Read the Bible

Barnabas and Saul Sent Out from Antioch

¹ Now there were prophets and teachers in Antioch in the church that was there: Barnabas, and Simeon (who was called Niger), and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch), and Saul. ² And while^[a] they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart now for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." ³ Then, after they^[b] had fasted and prayed and placed their^[c] hands on them, they sent them^[d] away.

Confronting a Magician on Cyprus

⁴ Therefore, sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed away to Cyprus. ⁵ And when they^[e] came to Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they also had John as assistant. ⁶ And when they^[f] had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and^[g] wished to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the magician (for his name is translated in this way) opposed them, attempting to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul (also called Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰ and^[h] said, "O you who are full of all deceit and of all unscrupulousness, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness! Will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord! ¹¹ And now behold, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a while.^[i] And immediately mist and darkness fell over him, and he was going around looking for people^[j] to lead him^[k] by the hand. ¹² Then when^[l] the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, because he^[m] was astounded at the teaching about^[n] the Lord.

Preaching in the Synagogue at Pisidian Antioch

¹³ Now Paul and his companions^[o] put out to sea from Paphos and^[p] came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John departed from them and^[q] returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And they went on from Perga and^[r] arrived at Pisidian Antioch. And they entered into the synagogue on the day of the Sabbath and^[s] sat down. ¹⁵ So after the reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent word^[t] to them, saying, "Men and brothers, if there is any message of exhortation by you for the people, say it."^[u]

¹⁶ So Paul stood up,^[v] and motioning with his^[w] hand, he said, "Israelite men, and those who fear God, listen! ¹⁷ The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people during their^[x] stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. ¹⁸ And for a period of time of about forty years, he put up with them in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And after^[y] destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave their land to his people^[z] as an inheritance. ²⁰ This took^[aa] about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things, he gave them^[ab] judges until Samuel the prophet. ²¹ And then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And after^[ac] removing him, he raised up David for their king, about whom he also said, testifying, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man in accordance with my heart, who will carry out all my will.'^{[ad] 23} From the descendants of this man, according to his promise, God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus. ²⁴ Before his coming^[ae] John had publicly proclaimed^[af] a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ But while John was completing his^[ag] mission, he said, ‘What do you suppose me to be? I am not he! But behold, one is coming after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of his^[ah] feet!'

²⁶ "Men and brothers, sons of the family of Abraham and those among you who fear God—to us the message of this salvation has been sent! ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they^[ai] did not recognize this one, and the voices of the prophets that are read on every Sabbath, fulfilled them^[aj] by^[ak] condemning him.^{[al] 28} And although they^[am] found no charge worthy of death, they asked Pilate that he be executed. ²⁹ And when they had carried out all the things that were written about him, they took him^[an] down from the tree and^[ao] placed him^[ap] in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead, ³¹ who appeared for many days to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem—who are now his witnesses to the people. ³² And we proclaim the good news to you: that the promise that was made to the fathers, ³³ this promise^[aq] God has fulfilled to our children^[ar] by^[as] raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm,

³⁴ But that he has raised him from the dead, no more going to return to decay, he has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the reliable divine decrees of David.'^{[au] 35} Therefore he also says in another psalm,^[av]

³⁶ For David, after^[ax] serving the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was buried with^[ay] his fathers, and experienced decay. ³⁷ But he whom God raised up did not experience decay.

³⁸ "Therefore let it be known to you, men and brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and from all the things from which you were not able to be justified by the law of Moses, ³⁹ by this one everyone who believes is justified! ⁴⁰ Watch out, therefore, lest what is stated by the prophets come upon you:^[az]

Response to the Message in Pisidian Antioch

⁴² And as^[bc] they were going out, they began urging^[bd] that these things be spoken about to them on the next Sabbath. ⁴³ And after^[be] the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the devout^[bf] proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and^[bg] were persuading them to continue in the grace of God. ⁴⁴ And on the coming Sabbath, nearly the whole city came together to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵ But when^[bh] the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting what was being said by Paul by^[bi] reviling him.^{[bj] 46} Both Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly and^[bk] said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life! Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles! ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us:

⁴⁸ And when^[bo] the Gentiles heard this,^[bp] they began to rejoice^[bq] and to glorify the word of the Lord. And all those who were designated for eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ So the word of the Lord was carried through the whole region. ⁵⁰ But the Jews incited the devout women of high social standing and the most prominent men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and threw them out of their district. ⁵¹ So after^[br] shaking off the dust from their feet against them, they went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.