16. Paul stood up. He raised his hand and said, “Men of Israel and you other people who worship God, please listen!
17. The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors. He made the people great during the time they lived in Egypt. He brought them out of that country with great power.
18. And he was patient with them for 40 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 450 years.“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.
21. Then the people asked for a king. God gave them Saul son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was king for 40 years.
22. After God took him away, God made David their king. This is what God said about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse. He is the kind of man I want. He will do all that I want him to do.’
23. So God has brought one of David’s descendants to Israel to be their Savior. That descendant is Jesus. And God promised to do this.
24. Before Jesus came, John preached to all the people of Israel. He told them 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. I am not worthy to untie his sandals.’
26. “Brothers, sons in the family of Abraham, and you non-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 die, but they asked Pilate to have him killed.
29. They did to him all that the Scriptures had said. Then they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.