¹⁴ For you, brethren, became imitators ^(A)of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For ^(B)you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, ^15 (C)who killed both the Lord Jesus and ^(D)their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God ^(E)and are ^[a]contrary to all men,

Peter’s Sermon^(A)

¹⁴ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words.

²² “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you ^(A)by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—

³⁶ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

³⁷ Now when they heard this, ^(A)they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

³⁸ Then Peter said to them, ^(B)“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the ^[a]remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. ³⁹ For the promise is to you and ^(C)to your children, and ^(D)to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

A Vital Church Grows

⁴⁰ And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this ^[b]perverse generation.”

^9 (A)And all the people saw him walking and praising God. ¹⁰ Then they knew that it was he who ^(B)sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Preaching in Solomon’s Portico

¹¹ Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch ^(C)which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. ¹² So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ^13 (D)The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, ^(E)glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you ^(F)delivered up and ^(G)denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. ¹⁴ But you denied ^(H)the Holy One ^(I)and the Just, and ^(J)asked for a murderer to be granted to you, ¹⁵ and killed the ^[a]Prince of life, ^(K)whom God raised from the dead, ^(L)of which we are witnesses. ^16 (M)And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

¹⁷ “Yet now, brethren, I know that ^(N)you did it in ignorance, as did also your rulers. ¹⁸ But ^(O)those things which God foretold ^(P)by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. ^19 (Q)Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, ²⁰ and that He may send ^[b]Jesus Christ, who was ^[c]preached to you before, ^21 (R)whom heaven must receive until the times of ^(S)restoration of all things, ^(T)which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since ^[d]the world began. ²² For Moses truly said to the fathers, ^(U)‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. ²³ And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ Yes, and ^(V)all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also ^[e]foretold these days. ^25 (W)You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ^(X)‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ To you ^(Y)first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, ^(Z)in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

²⁵ who ^[a]by the mouth of Your servant David have said:

²⁷ “For ^(B)truly against ^(C)Your holy Servant Jesus, ^(D)whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together ^28 (E)to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

^52 (A)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of ^(B)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,

²⁶ “Men and brethren, sons of the ^[a]family of Abraham, and ^(A)those among you who fear God, ^(B)to you the ^[b]word of this salvation has been sent. ²⁷ For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, ^(C)because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. ^28 (D)And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. ^29 (E)Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, ^(F)they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. ^30 (G)But God raised Him from the dead. ^31 (H)He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. ³² And we declare to you glad tidings—^(I)that promise which was made to the fathers. ³³ God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:

³⁴ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to ^[c]corruption, He has spoken thus:

³⁵ Therefore He also says in another Psalm:

³⁶ “For David, after he had served ^[e]his own generation by the will of God, ^(M)fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and ^[f]saw corruption; ³⁷ but He whom God raised up ^[g]saw no corruption. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that ^(N)through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ and ^(O)by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

Blessing and Conflict at Antioch

^42 [h]So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, ^(Q)persuaded them to continue in ^(R)the grace of God.

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. ⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they ^(S)opposed the things spoken by Paul. ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ^(T)“It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but ^(U)since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, ^(V)we turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us:

⁴⁸ Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. ^(X)And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. ⁵⁰ But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, ^(Y)raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. ^51 (Z)But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples ^(AA)were filled with joy and ^(AB)with the Holy Spirit.

⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.