VICTORY BY GOD'S GRACE
1 “Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky!
2 The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’
3 But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.
4 “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way.
5 It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
6 You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.
7 “Remember and never forget how angry you made the Lord your God out in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until now, you have been constantly rebelling against him.
8 Even at Mount Sinai you made the Lord so angry he was ready to destroy you.
9 This happened when I was on the mountain receiving the tablets of stone inscribed with the words of the covenant that the Lord had made with you. I was there for forty days and forty nights, and all that time I ate no food and drank no water.
10 The Lord gave me the two tablets on which God had written with his own finger all the words he had spoken to you from the heart of the fire when you were assembled at the mountain.
11 “At the end of the forty days and nights, the Lord handed me the two stone tablets inscribed with the words of the covenant.
12 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Get up! Go down immediately, for the people you brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted gold and made an idol for themselves!’
13 “The Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are.
14 Leave me alone so I may destroy them and erase their name from under heaven. Then I will make a mighty nation of your descendants, a nation larger and more powerful than they are.’
ACTS 13:36-52
PAUL TO THE GENTILES
36 This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed.
37 No, it was a reference to someone else—someone whom God raised and whose body did not decay.
38 “Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins.
39 Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do.
40 Be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said,
41 ‘Look, you mockers, be amazed and die! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.’”
42 As Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue that day, the people begged them to speak about these things again the next week.
43 Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, and the two men urged them to continue to rely on the grace of God.
44 The following week almost the entire city turned out to hear them preach the word of the Lord.
45 But when some of the Jews saw the crowds, they were jealous; so they slandered Paul and argued against whatever he said.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles.
47 For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.
49 So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region.
50 Then the Jews stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas and ran them out of town.
51 So they shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium.
52 And the believers were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
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