Study Desk

The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they sojourned in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm led he them forth out of it.

And afterward they asked for a king: and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for the space of forty years.

Of this man's seed has God according to promise brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus;

Men, brothers, sons of the stock of Abraham, and those among you that fear God, to us is the word of this salvation sent forth.

But God raised him from the dead:

that God has fulfilled these things to us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, You are my Son, this day I have begotten you.

For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was laid to his fathers, and saw corruption:

but he whom God raised up saw no corruption.

Now when the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. Seeing you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, look, we turn to the Gentiles.

and saying, Sirs, why do you do these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good tidings, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them:

confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.

and from there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled.

And when they had come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they rehearsed all things that God had done with them.

And when there had been much questioning, Peter rose up, and said to them, Men, brothers, you know that a good while ago God chose among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel, and believe.

And God, who knows the heart, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did to us;

Now therefore why do you make trial of God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

And all the multitude kept silent; and they listened to Barnabas and Paul rehearsing what signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

Symeon has rehearsed how first God visited the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.