18
And he was patient with them for forty years in the desert.
19
God destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and gave the land to his people.
20
All this happened in about four hundred fifty years. "After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.
21
Then the people asked for a king, so God gave them Saul son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin and was king for forty years.
22
After God took him away, God made David their king. God said about him: 'I have found in David son of Jesse the kind of man I want. He will do all I want him to do.'
23
So God has brought Jesus, one of David's descendants, to Israel to be its Savior, as he promised.
24
Before Jesus came, Johnn preached to all the people of Israel about a baptism of changed hearts and lives.
25
When he was finishing his work, he said, 'Who do you think I am? I am not the Christ. He is coming later, and I am not worthy to untie his sandals.'
26
"Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those of you who are not Jews who worship God, listen! The news about this salvation has been sent to us.
27
Those who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not realize that Jesus was the Savior. They did not understand the words that the prophets wrote, which are read every Sabbath day. But they made them come true when they said Jesus was guilty.
28
They could not find any real reason for Jesus to be put to death, but they asked Pilate to have him killed.