¹² For the Holy Spirit will ^(A)teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

¹⁵ for I will give you a mouth and wisdom ^(A)which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or ^[a]resist.

^20 (A)for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

^8 (A)Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:

¹⁰ And ^(A)they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

¹¹ So the Lord said to him, ^(A)“Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?

⁵⁵ But he, ^(A)being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the ^(B)glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,

² And he said, ^(A)“Brethren and fathers, listen: The ^(B)God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in ^(C)Haran, ³ and said to him, ^(D)‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.’ ⁴ Then ^(E)he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was ^(F)dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. ⁵ And God gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough to set his foot on. But even when Abraham had no child, ^(G)He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. ⁶ But God spoke in this way: ^(H)that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into ^(I)bondage and oppress them four hundred years. ^7 (J)‘And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will ^(K)judge,’ said God, ^(L)‘and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.’ ^8 (M)Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; ^(N)and so Abraham begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; ^(O)and Isaac begot Jacob, and ^(P)Jacob begot the twelve patriarchs.

The Patriarchs in Egypt

^9 (Q)“And the patriarchs, becoming envious, ^(R)sold Joseph into Egypt. ^(S)But God was with him ¹⁰ and delivered him out of all his troubles, ^(T)and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. ^11 (U)Now a famine and great ^[a]trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. ^12 (V)But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ¹³ And the ^(W)second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to the Pharaoh. ^14 (X)Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and ^(Y)all his relatives to him, ^[b]seventy-five people. ^15 (Z)So Jacob went down to Egypt; ^(AA)and he died, he and our fathers. ¹⁶ And ^(AB)they were carried back to Shechem and laid in ^(AC)the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem.

God Delivers Israel by Moses

¹⁷ “But when ^(AD)the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, ^(AE)the people grew and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ till another king ^(AF)arose who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹ This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, ^(AG)making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. ^20 (AH)At this time Moses was born, and ^(AI)was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father’s house for three months. ²¹ But ^(AJ)when he was set out, ^(AK)Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. ²² And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was ^(AL)mighty in words and deeds.

^23 (AM)“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. ²⁴ And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. ²⁵ For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶ And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ ²⁷ But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ^(AN)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’ ^29 (AO)Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he ^(AP)had two sons.

^30 (AQ)“And when forty years had passed, an Angel ^[c]of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. ³¹ When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, ³² saying, ^(AR)‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses trembled and dared not look. ^33 (AS)‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. ³⁴ I have surely ^(AT)seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will ^(AU)send you to Egypt.” ’

³⁵ “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ^(AV)‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent to be a ruler and a deliverer ^(AW)by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. ^36 (AX)He brought them out, after he had ^(AY)shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, ^(AZ)and in the Red Sea, ^(BA)and in the wilderness forty years.

Israel Rebels Against God

³⁷ “This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, ^(BB)‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. ^(BC)Him^[d] you shall hear.’

^38 (BD)“This is he who was in the ^[e]congregation in the wilderness with ^(BE)the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, ^(BF)the one who received the living ^(BG)oracles^[f] to give to us, ³⁹ whom our fathers ^(BH)would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, ^40 (BI)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ^41 (BJ)And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and ^(BK)rejoiced in the works of their own hands. ⁴² Then ^(BL)God turned and gave them up to worship ^(BM)the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:

God’s True Tabernacle

⁴⁴ “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses ^(BP)to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, ^45 (BQ)which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, ^(BR)whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the ^(BS)days of David, ^46 (BT)who found favor before God and ^(BU)asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. ^47 (BV)But Solomon built Him a house.

⁴⁸ “However, ^(BW)the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:

Israel Resists the Holy Spirit

⁵¹ “You ^(BZ)stiff-necked^[g] and ^(CA)uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (CB)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of ^(CC)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, ^53 (CD)who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Paul’s Early Life

26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.”

So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: ² “I think myself ^(A)happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer ^(B)for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am ^(C)accused by the Jews, ³ especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

⁴ “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. ⁵ They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to ^(D)the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. ^6 (E)And now I stand and am judged for the hope of ^(F)the promise made by God to our fathers. ⁷ To this promise ^(G)our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God ^(H)night and day, ^(I)hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. ⁸ Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?

^9 (J)“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things ^[a]contrary to the name of ^(K)Jesus of Nazareth. ^10 (L)This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority ^(M)from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ^11 (N)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.

Paul Recounts His Conversion^(O)

^12 (P)“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(Q)to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. ¹⁷ I will ^[b]deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, ^(R)to whom I ^[c]now send you, ^18 (S)to open their eyes, in order ^(T)to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, ^(U)that they may receive forgiveness of sins and ^(V)an inheritance among those who are ^(W)sanctified^[d] by faith in Me.’

Paul’s Post-Conversion Life

¹⁹ “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but ^(X)declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do ^(Y)works befitting repentance. ²¹ For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²² Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those ^(Z)which the prophets and ^(AA)Moses said would come— ^23 (AB)that the Christ would suffer, ^(AC)that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and ^(AD)would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

Agrippa Parries Paul’s Challenge

²⁴ Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ^(AE)you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”

²⁵ But he said, “I am not ^[e]mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. ²⁶ For the king, before whom I also speak freely, ^(AF)knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”

²⁸ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

²⁹ And Paul said, ^(AG)“I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰ When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; ³¹ and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, ^(AH)“This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”

³² Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set ^(AI)free ^(AJ)if he had not appealed to Caesar.”