He motioned with his hand for them to be quiet, and he explained to them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell this to James and the rest of the believers," he said; then he left and went somewhere else.

Some of the people concluded that Alexander was responsible, since the Jews made him go up to the front. Then Alexander motioned with his hand for the people to be silent, and he tried to make a speech of defense.

The commander gave him permission, so Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand for the people to be silent. When they were quiet, Paul spoke to them in Hebrew:

"My fellow Israelites, descendants of Abraham, and all Gentiles here who worship God: it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent!

"Listen to these words, fellow Israelites! Jesus of Nazareth was a man whose divine authority was clearly proven to you by all the miracles and wonders which God performed through him. You yourselves know this, for it happened here among you.

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?

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to come back the next Sabbath and tell them more about these things.

After the people had left the meeting, Paul and Barnabas were followed by many Jews and by many Gentiles who had been converted to Judaism. The apostles spoke to them and encouraged them to keep on living in the grace of God.

But Paul and Barnabas spoke out even more boldly: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we will leave you and go to the Gentiles.

He was a religious man; he and his whole family worshiped God. He also did much to help the Jewish poor people and was constantly praying to God.

Those who fear him and do what is right are acceptable to him, no matter what race they belong to.

so that your people may obey you all the time they live in the land which you gave to our ancestors.

God has blessed us; may all people everywhere honor him.

Surely he is ready to save those who honor him, and his saving presence will remain in our land.

Praise the LORD, you Levites; praise him, all you that worship him!

from one generation to another he shows mercy to those who honor him.

The other one, however, rebuked him, saying, "Don't you fear God? You received the same sentence he did.

Then Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles and in a loud voice began to speak to the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, listen to me and let me tell you what this means.

"My fellow Jews, listen to me as I make my defense before you!"

The people listened to Paul until he said this; but then they started shouting at the top of their voices, "Away with him! Kill him! He's not fit to live!"

he said, "Be sure to obey all these commands that I have given you today. Repeat them to your children, so that they may faithfully obey all of God's teachings.

These teachings are not empty words; they are your very life. Obey them and you will live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy."

Hear this, everyone! Listen, all people everywhere,

My thoughts will be clear; I will speak words of wisdom.

Listen, my people, to my teaching, and pay attention to what I say.

I am going to use wise sayings and explain mysteries from the past,

But as for me, the LORD fills me with his spirit and power, and gives me a sense of justice and the courage to tell the people of Israel what their sins are.

Listen to me, you rulers of Israel, you that hate justice and turn right into wrong.

Listen, then, if you have ears!

"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches! "To those who win the victory I will give the right to eat the fruit of the tree of life that grows in the Garden of God.

"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches! "Those who win the victory will not be hurt by the second death.

"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches! "To those who win the victory I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give each of them a white stone on which is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.

"If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!