THE MISSION TO CYPRUS

4 So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.p 6 When they had traveled the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.q 7 He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.r 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (that is the meaning of his name) opposeds them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.t

9 But Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at Elymas 10 and said, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, you son of the devilu and enemy of all that is right. Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight pathsv of the Lord? 11 Now, look, the Lord’s hand is against you.w You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

12 Then, when he saw what happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.x