Acts 13

13Now ^ain the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: ^bBarnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, ^cLucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ²As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ^d“Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work ^eto which I have called them.” ³Then, ^fhaving fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

Preaching in Cyprus

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to ^gCyprus. ⁵And when they arrived in Salamis, ^hthey preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had ⁱJohn as their assistant.

⁶Now when they had gone through ¹the island to Paphos, they found ^ja certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸But ^kElymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) ²withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹Then Saul, who also is called Paul, ^lfilled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, ^myou son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹And now, indeed, ⁿthe hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.”

And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹²Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

At Antioch in Pisidia

¹³Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and ^oJohn, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and ^pwent into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. ¹⁵And ^qafter the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have ^rany word of ³exhortation for the people, say on.”

¹⁶Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and ^syou who fear God, listen: ¹⁷The God of this people ⁴Israel ^tchose our fathers, and exalted the people ^uwhen they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with ⁵an uplifted arm He ^vbrought them out of it. ¹⁸Now ^wfor a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. ¹⁹And when He had destroyed ^xseven nations in the land of Canaan, ^yHe distributed their land to them by allotment.

²⁰“After that ^zHe gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, ^auntil Samuel the prophet. ^21bAnd afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them ^cSaul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²²And ^dwhen He had removed him, ^eHe raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ^f‘I have found David the son of Jesse, ^ga man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ ^23hFrom this man’s seed, according ⁱto the promise, God raised up for Israel ^ja ⁶Savior—Jesus—^24kafter John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵And as John was finishing his course, he said, ^l‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, ^mthere comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’

²⁶“Men and brethren, sons of the ⁷family of Abraham, and ⁿthose among you who fear God, ^oto you the ⁸word of this salvation has been sent. ²⁷For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, ^pbecause they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. ^28qAnd though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. ^29rNow when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, ^sthey took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. ^30tBut God raised Him from the dead. ^31uHe was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. ³²And we declare to you glad tidings—^vthat promise which was made to the fathers. ³³God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:

^w‘You are My Son,

Today I have begotten You.’

³⁴And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to ⁹corruption, He has spoken thus:

^x‘I will give you the sure ¹mercies of David.’

³⁵Therefore He also says in another Psalm:

^y‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’

³⁶“For David, after he had served ²his own generation by the will of God, ^zfell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and ³saw corruption; ³⁷but He whom God raised up ⁴saw no corruption. ³⁸Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that ^athrough this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹and ^bby Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

⁴¹‘Behold, ^cyou despisers,

Marvel and perish!

For I work a work in your days,

A work which you will by no means believe,

Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”

Blessing and Conflict at Antioch

⁴²⁵So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, ^dpersuaded them to continue in ^ethe grace of God.

⁴⁴On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. ⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they ^fopposed the things spoken by Paul. ⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ^g“It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but ^hsince you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, ⁱwe turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷For so the Lord has commanded us:

^j‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,

That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

⁴⁸Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. ^kAnd as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. ⁵⁰But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, ^lraised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. ^51mBut they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. ⁵²And the disciples ⁿwere filled with joy and ^owith the Holy Spirit.