Paul answered, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please let me speak to the people."

I ask, then: Did God reject his own people? Certainly not! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.

Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I.

I was circumcised when I was a week old. I am an Israelite by birth, of the tribe of Benjamin, a pure-blooded Hebrew. As far as keeping the Jewish Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee,

The Lord said to him, "Get ready and go to Straight Street, and at the house of Judas ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying,

When the believers found out about this, they took Saul to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul.

But he was opposed by some men who were members of the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), which had Jews from Cyrene and Alexandria. They and other Jews from the provinces of Cilicia and Asia started arguing with Stephen.

and they sent the following letter by them:

He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

The governor read the letter and asked Paul what province he was from. When he found out that he was from Cilicia,

Afterward I went to places in Syria and Cilicia.

The LORD loves his people and protects those who belong to him. So we bow at his feet and obey his commands.

Once, when there was a famine throughout the land, Elisha returned to Gilgal. While he was teaching a group of prophets, he told his servant to put a big pot on the fire and make some stew for them.

On the third day they found him in the Temple, sitting with the Jewish teachers, listening to them and asking questions.

People went out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid.

She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the feet of the Lord and listened to his teaching.

But one of them, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, who was a teacher of the Law and was highly respected by all the people, stood up in the Council. He ordered the apostles to be taken out for a while,

When Paul saw that some of the group were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, he called out in the Council, "Fellow Israelites! I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees. I am on trial here because of the hope I have that the dead will rise to life!"

They have always known, if they are willing to testify, that from the very first I have lived as a member of the strictest party of our religion, the Pharisees.

I was ahead of most other Jews of my age in my practice of the Jewish religion, and was much more devoted to the traditions of our ancestors.

I was circumcised when I was a week old. I am an Israelite by birth, of the tribe of Benjamin, a pure-blooded Hebrew. As far as keeping the Jewish Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee,

After hearing him, they all praised God. Then they said, "Brother Paul, you can see how many thousands of Jews have become believers, and how devoted they all are to the Law.

(The people of Gibeon were not Israelites; they were a small group of Amorites whom the Israelites had promised to protect, but Saul had tried to destroy them because of his zeal for the people of Israel and Judah.)

I can assure you that they are deeply devoted to God; but their devotion is not based on true knowledge.

They have not known the way in which God puts people right with himself, and instead, they have tried to set up their own way; and so they did not submit themselves to God's way of putting people right.

Those other people show a deep interest in you, but their intentions are not good. All they want is to separate you from me, so that you will have the same interest in them as they have in you.

Now, it is good to have such a deep interest if the purpose is good---this is true always, and not merely when I am with you.

and I was so zealous that I persecuted the church. As far as a person can be righteous by obeying the commands of the Law, I was without fault.