Page:Life and voyages of the Apostle Paul.pdf/8

Rh Paul being invited by the rulers of the synagogue, delivered himself in the following manner: “Hearken all ye descendants of Jacob, and ye that fear the Almighty, to the words of my mouth. The God of Israel made choice of our fathers, and loved them, when they had no city of their own to dwell in, but were strangers and slaves in Egypt, bringing them from thence with a mighty hand, and a stretched out arm; fed them in the wilderness forty years, and would not suffer his anger to rise against them, though they often provoked him in the desert. On their arrival in the land he promised their fathers, he destroyed the nations that inhabited it, and placed them in that faithful country, dividing it to them by lot.

“When they were settled in the land, he gave them judges during four hundred and fifty years, till Samuel the prophet. But on their desiring a king, he placed over them Saul, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who reigned about forty years. After his death, he placed David on the throne of Israel, giving him this testimony, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.’ And according to his promise the Almighty hath raised up to the sons of David, a Saviour, Jesus, which is Christ the Lord: the baptism of repentance having been preached before his coming by John. And as his forerunner executed his office, he asked his followers, Whom think ye that I am? You must not mistake me for the Messiah; he will soon follow me: but I am not worthy to perform the meanest office for him.

“To you, therefore, ye descendants of Abraham, and all others who fear the Almighty, is this word of salvation sent. For the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and rulers of Israel, being ignorant of him, and the voices of the prophets, though read every Sabbath in the synagogues, fulfilled their predictions by condemning the immaculate Son of the Most High. They found, indeed, no fault with him, though they earnestly desired Pilate that he might be slain.

“When every thing that had been written by the prophets concerning him was fulfilled, they took him from the tree, and deposited his body in the chambers of the grave. But death had no power to detain him: his Almighty Father raised him from the habitations of the dead. After which, he was seen during many days by his disciples, who attended him from Galilee, and were the witnesses chosen by Omnipotence of these great and miraculous works. And we now declare unto you glad tidings, namely, that the promise made by the Almighty to our forefathers, he hath performed to us the children, by rising Jesus from the dead. The prophet