¹² When Peter saw the people, he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, why are you surprised at this, and why do you stare at us? Do you think that it was by means of our own power or godliness that we made this man walk? ^13 (A)The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has given divine glory to his Servant Jesus. But you handed him over to the authorities, and you rejected him in Pilate's presence, even after Pilate had decided to set him free. ^14 (B)He was holy and good, but you rejected him, and instead you asked Pilate to do you the favor of turning loose a murderer. ¹⁵ You killed the one who leads to life, but God raised him from death—and we are witnesses to this. ¹⁶ It was the power of his name that gave strength to this lame man. What you see and know was done by faith in his name; it was faith in Jesus that has made him well, as you can all see.

¹⁷ “And now, my friends, I know that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was due to your ignorance. ¹⁸ God announced long ago through all the prophets that his Messiah had to suffer; and he made it come true in this way. ¹⁹ Repent, then, and turn to God, so that he will forgive your sins. If you do,

Evening Prayer for Help^[a]

Children of God

3 ^(A)See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God's children—and so, in fact, we are. This is why the world does not know us: it has not known God. ² My dear friends, we are now God's children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is. ³ Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure.

⁴ Whoever sins is guilty of breaking God's law, because sin is a breaking of the law. ^5 (B)You know that Christ appeared in order to take away sins,^[a] and that there is no sin in him. ⁶ So everyone who lives in union with Christ does not continue to sin; but whoever continues to sin has never seen him or known him.

⁷ Let no one deceive you, my children! Whoever does what is right is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples^(A)

³⁶ While the two were telling them this, suddenly the Lord himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”^[a]

³⁷ They were terrified, thinking that they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸ But he said to them, “Why are you alarmed? Why are these doubts coming up in your minds? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is I myself. Feel me, and you will know, for a ghost doesn't have flesh and bones, as you can see I have.”

⁴⁰ He said this and showed them his hands and his feet.^{[b] 41} They still could not believe, they were so full of joy and wonder; so he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of cooked fish, ⁴³ which he took and ate in their presence.

⁴⁴ Then he said to them, “These are the very things I told you about while I was still with you: everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the writings of the prophets, and the Psalms had to come true.”

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, ⁴⁶ and said to them, “This is what is written: the Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later, ⁴⁷ and in his name the message about repentance and the forgiveness of sins must be preached to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.