While so engaged, ^(U)as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, ^[h]brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who were journeying with me. ¹⁴ And when we had ^(V)all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the ^[i](W)Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ^[j]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But get up and ^(X)stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to ^(Y)appoint you as a ^(Z)servant and ^(AA)a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, ^17 (AB)rescuing you ^(AC)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸ to ^(AD)open their eyes so that they may turn from ^(AE)darkness to light, and from the ^[k]power of ^(AF)Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AG)forgiveness of sins and an ^(AH)inheritance among those who have been sanctified by ^(AI)faith in Me.’

¹⁹ “For that reason, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but continually proclaimed ^(AJ)to those in Damascus first, and ^(AK)in Jerusalem, and then all the region of Judea, and even ^(AL)to the Gentiles, that they are to ^(AM)repent and turn to God, performing deeds ^(AN)consistent with repentance. ²¹ For these reasons some Jews ^(AO)seized me in the temple and tried ^(AP)to murder me. ²² So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day ^(AQ)testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what ^(AR)the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place, ²³ as to ^(AS)whether the ^[l]Christ was ^[m]to suffer, and whether, as ^(AT)first from the resurrection of the dead, He would proclaim ^(AU)light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ While ^[n]Paul was stating these things in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! ^[o]Your great ^(AV)learning is ^[p]driving you insane.” ²⁵ But Paul *said, “I am not insane, ^(AW)most excellent Festus; on the contrary, I am speaking out with ^[q]truthful and rational words. ²⁶ For the king ^[r](AX)knows about these matters, and I also speak to him with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a ^[s]corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸ Agrippa replied to Paul, “^[t]In a short time you are going to persuade me to ^[u]make a ^(AY)Christian of myself.” ²⁹ And Paul said, “I would ^[v]wish to God that even ^[w]in a short or long time not only you, but also all who hear me this day would become such as I myself am, except for these ^(AZ)chains.”