First Missionary Journey

13 Now there were ^(A)prophets and ^(B)teachers at ^(C)Antioch, in the ^(D)church that was there: ^(E)Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of ^(F)Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with ^(G)Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were ^[a]serving the Lord and fasting, ^(H)the Holy Spirit said, “Set ^(I)Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for ^(J)the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, when they had fasted, ^(K)prayed, and ^(L)laid their hands on them, ^(M)they sent them away.

⁴ So, being ^(N)sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to ^(O)Cyprus. ⁵ When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in ^(P)the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had ^(Q)John as their helper. ⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a ^(R)magician, a Jewish ^(S)false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the ^(T)proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the ^(U)magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the ^(V)proconsul away from ^(W)the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also known as Paul, ^[b](X)filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him, ¹⁰ and said, “^[c]You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you ^(Y)son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked ^(Z)the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now, behold, ^(AA)the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the ^(AB)proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at ^(AC)the teaching of the Lord.

¹³ Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from ^(AD)Paphos and came to ^(AE)Perga in ^(AF)Pamphylia; but ^(AG)John left them and returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But going on from Perga, they arrived at ^(AH)Pisidian ^(AI)Antioch, and on ^(AJ)the Sabbath day they went into ^(AK)the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After ^(AL)the reading of the Law and ^(AM)the Prophets, ^(AN)the synagogue officials sent word to them, saying, “^[d]Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.” ¹⁶ Paul stood up, and ^(AO)motioning with his hand said,

“Men of Israel, and ^(AP)you who fear God, listen: ¹⁷ The God of this people Israel ^(AQ)chose our fathers and ^[e](AR)made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm ^(AS)He led them out from it. ¹⁸ For ^(AT)a period of about forty years ^(AU)He put up with them in the wilderness. ^19 (AV)When He had destroyed ^(AW)seven nations in the land of Canaan, He ^(AX)distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took ^(AY)about 450 years. ²⁰ After these things He ^(AZ)gave them judges until ^(BA)Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then they ^(BB)asked for a king, and God gave them ^(BC)Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² After He had ^(BD)removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘^(BE)I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My ^[f]will.’ ^23 (BF)From the descendants of this man, ^(BG)according to promise, God has brought to Israel ^(BH)a Savior, Jesus, ²⁴ after ^(BI)John had proclaimed, before ^[g]His coming, a ^(BJ)baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And while John ^(BK)was completing his course, ^(BL)he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, One is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶ “^[h]Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of ^(BM)this salvation has been sent. ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem, and their ^(BN)rulers, ^(BO)recognizing neither Him nor the ^[i]declarations of ^(BP)the prophets which are ^(BQ)read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. ²⁸ And though they found no grounds for putting Him to death, they ^(BR)asked Pilate that He be executed. ²⁹ When they had ^(BS)carried out everything that was written concerning Him, ^(BT)they took Him down from the ^[j](BU)cross and ^(BV)laid Him in a tomb. ³⁰ But God ^(BW)raised Him from the dead; ³¹ and for many days ^(BX)He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now ^(BY)His witnesses to the people. ³² And we ^(BZ)preach to you the good news of ^(CA)the promise made to the fathers, ³³ that God has fulfilled this promise to those of us who are the descendants by ^(CB)raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘^(CC)You are My Son; today I have fathered You.’ ³⁴ As for the fact that He ^(CD)raised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘^(CE)I will give you the holy and faithful mercies of David.’ ³⁵ Therefore, He also says in another Psalm: ‘^(CF)You will not ^[k]allow Your ^[l]Holy One to ^[m]undergo decay.’ ³⁶ For ^(CG)David, after he had ^[n]served God’s ^(CH)purpose in his own generation, ^(CI)fell asleep, and was ^[o]buried among his fathers and ^[p]underwent decay; ³⁷ but He whom God ^(CJ)raised did not ^[q]undergo decay. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, ^[r]brothers, that ^(CK)through ^[s]Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and ^[t]through Him ^(CL)everyone who believes is ^[u]freed from all things, from which you could not be ^[v]freed ^[w]through the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Therefore, see that the thing spoken of ^(CM)in the Prophets does not come upon you:

⁴² As ^[y]Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these ^[z]things spoken to them the next ^(CO)Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the ^(CP)God-fearing ^[aa](CQ)proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and urging them to continue in ^(CR)the grace of God.

Paul Turns to the Gentiles

⁴⁴ The next ^(CS)Sabbath nearly all the city assembled to hear the word of ^[ab]the Lord. ⁴⁵ But when ^(CT)the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were ^[ac]blaspheming. ⁴⁶ Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you ^(CU)first. Since you repudiate it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, ^(CV)we are turning to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us,

⁴⁸ When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying ^(CY)the word of ^[af]the Lord; and all who ^(CZ)had been appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ And ^(DA)the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. ⁵⁰ But ^(DB)the Jews incited the ^[ag](DC)devout women ^(DD)of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their ^[ah]region. ⁵¹ But ^(DE)they shook off the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to ^(DF)Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were continually ^(DG)filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.