Barnabas and Saul Sent from Antioch by the Holy Spirit

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

On Cyprus

⁴ So, being ^(N)sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to ^(O)Cyprus. ⁵ And 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 And 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, ^[a](X)filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, ¹⁰ and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you ^(Y)son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked ^(Z)the straight ways of the ^[b]Lord? ¹¹ Now, behold, ^(AA)the hand of the ^[c]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 astonished at ^(AC)the teaching of the Lord.

In Pisidian Antioch

¹³ Now after Paul and his companions set sail from ^(AD)Paphos, they 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 And after ^(AL)the reading of the Law and ^(AM)the Prophets ^(AN)the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.” ¹⁶ So 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 ^[d](AR)lifted up the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm ^(AS)He led them out from it. ¹⁸ And for ^(AT)a period of about forty years ^(AU)He put up with them in the wilderness. ^19 (AV)And when He 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 And after He had ^(BD)removed him, He raised up David to be their king, about whom He also said, bearing witness, ‘^(BE)I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My ^[e]will.’ ^23 (BF)From the seed of this man, ^(BG)according to promise, God has brought to Israel ^(BH)a Savior, Jesus, ²⁴ after ^(BI)John had preached before ^[f]His coming a ^(BJ)baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John ^(BK)was fulfilling his course, ^(BL)he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of His feet.’

²⁶ “Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the word of ^(BM)this salvation was sent. ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem, and their ^(BN)rulers, ^(BO)recognizing neither Him nor the ^[g]utterances of ^(BP)the prophets which are ^(BQ)read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning Him. ²⁸ And though they found no ground for death, they ^(BR)asked Pilate that He be ^[h]executed. ²⁹ And when they had ^(BS)finished all that was written concerning Him, ^(BT)they took Him down from ^(BU)the tree 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)proclaim to you the good news of ^(CA)the promise made to the fathers, ³³ that God has fulfilled this promise ^[i]to our children in that He ^(CB)raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘^(CC)You are My Son; today I have begotten You.’ ³⁴ But that He ^(CD)raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way: ‘^(CE)I will give you the holy and ^[j]faithful lovingkindnesses of David.’ ³⁵ Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘^(CF)You will not give Your ^[k]Holy One over to see corruption.’ ³⁶ For ^(CG)David, after he had ^[l]served ^(CH)the purpose of God in his own generation, ^(CI)fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and saw corruption; ³⁷ but He whom God ^(CJ)raised did not see corruption. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that ^(CK)through ^[m]Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and that in Him, ^(CL)everyone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from ^[n]through the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Therefore watch out, so that the thing spoken of ^(CM)in the Prophets may not come upon you:

⁴² And as ^[p]Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept pleading that these words might be spoken to them the next ^(CO)Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the ^(CP)God-fearing ^[q](CQ)proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in ^(CR)the grace of God.

Many Gentiles Believe

⁴⁴ And the next ^(CS)Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of ^[r]the ^[s]Lord. ⁴⁵ But when ^(CT)the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, ^[t]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 reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, ^(CV)we are turning to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the ^[u]Lord has commanded us,

⁴⁸ And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying ^(CY)the word of ^[w]the ^[x]Lord, and as many as ^(CZ)had been appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ And ^(DA)the word of the ^[y]Lord was being spread through the whole region. ⁵⁰ But ^(DB)the Jews incited the ^[z](DC)God-fearing 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 ^[aa]district. ⁵¹ But ^(DE)having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, they went to ^(DF)Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were continually ^(DG)filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.