6:5–6 A second important religious duty among the Jews was prayer. In the morning and in the evening the devout Jew would recite the Shema (three short passages of Scripture from Deuteronomy 6 and 11 and Numbers 15), and at nine in the morning, noon, and three in the afternoon he would go through the Shemoneh Esreh (the Eighteen Benedictions). Acts 3:1 notes that Peter and John went to the temple “at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.” According to Jewish custom, if you were in the streets at this time it was proper to stop, turn toward the temple, and pray (cf. the Moslem practice even today). Apparently the hypocrites would plan their day so as to be in some conspicuous place when it was time to pray. On busy street corners or in the square, they would lift their hands to God …