Acts 13–28
13 Now there were in the church at Antioch nprophets and nteachers, oBarnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,1 Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of pHerod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, qthe Holy Spirit said, r“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul sfor the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and tpraying they laid their hands on them and usent them off.
4 So, being sent out vby the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God win the synagogues of the Jews. And they had xJohn to yassist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain zmagician, aa Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with bthe proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the zmagician (for that is the meaning of his name) copposed them, seeking to turn dthe proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, efilled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You fson of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and gvillainy, will you not stop hmaking crooked ithe straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, jthe hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking kpeople to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at lthe teaching of the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia
13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And mJohn left them and returned nto Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And oon the Sabbath day pthey went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After qthe reading from rthe Law and the Prophets, sthe rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any tword of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and umotioning with his hand said:
“Men of Israel and vyou who fear God, listen. 17 wThe God of this people Israel xchose our fathers and ymade the people great zduring their stay in the land of Egypt, and awith uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about bforty years che put up with2 them in the wilderness. 19 And dafter destroying eseven nations in the land of Canaan, fhe gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that ghe gave them judges until hSamuel the prophet. 21 Then ithey asked for a king, and God gave them Saul jthe son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And kwhen he had removed him, lhe raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, m‘I have found in David the son of Jesse na man after my heart, owho will do all my will.’ 23 pOf this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel qa Savior, Jesus, ras he promised. 24 Before his coming, sJohn had proclaimed ta baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, uhe said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you vwho fear God, to us has been sent wthe message of xthis salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ythey did not recognize him nor understand zthe utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, afulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And bthough they found in him no guilt worthy of death, cthey asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when dthey had carried out all that was written of him, ethey took him down from fthe tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But gGod raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days hhe appeared to those iwho had come up with him jfrom Galilee to Jerusalem, kwho are now lhis witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news mthat what God promised to the fathers, 33 nthis he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,
o“ ‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you.’
34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, pqno more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,
“ ‘I will give you rthe holy and sure blessings of David.’
35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,
s“ ‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’
36 For David, after he had tserved the purpose of God in his own generation, ufell asleep and vwas laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom wGod raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, xthat through this man yforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him zeveryone who believes is freed3 from everything afrom which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:
41 b“ ‘Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’ ”
42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and cdevout dconverts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them eto continue in fthe grace of God.
44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 gBut hwhen the Jews4 saw the crowds, they were filled with ijealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, jreviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God kbe spoken first to you. lSince you thrust it aside and judge yourselves munworthy of eternal life, behold, we nare turning to the Gentiles. 47 oFor so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
p“ ‘I have made you qa light for the Gentiles,
that you may rbring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and sglorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 tBut the Jews incited the devout uwomen of high standing and the leading men of the city, vstirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and wdrove them out of their district. 51 But they xshook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled ywith joy and zwith the Holy Spirit.
14 Now at Iconium athey entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 bBut the cunbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against dthe brothers.1 3 So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for ethe Lord, who bore witness to fthe word of his grace, ggranting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 But the people of the city hwere divided; isome sided with the Jews and some with the apostles. 5 When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, jto mistreat them and kto stone them, 6 they learned of it and lfled to mLystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, 7 and there they continued to preach the gospel.
8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was ncrippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and oseeing that he had faith to be made well,2 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he psprang up and began walking. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, q“The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 Barnabas they called rZeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 And the priest of rZeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and swanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ttore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, 15 “Men, uwhy are you doing these things? We also are men, vof like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that wyou should turn from these xvain things to ya living God, zwho made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he aallowed all the nations bto walk in their own ways. 17 Yet che did not leave himself without witness, for he ddid good by egiving you rains from heaven and ffruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with gfood and hgladness.” 18 Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.
19 iBut Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, jthey stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had kmade many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 lstrengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them mto continue in nthe faith, and saying that othrough many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had pappointed qelders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting rthey committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria
24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to