Chapter 13

¹There were at Antioch in the church there a number of prophets and teachers—Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the governor, and Saul. ²As they were engaged in worshiping the Lord and in fasting, the holy Spirit said,

“Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me, for the work to which I have called them.”

³So after fasting and prayer, they laid their hands upon them and let them go.

⁴Being sent out in this way by the holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. ⁵When they reached Salamis, they proclaimed God’s message in the Jewish synagogues. They had John with them as their assistant.

⁶They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, and there they came across a Jewish magician and false prophet named Barjesus. ⁷He was attached to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. He sent for Barnabas and Saul and asked them to let him hear God’s message. ⁸But Elymas the magician—for that is the meaning of his name—opposed them, and tried to keep the governor from accepting the faith. ⁹But Saul, who was also called Paul, was filled with the holy Spirit, and looked at him ¹⁰and said,

“You monster of underhandedness and cunning! You son of the devil! You enemy of all that is right! Will you never stop trying to make the Lord’s straight paths crooked? ¹¹The Lord’s hand is right upon you, and you will be blind and unable even to see the sun for a time.”

Instantly a mist of darkness fell upon him, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand. ¹²Then the governor, seeing what had happened, believed, and was thunderstruck at the Lord’s teaching.

¹³Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia. There John left them and returned to Jerusalem, ¹⁴but they went on from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue there and took seats. ¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue authorities sent to them, saying,

“Brothers, if you have any appeal to make to the people, proceed.”

¹⁶Then Paul got up, and motioning with his hand, said,

“Men of Israel, and you who reverence God, listen! ¹⁷The God of this people of Israel chose our forefathers, and made the people great during their stay in Egypt, and then with uplifted hand led them out of Egypt. ¹⁸Then after he had taken care of them for forty years in the desert, ¹⁹he destroyed seven nations in Canaan, and settled them upon their land for about four hundred and fifty years. ²⁰After that he gave them judges, down to the time of the prophet Samuel. ²¹Then they demanded a king and for forty years God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin. ²²Then he removed him and raised David up to be their king, bearing this testimony to him: ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my own heart, who will do all that I desire.’ ²³It is from his descendants that God has brought to Israel as he promised to do, a savior in Jesus, ²⁴in preparation for whose coming John had preached to all the people of Israel baptism in token of repentance. ²⁵Toward the end of his career, John said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he! No! Someone is coming after me, the shoes on whose feet I am not fit to untie!’ ²⁶Brothers! Descendants of the house of Abraham, and those others among you who reverence God! It is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. ²⁷For the people of Jerusalem and their leaders refused to recognize him, and condemned him, thus fulfilling the very utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, ²⁸and though they could find no ground for putting him to death, they demanded of Pilate that he be executed. ²⁹When they had carried out everything that had been said about him in the Scriptures, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰But God raised him from the dead, ³¹and for many days he appeared to those who had come up to Jerusalem with him from Galilee, and they are now witnesses for him to the people. ³²So we now bring you the good news ³³that God has fulfilled to us, their children, the promise that he made to our forefathers, by raising Jesus to life, just as the Scripture says in the second psalm, You are my Son! Today I have become your Father!’ ³⁴Now as evidence that he has raised him from the dead, never again to return to decay, he said this: ‘I will fulfil to you my sacred promises to David.’ ³⁵For in another psalm he says, ‘You will not let your Holy One undergo decay.’ ³⁶Now David, after serving God’s purposes in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his forefathers and did undergo decay, ³⁷but he whom God raised to life did not undergo it. ³⁸You must understand therefore, my brothers, that through him the forgiveness of your sins is announced to you, ³⁹and that through union with him everyone who believes is cleared of every charge of which the Law of Moses could not clear you. ⁴⁰Take care, therefore, that what is said in the prophets does not prove true of you:

⁴¹“ ‘Look, you scoffers! Then wonder and begone!

For I am doing something in your times

Which you will never believe even when it is related to you!’ ”

⁴²As they were going out, the people begged to have all this said to them again on the following Sabbath, ⁴³and after the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and the devout converts to Judaism went away with Paul and Barnabas, and they talked with them, and urged them to rely on the favor of God.

⁴⁴The next Sabbath almost all the town gathered to hear God’s message. ⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowd, they were very jealous, and they contradicted what Paul said and abused him. ⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out plainly, and said,

“God’s message had to be told to you first, but since you thrust it off and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the heathen. ⁴⁷For these are the orders the Lord has given us:

“ ‘I have made you a light for the heathen,

To be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth!’ ”

⁴⁸When the heathen heard this they were delighted, and praised God’s message, and all who were destined for eternal life believed, ⁴⁹and the Lord’s message spread all over the country. ⁵⁰But the Jews stirred up the well-to-do religious women and the leading men of the town, and they started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. ⁵¹They shook off the dust from their feet in protest, and went to Iconium. ⁵²But the disciples continued to be full of joy and of the holy Spirit.