Acts 13

¹Now there were prophets and teachers in the local church at Antioch: Barnabas, Symeon (who was called "the Black"), Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen (a lifelong companion of Herod the tetrarch), and Saul. ²While they were performing their divine service to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³Then, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵When they arrived in Salamis, they began proclaiming the word of God in the Jewish synagogues; they also had John as their assistant. ⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain magus, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁷who was an associate of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of keen intelligence. The proconsul summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸But Elymas the magus (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, seeking to twist the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eye ¹⁰and said, “You son of a slanderer, full of every deceit and every fraud! You enemy of all justice, will you not stop distorting the straight paths of the Lord? ¹¹And now, look: the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time!” Immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about groping for people to lead him by the hand. ¹²When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was spellbound by the teaching about the Lord.

¹³Putting out to sea from Paphos, Paul and his companions came to Perga in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴They, however, passed through from Perga and arrived at Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath day, they entered the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if there is any word of encouragement for the people in you, speak it.”

¹⁶Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen! ¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he led them out of it. ¹⁸For a period of about forty years, he bore with their character in the wilderness. ¹⁹And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave their land to them as an inheritance. ²⁰All this took about four hundred and fifty years. After this, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. ²¹Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²²After removing him, he 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, who will do all my will.’

²³From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus. ²⁴Before his coming, John had publicly proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵As John was finishing his course, he would say, ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family and those among you who fear God, the message of this salvation has been sent to us. ²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him or the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, fulfilled those prophecies by condemning him. ²⁸Though they found no basis for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹When they had carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down from the wood and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰But God raised him from the dead! ³¹For many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

³²And we are bringing you the good news that the promise made to the fathers ³³has been fully realized by God for our children by raising up Jesus, just as it is written in the second psalm: ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’ ³⁴As for the fact that he raised him from the dead, never again to return to decay, he spoke in this way: ‘I will give you the holy and faithful promises of David.’ ³⁵Therefore he also says in another psalm: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.’ ³⁶For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, was laid with his fathers, and saw decay; ³⁷but the one whom God raised did not see decay.

³⁸Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and from all the things from which you were not able to be set right by the Law of Moses, ³⁹in this man everyone who trusts is set right. ⁴⁰Watch out, then, so that what was spoken in the prophets does not happen to you: ⁴¹‘Look, you scoffers, be amazed and perish! For I am doing a work in your days—a work you will never believe, even if someone explains it to you in detail.’”

⁴²As they were leaving, the people kept begging for these things to be spoken to them again on the following Sabbath. ⁴³When the synagogue service broke up, many of the Jews and the devout converts followed Paul and Barnabas, who, in their conversations with them, were urging them to remain constant in the grace of God.

⁴⁴On the next Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began slandering and contradicting what Paul was saying. ⁴⁶Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying: “It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, look—we are turning to the nations. ⁴⁷For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have placed you as a light for the nations, so that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth.’”

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice and glorify the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. ⁵⁰But the Jews incited the prominent devout women and the leading men of the city; they stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district. ⁵¹So they shook the dust off their feet against them and went to Iconium. ⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.