[Upon entering the house] he held up his hand to quiet them, then went on to explain how the Lord had rescued him from jail. He said to them, "[Go] tell all this to James [the Lord's half-brother] and to [the rest of] the brothers." Then he left [them] and went elsewhere.

[It appears that] Alexander was appointed out of the crowd by the Jews [i.e., to be their spokesman in defending them from the charges being made against Paul]. He motioned with his hand [to get attention] and attempted to speak to the assembly in defense [of the Jewish viewpoint].

And when the commander gave him permission, Paul stood on the stairway and motioned to the people with his hand [for attention]. When they completely quieted down, he spoke to them in the Hebrew [i.e., Aramaic] language, saying,

Men

"You brothers, descendants of Abraham's family and those of you who respect God very much, this message of salvation was intended for us.

"You people of Israel, listen to this message: Jesus from Nazareth was a man whom God [demonstrated] His approval of by powerful deeds, miracles and [supernatural] signs which He accomplished through Jesus in your very presence --- and you all know this!

And when Peter saw [the crowd assembling] he gave this explanation: "Men of Israel, why are you so shocked at [what happened to] this man? And why are you gazing at us, as though it were by our power or godly qualities that we caused him to walk?

And ye

As Paul and Barnabas left [the synagogue], the people urged them to speak [more] about this message the next Sabbath day.

He was very devoted [to his religious principles] and had great respect for God, along with the members of his household. He gave [money] liberally to poor people and prayed to God regularly.

He shows mercy to generation after generation of people who have reverence for Him.

But the other criminal spoke harshly to the first one, saying, "Do you not even have any fear of God [left], since you [too] are experiencing the same sentence of condemnation?

Give

But Peter [responded by] standing up with the eleven [other] apostles and, lifting up his voice, began to speak. He said, "People of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, listen to what I am saying so you will understand this situation.

"Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense I want to make to you."

The person who has ears to hear with ought to listen [to this] carefully.

"The person who has an ear should listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches. To the person who has victory [in the Christian life] I will give [the opportunity] to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God." [Note: "Paradise" is equivalent to heaven. See II Cor. 12:4].