The people also stood there watching, but the rulers ridiculed<n id="1" /> him, saying, &#8220;He saved others. Let him save<n id="2" /> himself if<n id="3" /> he is the Christ<n id="4" /> of God, his chosen one!&#8221;

He<n id="1" /> said to them, &#8220;What things?&#8221; &#8220;The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene,&#8221; they replied, &#8220;a man<n id="2" /> who, with his powerful deeds and words, proved to be a prophet<n id="3" /> before God and all the people;

When Peter saw this, he declared to the people, &#8220;Men of Israel,<n id="1" /> why are you amazed at this? Why<n id="2" /> do you stare at us as if we had made this man<n id="3" /> walk by our own power or piety?

After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising<n id="1" /> God for what had happened.

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against<n id="1" /> your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,<n id="2" />

But someone came and reported to them, &#8220;Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the temple courts<n id="1" /> and teaching<n id="2" /> the people!&#8221;

After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census,<n id="1" /> and incited people to follow him in revolt.<n id="2" /> He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered.

<b><i>I have certainly seen the sufferingi>b><n id="1" /> <b><i>of my people who are in Egypt andi>b> <i><b>have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue themb>.i><n id="2" /> <b><i>Nowi>b><n id="3" /> <b><i>come, I will send you to Egypti>b>.&#8217;<n id="4" />

not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen,<n id="1" /> who ate and drank<n id="2" /> with him after he rose from the dead.

When<n id="1" /> Peter came to himself, he said, &#8220;Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued<n id="2" /> me from the hand<n id="3" /> of Herod<n id="4" /> and from everything the Jewish people<n id="5" /> were expecting to happen.&#8221;p>

After the reading from the law and the prophets,<n id="1" /> the leaders of the synagogue<n id="2" /> sent them a message,<n id="3" /> saying, &#8220;Brothers,<n id="4" /> if you have any message<n id="5" /> of exhortation<n id="6" /> for the people, speak it.&#8221;<n id="7" />

Paul said, &#8220;John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,<n id="1" /> that is, in Jesus.&#8221;

The whole city was stirred up,<n id="1" /> and the people rushed together.<n id="2" /> They seized<n id="3" /> Paul and dragged him out of the temple courts,<n id="4" /> and immediately the doors were shut.

Paul answered,<n id="1" /> &#8220;I am a Jew<n id="2" /> from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city.<n id="3" /> Please<n id="4" /> allow me to speak to the people.&#8221;

When the commanding officer<n id="1" /> had given him permission,<n id="2" /> Paul stood<n id="3" /> on the steps and gestured<n id="4" /> to the people with his hand. When they had become silent,<n id="5" /> he addressed<n id="6" /> them in Aramaic,<n id="7" />p>

when he said,p> <p class="otpoetry">&#8216;<b><i>Go to this people and say,i>b>p> <p class="otpoetry">&#8220;<b><i>You will keep on hearing,i>b><n id="1" /> <b><i>but will never understand,i>b>p> <p class="otpoetry"><b><i>and you will keep on looking,i>b><n id="2" /> <i><b>but will never perceiveb>.i>p>

God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?

And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are<n id="1" /> the temple of the living God, just as God said, &#8220;<b><i>I will live in themi>b><n id="2" /> <i><b>and will walk among themb>, <b>and I will be their Godb>, <b>and they will be my peopleb>i>.&#8221;<n id="3" />

Therefore he had<n id="1" /> to be made like his brothers and sisters<n id="2" /> in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement<n id="3" /> for the sins of the people.

And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly office<n id="1" /> have authorization according to the law to collect a tithe from the people, that is, from their fellow countrymen,<n id="2" /> although they too are descendants of Abraham.<n id="3" />