8 ¹ all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate.^(A) They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses,^(B) which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

² So on the first day of the seventh month^(C) Ezra the priest brought the Law^(D) before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. ³ He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate^(E) in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

⁴ Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform^(F) built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.

⁵ Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing^(G) above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. ⁶ Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands^(H) and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas,^(A) asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹ “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,”^(B) they replied. “He was a prophet,^(C) powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers^(D) handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.^(E) And what is more, it is the third day^(F) since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us.^(G) They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”^(H)

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”^{(I) 27} And beginning with Moses^(J) and all the Prophets,^(K) he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.^(L)

In Berea

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas^(A) away to Berea.^(B) On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue.^{(C) 11} Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica,^(D) for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures^(E) every day to see if what Paul said was true.^{(F) 12} As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.^(G)

¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea,^(H) some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. ¹⁴ The believers^(I) immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas^(J) and Timothy^(K) stayed at Berea. ¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens^(L) and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.^(M)