⁶ The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains,^(A) and sentries stood guard at the entrance. ⁷ Suddenly an angel^(B) of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.^(C)

⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. ⁹ Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.^{(D) 10} They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself,^(E) and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹ Then Peter came to himself^(F) and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me^(G) from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

¹² When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark,^(H) where many people had gathered and were praying.^{(I) 13} Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door.^{(J) 14} When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed^(K) she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”^(L)

¹⁶ But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ Peter motioned with his hand^(M) for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James^(N) and the other brothers and sisters^(O) about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

²⁵ When Barnabas^(A) and Saul had finished their mission,^(B) they returned from^[a] Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.^(C)

² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,^(A) “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work^(B) to which I have called them.”^{(C) 3} So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them^(D) and sent them off.^(E)

On Cyprus

⁴ The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit,^(F) went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.^{(G) 5} When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God^(H) in the Jewish synagogues.^(I) John^(J) was with them as their helper.

⁶ They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer^(K) and false prophet^(L) named Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was an attendant of the proconsul,^(M) Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer^(N) (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul^(O) from the faith.^{(P) 9} Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit,^(Q) looked straight at Elymas and said, ¹⁰ “You are a child of the devil^(R) and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?^{(S) 11} Now the hand of the Lord is against you.^(T) You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”^(U)

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² When the proconsul^(V) saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

In Pisidian Antioch

¹³ From Paphos,^(W) Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia,^(X) where John^(Y) left them to return to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch.^(Z) On the Sabbath^(AA) they entered the synagogue^(AB) and sat down.

³⁵ But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached^(A) the word of the Lord.^(B)

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

³⁶ Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns^(C) where we preached the word of the Lord^(D) and see how they are doing.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark,^(E) with them, ³⁸ but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them^(F) in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. ³⁹ They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, ⁴⁰ but Paul chose Silas^(G) and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.^{(H) 41} He went through Syria^(I) and Cilicia,^(J) strengthening the churches.^(K)

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra,^(L) where a disciple named Timothy^(M) lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer^(N) but whose father was a Greek. ² The believers^(O) at Lystra and Iconium^(P) spoke well of him. ³ Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.^(Q)