Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, ^usince it is only the third hour of the day.¹ 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, ^da man attested to you by God ^ewith ^fmighty works and wonders and signs that ^gGod did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus,^{2 h}delivered up according to ⁱthe definite plan and ^jforeknowledge of God, ^kyou crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 ^lGod raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because ^mit was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,

29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about ^tthe patriarch David ^uthat he both died and ^vwas buried, and ^whis tomb is with us to this day. 30 ^xBeing therefore a prophet, and knowing that ^yGod had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that ^zhe was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus ^aGod raised up, ^band of that we all are witnesses. 33 ^cBeing therefore ^dexalted at the right hand of God, and having received from ^ethe Father ^fthe promise of the Holy Spirit, ^ghe has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For ^hDavid did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that ^jGod has made him ^kboth Lord and Christ, this Jesus ^lwhom you crucified.”

37 Now when ^mthey heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, ⁿwhat shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, ^o“Repent and ^pbe baptized every one of you ^qin the name of Jesus Christ ^rfor the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive ^sthe gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For ^tthe promise is for you and ^ufor your children and for all ^vwho are far off, everyone ^wwhom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 ^aThe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, ^bthe God of our fathers, ^cglorified his servant¹ Jesus, whom ^dyou delivered over and ^edenied in the presence of Pilate, ^fwhen he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied ^gthe Holy and ^hRighteous One, and ⁱasked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed ^jthe Author of life, ^kwhom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And ^lhis name—by ^mfaith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is ⁿthrough Jesus² has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

17 “And now, brothers, I know that ^oyou acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God ^pforetold ^qby the mouth of all the prophets, that ^rhis Christ would ^ssuffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 ^tRepent therefore, and ^uturn back, that ^vyour sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ ^wappointed for you, Jesus, 21 ^xwhom heaven must receive until the time for ^yrestoring all the things about which ^zGod spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you ^aa prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen ^bto him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet ^cshall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And ^dall the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 ^eYou are the sons of the prophets and of ^fthe covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ^g‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 ^hGod, ⁱhaving raised up his servant, sent him to you first, ^jto bless you ^kby turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

8 Then Peter, ^ufilled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today ^vconcerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that ^wby the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, ^xwhom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 ^yThis Jesus¹ is the stone that was ^zrejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.² 12 And there is ^asalvation ^bin no one else, for ^cthere is no other ^dname under heaven given among men³ by which we must be saved.”

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, ^g“We must obey God rather than men. 30 ^hThe God of our fathers ⁱraised Jesus, ^jwhom you killed by hanging him on ^ka tree. 31 God exalted ^lhim at his right hand as ^mLeader and ⁿSavior, ^oto give ^prepentance to Israel and ^oforgiveness of sins. 32 And ^qwe are witnesses to these things, and ^rso is the Holy Spirit, ^swhom God has given to those who obey him.”

Gentiles Hear the Good News

34 So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that ^fGod ^gshows no partiality, 35 but ^fin every nation anyone who fears him and ^hdoes what is right is acceptable to him. 36 As for ⁱthe word that he sent to Israel, ^jpreaching good news of ^kpeace through Jesus Christ (^lhe is Lord of all), 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, ^mbeginning ⁿfrom Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how ^oGod anointed Jesus of Nazareth ^pwith the Holy Spirit and with ^qpower. He went about doing good and healing all ^rwho were oppressed by the devil, ^sfor God was with him. 39 And ^twe are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. ^uThey put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but ^vGod raised him on ^wthe third day and made him to ^xappear, 41 ^ynot to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as ^zwitnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And ^ahe commanded us to preach to the people and to testify ^bthat he is the one appointed by God to be judge ^cof the living and the dead. 43 ^dTo him ^eall the prophets bear witness that ^feveryone who believes in him receives ^gforgiveness of sins ^hthrough his name.”

16 So Paul stood up, and ^umotioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and ^vyou who fear God, listen. 17 ^wThe God of this people Israel ^xchose our fathers and ^ymade the people great ^zduring their stay in the land of Egypt, and ^awith uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about ^bforty years ^che put up with¹ them in the wilderness. 19 And ^dafter destroying ^eseven nations in the land of Canaan, ^fhe gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that ^ghe gave them judges until ^hSamuel the prophet. 21 Then ⁱthey asked for a king, and God gave them Saul ^jthe son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And ^kwhen he had removed him, ^lhe raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ^m‘I have found in David the son of Jesse ⁿa man after my heart, ^owho will do all my will.’ 23 ^pOf this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel ^qa Savior, Jesus, ^ras he promised. 24 Before his coming, ^sJohn had proclaimed ^ta baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, ^uhe said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you ^vwho fear God, to us has been sent ^wthe message of ^xthis salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ^ythey did not recognize him nor understand ^zthe utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, ^afulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And ^bthough they found in him no guilt worthy of death, ^cthey asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when ^dthey had carried out all that was written of him, ^ethey took him down from ^fthe tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But ^gGod raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days ^hhe appeared to those ⁱwho had come up with him ^jfrom Galilee to Jerusalem, ^kwho are now ^lhis witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news ^mthat what God promised to the fathers, 33 ⁿthis he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, ^pqno more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

36 For David, after he had ^tserved the purpose of God in his own generation, ^ufell asleep and ^vwas laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom ^wGod raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, ^xthat through this man ^yforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him ^zeveryone who believes is freed² from everything ^afrom which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

15 “Men, ^uwhy are you doing these things? We also are men, ^vof like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that ^wyou should turn from these ^xvain things to ^ya living God, ^zwho made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he ^aallowed all the nations ^bto walk in their own ways. 17 Yet ^che did not leave himself without witness, for he ^ddid good by ^egiving you rains from heaven and ^ffruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with ^gfood and ^hgladness.”

Paul Addresses the Areopagus

22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ^p‘To the unknown god.’ ^pWhat therefore you worship ^qas unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 ^rThe God who made the world and everything in it, being ^sLord of heaven and earth, ^tdoes not live in temples made by man,¹ 25 nor is he served by human hands, ^uas though he needed anything, since he himself ^vgives to all mankind ^wlife and breath and everything. 26 And ^xhe made from one man every nation of mankind to live ^yon all the face of the earth, ^zhaving determined allotted periods and ^athe boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 ^bthat they should seek God, ^cand perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. ^dYet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for

as even some of ^fyour own poets have said,

29 ^gBeing then God’s offspring, ^hwe ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 ⁱThe times of ignorance ^jGod overlooked, but ^know he ^lcommands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed ^ma day on which ⁿhe will judge the world ^oin righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and ^pof this he has given assurance to all ^qby raising him from the dead.”

18 And when they came to him, he said to them:

^j“You yourselves know ^khow I lived among you the whole time ^jfrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 ^lserving the Lord ^mwith all humility and with ⁿtears and with trials that happened to me through ^othe plots of the Jews; 20 how I ^pdid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and ^qteaching you in public and from house to house, 21 ^rtestifying both to Jews and to Greeks of ^srepentance toward God and of ^tfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ.¹ 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained ^uby² the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that ^vthe Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that ^wimprisonment and ^xafflictions await me. 24 But ^yI do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only ^zI may finish my course and ^athe ministry ^bthat I received from the Lord Jesus, ^cto testify to ^dthe gospel of ^ethe grace of God. 25 And now, behold, ^fI know that none of you among whom I have gone about ^gproclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore ^hI testify to you this day that ⁱI am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for ^jI did not shrink from declaring to you ^kthe whole counsel of God. 28 ^lPay careful attention to yourselves and to all ^mthe flock, in which ⁿthe Holy Spirit has made you ^ooverseers, ^pto care for ^qthe church of God,³ which he ^robtained ^swith his own blood.⁴ 29 I ^rknow that after my departure ^tfierce wolves will come in among you, ^unot sparing the flock; 30 and ^vfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore ^wbe alert, remembering that ^xfor three years I did not cease night or day ^yto admonish every one ^zwith tears. 32 And now ^aI commend you to God and to ^bthe word of his grace, which is able to ^cbuild you up and to give you ^dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 ^eI coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 ^fYou yourselves know that ^gthese hands ministered to my necessities and ^hto those who were with me. 35 In all things ⁱI have shown you that ^jby working hard in this way we must ^khelp the weak and ^lremember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed ^mto give than to receive.’”