¹⁶ Standing up, Paul gestured with his hand and said, “Fellow Israelites and Gentile God-worshippers, please listen to me. ¹⁷ The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors. God made them a great people while they lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. With his great power, he led them out of that country. ¹⁸ For about forty years, God put up with them in the wilderness. ¹⁹ God conquered seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the Israelites their land as an inheritance. ²⁰ This happened over a period of about four hundred fifty years.

“After this, he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. ²¹ The Israelites requested a king, so God gave them Saul, Kish’s son, from the tribe of Benjamin, and he served as their king for forty years. ²² After God removed him, he raised up David to be their king. God testified concerning him, ‘I have found David, Jesse’s son, a man who shares my desires.^[a] Whatever my will is, he will do.’ ²³ From this man’s descendants, God brought to Israel a savior, Jesus, just as he promised. ²⁴ Before Jesus’ appearance, John proclaimed to all the Israelites a baptism to show they were changing their hearts and lives. ²⁵ As John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I’m not the one you think I am, but he is coming after me. I’m not worthy to loosen his sandals.’