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"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!
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For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not know that he is the Savior, nor did they understand the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Yet they made the prophets' words come true by condemning Jesus.
28
And even though they could find no reason to pass the death sentence on him, they asked Pilate to have him put to death.
1
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And after they had done everything that the Scriptures say about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.
2
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But God raised him from death,
31
and for many days he appeared to those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now witnesses for him to the people of Israel.
3
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And we are here to bring the Good News to you: what God promised our ancestors he would do, he has now done for us, who are their descendants, by raising Jesus to life. As it is written in the second Psalm,
4 "You are my Son; today I have become your Father.'
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And this is what God said about raising him from death, never to rot away in the grave:
5 "I will give you the sacred and sure blessings that I promised to David.'
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As indeed he says in another passage,
6 "You will not allow your faithful servant to rot in the grave.'
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For David served God's purposes in his own time, and then he died, was buried with his ancestors, and his body rotted in the grave.
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But this did not happen to the one whom God raised from death.
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All of you, my fellow Israelites, are to know for sure that it is through Jesus that the message about forgiveness of sins is preached to you; you are to know that everyone who believes in him is set free from all the sins from which the Law of Moses could not set you free.
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Take care, then, so that what the prophets said may not happen to you:
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"Look, you scoffers! Be astonished and die!
7 For what I am doing today is something that you will not believe, even when someone explains it to you!' "
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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.
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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.
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The next Sabbath nearly everyone in the town came to hear the word of the Lord.
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When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; they disputed what Paul was saying and insulted him.
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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.
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For this is the commandment that the Lord has given us:
8 "I have made you a light for the Gentiles, so that all the world may be saved.' "
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When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the Lord's message; and those who had been chosen for eternal life became believers.
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The word of the Lord spread everywhere in that region.
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But the Jews stirred up the leading men of the city and the Gentile women of high social standing who worshiped God. They started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and threw them out of their region.
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The apostles shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went on to Iconium.
9
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The believers in Antioch were full of joy and the Holy Spirit.