Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

13 Now there were in the church at Antioch ^(A)prophets and ^(B)teachers, ^(C)Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,^[a] Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of ^(D)Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, ^(E)the Holy Spirit said, ^(F)“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul ^(G)for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and ^(H)praying they laid their hands on them and ^(I)sent them off.

Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus

⁴ So, being sent out ^(J)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 ^(K)in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had ^(L)John to ^(M)assist them. ⁶ When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain ^(N)magician, ^(O)a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. ⁷ He was with ^(P)the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the ^(Q)magician (for that is the meaning of his name) ^(R)opposed them, seeking to turn ^(S)the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, who was also called Paul, ^(T)filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰ and said, “You ^(U)son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and ^(V)villainy, will you not stop ^(W)making crooked ^(X)the straight paths of the Lord? ¹¹ And now, behold, ^(Y)the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking ^(Z)people to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at ^(AA)the teaching of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia

¹³ Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And ^(AB)John left them and returned ^(AC)to Jerusalem, ¹⁴ but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And ^(AD)on the Sabbath day ^(AE)they went into the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After ^(AF)the reading from ^(AG)the Law and the Prophets, ^(AH)the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any ^(AI)word of encouragement for the people, say it.” ¹⁶ So Paul stood up, and ^(AJ)motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and ^(AK)you who fear God, listen. ^17 (AL)The God of this people Israel ^(AM)chose our fathers and ^(AN)made the people great ^(AO)during their stay in the land of Egypt, and ^(AP)with uplifted arm he led them out of it. ¹⁸ And for about ^(AQ)forty years ^(AR)he put up with^[b] them in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And ^(AS)after destroying ^(AT)seven nations in the land of Canaan, ^(AU)he gave them their land as an inheritance. ²⁰ All this took about 450 years. And after that ^(AV)he gave them judges until ^(AW)Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then ^(AX)they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul ^(AY)the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And ^(AZ)when he had removed him, ^(BA)he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ^(BB)‘I have found in David the son of Jesse ^(BC)a man after my heart, ^(BD)who will do all my will.’ ^23 (BE)Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel ^(BF)a Savior, Jesus, ^(BG)as he promised. ²⁴ Before his coming, ^(BH)John had proclaimed ^(BI)a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was finishing his course, ^(BJ)he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

²⁶ “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you ^(BK)who fear God, to us has been sent ^(BL)the message of ^(BM)this salvation. ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ^(BN)they did not recognize him nor understand ^(BO)the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, ^(BP)fulfilled them by condemning him. ²⁸ And ^(BQ)though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, ^(BR)they asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹ And when ^(BS)they had carried out all that was written of him, ^(BT)they took him down from ^(BU)the tree and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰ But ^(BV)God raised him from the dead, ³¹ and for many days ^(BW)he appeared to those ^(BX)who had come up with him ^(BY)from Galilee to Jerusalem, ^(BZ)who are now ^(CA)his witnesses to the people. ³² And we bring you the good news ^(CB)that what God promised to the fathers, ^33 (CC)this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

³⁴ And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, ^(CE)(CF)no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

³⁵ Therefore he says also in another psalm,

³⁶ For David, after he had ^(CI)served the purpose of God in his own generation, ^(CJ)fell asleep and ^(CK)was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, ³⁷ but he whom ^(CL)God raised up did not see corruption. ³⁸ Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, ^(CM)that through this man ^(CN)forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and by him ^(CO)everyone who believes is freed^[c] from everything ^(CP)from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

⁴² As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and ^(CR)devout ^(CS)converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them ^(CT)to continue in ^(CU)the grace of God.

⁴⁴ The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ^45 (CV)But ^(CW)when the Jews^[d] saw the crowds, they were filled with ^(CX)jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, ^(CY)reviling him. ⁴⁶ And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God ^(CZ)be spoken first to you. ^(DA)Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves ^(DB)unworthy of eternal life, behold, we ^(DC)are turning to the Gentiles. ^47 (DD)For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

⁴⁸ And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and ^(DH)glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. ^50 (DI)But the Jews incited the devout ^(DJ)women of high standing and the leading men of the city, ^(DK)stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and ^(DL)drove them out of their district. ⁵¹ But they ^(DM)shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled ^(DN)with joy and ^(DO)with the Holy Spirit.