13
Barnabas and Saul Are Commissioned
1 Now at the church in Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (who was called Niger), Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.
2 As they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus
4 Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, the two of them went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. (They also had John as their assistant.)
6 When they had gone across the island to Paphos, they came across a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.
7 He was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul, seeking to hear the word of God.
8 But the magician Elymas (for that is what his name means) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
9 But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at Elymas
10 and said, “O son of the devil, full of all deceit and all trickery, enemy of all righteousness, will yoʋ not cease perverting the straight paths of the Lord?
11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is against yoʋ, and yoʋ will be blind, unable to see the sun for a period of time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and he was going around seeking people to lead him by the hand.
12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas in Antioch of Pisidia
13 Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.
14 Continuing on from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.
15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent them a message, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak it.”
16 Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen.
17 The God of this people chose our fathers and exalted the people during their sojourn in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he led them out of that country.
18 For about forty years, he put up with them in the wilderness,
19 and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave his people their land as an inheritance.
20 After that he gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, up to the time of Samuel the prophet.
21 Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years.
22 After removing Saul, God raised up David as their king, about whom he testified, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart; he will do all that I want him to do.’
23 From this man's offspring God brought salvation to Israel, according to his promise,
24 after John had first preached a baptism of repentance to Israel in advance of the coming Savior.
25 Now as John was completing his course, he said, ‘Who do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the message of this salvation has been sent.
27 Since those who dwell in Jerusalem, along with their rulers, failed to recognize this man and the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, they fulfilled their words by condemning him.
28 Even though they found no grounds for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him killed.
29 When they had fulfilled all that was written about him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb.
30 But God raised him from the dead,
31 and for many days he was seen by those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people.
32 And we preach to you the good news that what God promised to our fathers, he has fulfilled to us, their children, by raising up Jesus,
33 just as it is written in the second Psalm,
‘Yoʋ are my son;
today I have begotten yoʋ.’
34 As for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, God has spoken in this way:
‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
35 Therefore it also says in another place:
‘Yoʋ will not let yoʋr Holy One see corruption.’
36 For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep, was added to his fathers, and saw corruption.
37 But he whom God raised up did not see corruption.
38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man remission of sins is proclaimed to you,
39 and by this man everyone who believes is set free from everything from which you could not be set free by the law of Moses.
40 So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:
41 ‘Behold, you scoffers,
be amazed and perish,
for I am doing a work in your days
that you will certainly not believe,
even if someone tells you about it.’ ”
42 Now as Paul and Barnabas were going out from the synagogue of the Jews, the Gentiles were urging them to speak about these things on the next Sabbath.
43 And when the meeting of the synagogue was dispersed, many of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
44 On the following Sabbath, nearly the entire city was gathered together to hear the word of God.
45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what Paul was saying, opposing him and slandering him.
46 But Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly, saying, “It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken first to you. But since you are rejecting it and do not judge yourselves to be worthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.
47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us:
‘I have appointed yoʋ to be a light to the Gentiles,
so that yoʋ may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed to eternal life believed.
49 So the word of the Lord spread throughout that entire region.
50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the prominent men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.
51 But Paul and Barnabas shook off the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.