but if it comes from God, you cannot possibly defeat them. You could find yourselves fighting against God!" The Council followed Gamaliel's advice.

Why do the nations plan rebellion? Why do people make their useless plots?

"Let us free ourselves from their rule," they say; "let us throw off their control."

While you were looking at it, a great stone broke loose from a cliff without anyone touching it, struck the iron and clay feet of the statue, and shattered them.

At once the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold crumbled and became like the dust on a threshing place in summer. The wind carried it all away, leaving not a trace. But the stone grew to be a mountain that covered the whole earth.

But not all have accepted the Good News. Isaiah himself said, "Lord, who believed our message?"

But I ask: Is it true that they did not hear the message? Of course they did---for as the scripture says: "The sound of their voice went out to all the world; their words reached the ends of the earth."

I will be bold and speak only about what Christ has done through me to lead the Gentiles to obey God. He has done this by means of words and deeds,

My ambition has always been to proclaim the Good News in places where Christ has not been heard of, so as not to build on a foundation laid by someone else.

And so I have been prevented many times from coming to you.

For not only did the message about the Lord go out from you throughout Macedonia and Achaia, but the news about your faith in God has gone everywhere. There is nothing, then, that we need to say.

So the Council warned them even more strongly and then set them free. They saw that it was impossible to punish them, because the people were all praising God for what had happened.

And now, Lord, take notice of the threats they have made, and allow us, your servants, to speak your message with all boldness.

Reach out your hand to heal, and grant that wonders and miracles may be performed through the name of your holy Servant Jesus."

When the chief priests and the officer in charge of the Temple guards heard this, they wondered what had happened to the apostles.

"We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name of this man," he said; "but see what you have done! You have spread your teaching all over Jerusalem, and you want to make us responsible for his death!"

They called the apostles in, had them whipped, and ordered them never again to speak in the name of Jesus; and then they set them free.

This made the LORD angry, so he sent a prophet to Amaziah. The prophet demanded, "Why have you worshiped foreign gods that could not even save their own people from your power?"

"Since when," Amaziah interrupted, "have we made you adviser to the king? Stop talking, or I'll have you killed!" The prophet stopped, but not before saying, "Now I know that God has decided to destroy you because you have done all this and have ignored my advice."

God told me to write down in a book what the people are like, so that there would be a permanent record of how evil they are.

They tell the prophets to keep quiet. They say, "Don't talk to us about what's right. Tell us what we want to hear. Let us keep our illusions.

When the priest Pashhur son of Immer, who was the chief officer of the Temple, heard me proclaim these things,

The next morning, after Pashhur had released me from the chains, I said to him, "The LORD did not name you Pashhur. The name he has given you is 'Terror Everywhere.'

(SEE 29:24)

Why haven't you done this to Jeremiah of Anathoth, who has been speaking as a prophet to the people?

Zephaniah read the letter to me,

to send to all the prisoners in Babylon this message about Shemaiah: "I, the LORD, will punish Shemaiah and all of his descendants. I did not send him, but he spoke to you as if he were a prophet, and he made you believe lies. He will have no descendants among you. He will not live to see the good things that I am going to do for my people, because he told them to rebel against me. I, the LORD, have spoken."

Then the officials went to the king and said, "This man must be put to death. By talking like this he is making the soldiers in the city lose their courage, and he is doing the same thing to everyone else left in the city. He is not trying to help the people; he only wants to hurt them."

But you made the nazirites drink wine, and ordered the prophets not to speak my message.

Amaziah then said to Amos, "That's enough, prophet! Go on back to Judah and do your preaching there. Let them pay you for it.

Amos answered, "I am not the kind of prophet who prophesies for pay. I am a herdsman, and I take care of fig trees.

So now listen to what the LORD says. You tell me to stop prophesying, to stop raving against the people of Israel.

The people preach at me and say, "Don't preach at us. Don't preach about all that. God is not going to disgrace us.

Do you think the people of Israel are under a curse? Has the LORD lost his patience? Would he really do such things? Doesn't he speak kindly to those who do right?"

Give orders, then, for his tomb to be carefully guarded until the third day, so that his disciples will not be able to go and steal the body, and then tell the people that he was raised from death. This last lie would be even worse than the first one."

So the Pharisees and the chief priests met with the Council and said, "What shall we do? Look at all the miracles this man is performing!

If we let him go on in this way, everyone will believe in him, and the Roman authorities will take action and destroy our Temple and our nation!"

who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and persecuted us. How displeasing they are to God! How hostile they are to everyone!

They even tried to stop us from preaching to the Gentiles the message that would bring them salvation. In this way they have brought to completion all the sins they have always committed. And now God's anger has at last come down on them!