²³ But they were ^(A)hearing only, “He who formerly ^(B)persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.”

^9 (A)“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things ^[a]contrary to the name of ^(B)Jesus of Nazareth. ^10 (C)This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority ^(D)from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ^11 (E)And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

⁷ Then ^(A)the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many ^(B)of the priests were obedient to the faith.

The Name of Jesus Forbidden

¹³ Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, ^(A)and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

⁴ And ^(A)they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began ^(B)to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The Crowd’s Response

⁵ And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, ^(C)devout men, from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And when this sound occurred, the ^(D)multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. ⁷ Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak ^(E)Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each in our own ^[a]language in which we were born? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and ^(F)Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, ¹¹ Cretans and ^[b]Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” ¹² So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?”

^14 (A)Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will ^[a]answer; ¹⁵ for I will give you a mouth and wisdom ^(B)which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or ^[b]resist.

¹⁷ Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, ^(A)for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but ^(B)My Father who is in heaven.