Acts 13

Now there were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

And while they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to do.”

Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

So they, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

And when they were at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they also had John as their attendant.

And when they had gone through the whole island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus,

who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. He, having summoned Barnabas and Saul, sought to hear the word of God.

But Elymas the sorcerer (for thus his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with holy spirit, fixed his gaze on him

and said, “O you son of the Devil, full of every sort of deceit and wickedness, you enemy of all righteousness, will you never stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?

And now, Look! The hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness, and he went around seeking people to lead him by the hand.

Then the proconsul, when he saw what had happened, believed, being amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem.

But they, passing through Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.

And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the People, say it.”

And Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you Gentiles who are God-fearers, listen!

The God of the People, Israel, chose our fathers, and exalted the People during their sojourn in the land of Egypt, and with a high arm he led them out of it.

And for about the time of 40 years he endured their conduct in the desert.

And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them the land as an inheritance.

And after these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet—all this took about 450 years—

and afterward they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years.

And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; and he also testified about him and said, I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.

From this man’s seed God has, according to his promise, brought to Israel a Savior—Jesus.

Before his coming, John had proclaimed to all the People of Israel baptism as a sign of repentance.

Now while John was fulfilling his course, he kept saying, ‘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 loosen.’

“Men and brothers, sons of the race of Abraham, and those Gentiles among you who are God-fearers, the message of this salvation has been sent out to us.

For those who live in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know him, nor the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.

And without having found a reason to put him to death, they nevertheless asked Pilate that he be executed.

And when they had carried out all the things that were written about him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb.

But God raised him from among the dead,

and for many days he was seen by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the People.

And now we are telling to you the good news of the promise made to the Fathers,

that God has fulfilled these promises to us, that is, to their children, by raising up Jesus, just as it is written in the second psalm, You are my Son; today I have become your Father.

Now concerning the fact that he raised him from among the dead, never again destined to return to death and corruption, he has spoken in this way: I will give to you the sacred promises made to David, the trustworthy ones!

Therefore he says also in another psalm, You will not allow your Devout One to see corruption.

“For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and saw corruption,

but he whom God raised did not see corruption.

Therefore let it be known among you, men and brothers, that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

and by him everyone who believes is declared righteous from all the things that kept you from being able to be declared righteous under the Law of Moses.

Be careful, therefore, that the thing that was spoken by the prophets does not happen to you:

Look you despisers, and be amazed, and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work that you will never believe, even if someone told you in detail.”

And as they were going out, the people were entreating Paul and Barnabas to speak those words to them the next Sabbath.

Now when the synagogue meeting had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and were persuading them to continue in the grace of God.

And the next Sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of the Lord.

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things that were spoken by Paul, speaking defaming words.

And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of life in the age to come, look!, we are turning to the Gentiles.

For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, so that you bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Now when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as believed were at that time appointed to life in the age to come.

And the word of the Lord spread through the whole region.

But the Jews stirred up the God-fearing women of prominence, and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.

But they shook off the dust of their feet as a symbol against them, and came to Iconium.

And the disciples were filled with joy and holy spirit.