Barnabas and Saul Commissioned
Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and
teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene,
Manaen a member of the court of Herod the ruler,a
and Saul. 2
While they were worshiping 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
Then after fasting and praying they laid their
hands on them and sent them off.
The Apostles Preach in Cyprus
4 So, being sent
out by the Holy Spirit, they 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. And they had John also to
assist them. 6
When they had gone through the whole island as far as
Paphos, they met 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 and wanted to hear the
word of God. 8
But the magician Elymas (for that is the translation
of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the
faith. 9
But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked
intently at him 10
and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all
righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making
crooked the straight paths of the Lord?
11 And now listen—the hand of the Lord
is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the
sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about
groping for someone to lead him by the hand.
12 When the proconsul
saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the
teaching about the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas in Antioch of Pisidia
13 Then Paul and
his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia.
John, however, left them and returned to Jerusalem;
14 but they went on
from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the sabbath day they
went into the synagogue and sat down. 15
After the reading of the law and the
prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message, saying,
“Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, give it.”
16 So
Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak:
“You Israelites,b
and others who fear God, listen. 17
The God of this people Israel chose our
ancestors and made the people great during their stay in the land of
Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.
18 For about forty
years he put up withc
them in the wilderness. 19
After he had destroyed seven nations in the land of
Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance
20 for about four
hundred fifty years. After that he gave them judges until the time of
the prophet Samuel. 21
Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul
son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty
years. 22
When he had removed him, he made David their king. In
his testimony about him he said, ‘I have found David, son of Jesse, to
be a man after my heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’
23 Of this man’s
posterity God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised;
24 before
his coming John had already proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all
the people of Israel. 25
And as John was finishing his work, he said, ‘What do
you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but one is coming after me; I am
not worthy to untie the thong of the sandalsd
on his feet.’
26 “My brothers,
you descendants of Abraham’s family, and others who fear God, to use
the message of this salvation has been sent.
27 Because the
residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize him or
understand the words of the prophets that are read every sabbath, they
fulfilled those words by condemning him.
28 Even though they found no cause for a
sentence of death, they asked Pilate to have him killed.
29 When they had
carried out everything that was written about him, they took him down
from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30
But God raised him from the dead;
31 and for many
days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to
Jerusalem, and they are now his witnesses to the people.
32 And we bring you
the good news that what God promised to our ancestors
33 he has fulfilled
for us, their children, by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the
second psalm,
‘You are my Son;
today I have begotten you.’
34 As to his
raising him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has
spoken in this way,
‘I will give you the holy promises made to David.’
35 Therefore
he has also said in another psalm,
‘You will not let your Holy One experience
corruption.’
36 For David,
after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died,f
was laid beside his ancestors, and experienced corruption;
37 but he whom God
raised up experienced no corruption. 38
Let it be known to you therefore, my
brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to
you; 39
by this Jesusg
everyone who believes is set free from all those sinsh
from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.
40 Beware, therefore,
that what the prophets said does not happen to you:
41 ‘Look,
you scoffers!
Be amazed and perish,
for in your days I am doing a work,
a work that you will never believe, even if someone
tells you.’ ”
42 As Paul and
Barnabasi
were going out, the people urged them to speak about these things again
the next sabbath. 43
When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews
and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to
them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.
44 The next
sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.j
45 But
when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; and
blaspheming, they contradicted what was spoken by Paul.
46 Then both Paul and
Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of
God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge
yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the
Gentiles. 47
For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
‘I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles,
so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the
earth.’ ”
48 When the
Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the word of the Lord;
and as many as had been destined for eternal life became believers.
49 Thus
the word of the Lord spread throughout the region.
50 But the Jews
incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the
city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove
them out of their region. 51
So they shook the dust off their feet in
protest against them, and went to Iconium.
52 And the disciples
were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
c
Other ancient
authorities read
cared for
e
Other ancient
authorities read
you
j
Other ancient
authorities read
God
The Holy Bible : New Revised
Standard Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989, S.
Ac 13:1-52