Acts 13-14

New American Standard Bible 1995

First Missionary Journey

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 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.

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, ^[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 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 to them, saying, “Brethren, 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 ^[b](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 four hundred and fifty 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 ^[c]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 ^[d]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 “Brethren, 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 ^[e]utterances of ^(BP)the prophets which are ^(BQ)read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him. ²⁸ And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they ^(BR)asked Pilate that He be ^[f]executed. ²⁹ When they had ^(BS)carried out all that was written concerning Him, ^(BT)they took Him down from ^(BU)the ^[g]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 ^[h]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 As for the fact that He ^(CD)raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘^(CE)I will give you the holy and ^[i]sure blessings of David.’ ³⁵ Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘^(CF)You will not ^[j]allow Your ^[k]Holy One to ^[l]undergo decay.’ ³⁶ For ^(CG)David, after he had ^[m]served ^(CH)the purpose of God in his own generation, ^(CI)fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and ^[n]underwent decay; ³⁷ but He whom God ^(CJ)raised did not ^[o]undergo decay. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that ^(CK)through ^[p]Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and ^[q]through Him ^(CL)everyone who believes is ^[r]freed ^[s]from all things, from which you could not be ^[t]freed ^[u]through the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of ^(CM)in the Prophets may not come upon you:

⁴² As ^[w]Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these ^[x]things 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 ^[y](CQ)proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in ^(CR)the grace of God.

Paul Turns to the Gentiles

⁴⁴ The next ^(CS)Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of ^[z]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 ^[aa]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 judge 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 ^[ac]the Lord; and as many as ^(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 ^[ad](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 ^[ae]district. ⁵¹ But ^(DE)they shook off the dust of 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.

Acceptance and Opposition

14 In ^(DH)Iconium ^(DI)they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a manner ^(DJ)that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of ^(DK)Greeks. ² But ^(DL)the Jews who ^[af](DM)disbelieved stirred up the ^[ag]minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against ^(DN)the brethren. ³ Therefore they spent a long time there ^(DO)speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that ^[ah](DP)signs and wonders be done by their hands. ^4 (DQ)But the ^[ai]people of the city were divided; and some ^[aj]sided with ^(DR)the Jews, and some with ^(DS)the apostles. ⁵ And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and ^(DT)the Jews with their rulers, to mistreat and to ^(DU)stone them, ⁶ they became aware of it and fled to the cities of ^(DV)Lycaonia, ^(DW)Lystra and ^(DX)Derbe, and the surrounding region; ⁷ and there they continued to ^(DY)preach the gospel.

⁸ At ^(DZ)Lystra ^(EA)a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. ⁹ This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, ^(EB)when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had ^(EC)faith to be ^[ak]made well, ¹⁰ said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” ^(ED)And he leaped up and began to walk. ¹¹ When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the ^(EE)Lycaonian language, “^(EF)The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” ¹² And they began calling Barnabas, ^[al]Zeus, and Paul, ^[am]Hermes, because he was ^[an]the chief speaker. ¹³ The priest of Zeus, whose temple was ^[ao]just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and ^(EG)wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴ But when ^(EH)the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ^(EI)tore their ^[ap]robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out ¹⁵ and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also ^(EJ)men of the same nature as you, and ^(EK)preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these ^[aq](EL)vain things to a ^(EM)living God, ^(EN)who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. ^16 [ar]In the generations gone by He ^(EO)permitted all the ^[as]nations to ^(EP)go their own ways; ¹⁷ and yet ^(EQ)He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and ^(ER)gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, ^[at]satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” ¹⁸ Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

¹⁹ But ^(ES)Jews came from ^(ET)Antioch and ^(EU)Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they ^(EV)stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. ²⁰ But while ^(EW)the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to ^(EX)Derbe. ²¹ After they had ^(EY)preached the gospel to that city and had ^(EZ)made many disciples, they returned to ^(FA)Lystra and to ^(FB)Iconium and to ^(FC)Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of ^(FD)the disciples, encouraging them to continue in ^(FE)the faith, and saying, “^(FF)Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” ²³ When ^(FG)they had appointed ^(FH)elders for them in every church, having ^(FI)prayed with fasting, they ^(FJ)commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

²⁴ They passed through ^(FK)Pisidia and came into ^(FL)Pamphylia. ²⁵ When they had spoken the word in ^(FM)Perga, they went down to Attalia. ²⁶ From there they sailed to ^(FN)Antioch, from ^(FO)which they had been ^(FP)commended to the grace of God for the work that they had ^[au]accomplished. ²⁷ When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to ^(FQ)report all things that God had done with them and ^[av]how He had opened a ^(FR)door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸ And they spent ^[aw]a long time with ^(FS)the disciples.