New Testament in a Year
26 Paul then said, ‘I speak to all you people here. Some of you, like us, have Abraham as your ancestor. Some of you are Gentiles who now worship our God. God has sent this message to all of us. It tells us how he will save us. 27 The people who were living in Jerusalem, and their leaders, did not understand about Jesus. They did not know that he was God's special man. Every Jewish day of rest, someone reads aloud the messages of God's prophets. But the people in Jerusalem did not understand. Instead, they said that Jesus had done bad things. They said that he should die. In that way, they caused the message of the prophets to become true. 28 The Jewish leaders could not find any reason to kill Jesus for what he had done. But they continued to say to Pilate, “Your soldiers must kill him.” 29 When the soldiers did that, it happened just like the prophets had written about him long ago. After that, some of Jesus' disciples took him down from the cross where he had died. They took his body and they buried it. 30 But after Jesus died, God caused him to become alive again. 31 For many days after this, Jesus appeared to his disciples. The people who had earlier travelled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem saw him. They are now telling the people of Israel all about it.[a]
32 So we have come here to tell you this good news. God promised our ancestors that he would do these great things for his people. 33 Now he has done these things for us who are alive today. He has raised up Jesus to live again. We can read about this in the second Psalm. God says,
“You are my Son.
Today, I have become your Father.”[b]
34 God caused Jesus to live again so that nothing would destroy his body. He will not die again. This is what God said to our ancestors:
“I will surely help you with good things,
just like I promised to King David.”[c]
35 God also says this in another Psalm:
“Your servant who loves you will not remain dead.
You will not let anything destroy the body of your Holy One.”[d]
36 While David was alive, he served God as God wanted him to do. Then he died and men buried him next to his ancestors. So worms destroyed David's body. 37 But as for Jesus, God caused him to become alive again. He did not die again and nothing destroyed his body.
38 My friends, I want all of you to know this. God forgives us for the bad things that we have done. He does this because of what Jesus did. That is my message to you. 39 God can cause anyone to become right with him. If you believe in Jesus, God will make you free from your sins. God's Law that he gave to Moses cannot do this for you. That Law cannot make you free, even if you obey all of it. 40 Be careful then! Remember what God's prophets spoke about long ago. Do not let that happen to you. This is what one of them wrote:[e]
41 “Listen to me, you people who laugh at God!
You will be surprised at the great things that I do.
And then you will die.
I am working now, while you are still alive.
But still you will not believe what is true.
Even if someone explains everything to you,
you will never believe.” ’
42 After Paul spoke this message, he and Barnabas were leaving the meeting place. The people there said to them, ‘Please return on our next day of rest. Then you can tell us more about what you have already told us.’ 43 When the meeting finished, many people followed Paul and Barnabas. Some of them were Jews. Others were Gentiles who now worshipped God. Paul and Barnabas said to them, ‘God has been very kind to you. You should continue to trust him.’
44 On the next Jewish day of rest, almost everyone in the town came together to hear the Lord God's message. 45 But when some Jews saw the crowds of people, they became angry. They were very jealous because the people listened to Paul and Barnabas. They said that Paul was teaching wrong things. They also said bad things against him.
46 But Paul and Barnabas were not afraid of them. They said to them, ‘It was right that we first tell you who are Jews the message from God. But now you say that God's message is not true. You have shown that you do not deserve true life with God. So we will leave you now. We will go and tell this message to the Gentiles.
47 The Lord God has also told us to do this. He said:
“I have chosen you to be like a light to the Gentiles.
You must go to people everywhere in the world.
You must tell them how God wants to save them.” ’[f]
48 When the Gentiles there heard this, they were very happy. They thanked God for the message about the Lord Jesus. Many people believed in Jesus. They were the people that God had chosen to have true life with him.
49 Many people in that part of the country heard the message about the Lord Jesus. 50 But the Jewish leaders spoke to the important men in the city. They also spoke to some rich women who worshipped God. The Jewish leaders told them bad things about Paul and Barnabas. So these important people started to speak against Paul and Barnabas. They caused Paul and Barnabas to leave that region. 51 So Paul and Barnabas cleaned the dirt of that place off their feet. This showed that the people in that town had done a bad thing. Paul and Barnabas then travelled to a town called Iconium.
52 The believers in Antioch continued to be very happy. The Holy Spirit completely filled them.
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