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 ^[v]from all things, from which you could not be ^[w]freed ^[x]through the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Therefore, see that the thing spoken of ^(CM)in the Prophets does not come upon you:

⁴² As ^[z]Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people repeatedly begged to have these ^[aa]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 ^[ab](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 ^[ac]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 ^[ad]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 ^[ag]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 ^[ah](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 ^[ai]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.

Acceptance and Opposition

14 In ^(DH)Iconium ^(DI)they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a way ^(DJ)that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of ^(DK)Greeks. ² But ^(DL)the ^[aj](DM)unbelieving Jews stirred up the ^[ak]minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against ^(DN)the brothers. 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 ^[al](DP)signs and wonders be performed by their hands. ^4 (DQ)But the ^[am]people of the city were divided; and some ^[an]sided with ^(DR)the Jews, while others, with ^(DS)the apostles. ⁵ And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and ^(DT)the Jews with their rulers, to treat them abusively 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 In ^(DZ)Lystra ^(EA)a man was sitting whose feet were incapacitated. He had been disabled from his mother’s womb, and had never walked. ⁹ This man was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul ^(EB)looked at him intently and saw that he had ^(EC)faith to be ^[ao]made well, ¹⁰ and he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” ^(ED)And the man 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, ^[ap]Zeus, and Paul, ^[aq]Hermes, since he was ^[ar]the chief speaker. ¹³ Moreover, the priest of Zeus, whose temple was ^[as]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 about it, they ^(EI)tore their ^[at]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, ^(EK)preaching the gospel to you, to turn from these ^[au](EL)useless things to a ^(EM)living God, who ^(EN)made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them. ^16 [av]In past generations He ^(EO)permitted all the ^[aw]nations to ^(EP)go their own ways; ¹⁷ yet ^(EQ)He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and ^(ER)gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, ^[ax]satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” ¹⁸ And even by saying these things, only with difficulty did they restrain the crowds from offering sacrifices 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, thinking that he was dead. ²⁰ But while ^(EW)the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he left with Barnabas for ^(EX)Derbe. ²¹ And after they had ^(EY)preached the gospel to that city and had ^(EZ)made a good number of disciples, they returned to ^(FA)Lystra, 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)It is through many tribulations that 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)entrusted 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, ^(FO)where they had been ^(FP)entrusted to the grace of God for the work that they had ^[ay]accomplished. ²⁷ When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to ^(FQ)report all the things that God had done with them and ^[az]how He had opened a ^(FR)door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸ And they spent ^[ba]a long time with ^(FS)the disciples.

The Council in Jerusalem

15 ^(FT)Some men came down from Judea and began teaching ^(FU)the brothers, “Unless you are ^(FV)circumcised according to ^(FW)the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² And after Paul and Barnabas had ^[bb]a heated argument and ^(FX)debate with them, ^(FY)the brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the ^(FZ)apostles and elders concerning this issue. ³ Therefore, after being ^(GA)sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^(GB)Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(GC)describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and they were bringing great joy to all ^(GD)the brothers and sisters. ⁴ When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church, ^(GE)the apostles, and the elders, and they ^(GF)reported all that God had done with them. ⁵ But some of ^(GG)the sect of the ^(GH)Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^(GI)circumcise ^[bc]them and to direct them to keep the Law of Moses.”

^6 (GJ)The apostles and the elders came together to ^[bd]look into this ^[be]matter. ⁷ After there had been much ^(GK)debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “^[bf]Brothers, you know that ^[bg]in the early days ^(GL)God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of ^(GM)the gospel and believe. ⁸ And God, ^(GN)who knows the heart, testified to them ^(GO)giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; ⁹ and ^(GP)He made no distinction between us and them, ^(GQ)cleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Since this is the case, why are you ^(GR)putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^(GS)neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹ But we believe that we are saved through ^(GT)the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹² All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^(GU)relating all the ^(GV)signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James’ Judgment

¹³ After they stopped speaking, ^[bh](GW)James responded, saying, “^[bi]Brothers, listen to me. ^14 (GX)Simeon has described how God first concerned Himself about taking a people for His name from among the Gentiles. ¹⁵ The words of ^(GY)the Prophets agree with this, just as it is written:

¹⁹ Therefore, it is ^(HF)my judgment that we do not cause trouble for those from the Gentiles who are turning to God, ²⁰ but that we write to them that they abstain from ^[bm](HG)things contaminated by idols, from ^(HH)acts of sexual immorality, from ^(HI)what has been ^[bn]strangled, and from blood. ²¹ For ^(HJ)from ancient generations Moses has those who preach him in every city, since ^[bo]he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²² Then it seemed good to ^(HK)the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to ^(HL)Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas who was called Barsabbas, and ^(HM)Silas, leading men among ^(HN)the brothers, ²³ and they ^[bp]sent this letter with them:

³⁰ So when they were sent away, ^(IH)they went down to Antioch; and after gathering the ^[bv]congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹ When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ^[bw]encouragement. ^32 (II)Judas and ^(IJ)Silas, also being ^(IK)prophets themselves, ^[bx]encouraged and strengthened ^(IL)the brothers and sisters with a lengthy message. ³³ After they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers and sisters ^(IM)in peace to those who had ^(IN)sent them out.^{[by] 35} But ^(IO)Paul and Barnabas stayed in Antioch, teaching and ^(IP)preaching ^(IQ)the word of the Lord, with many others also.

Second Missionary Journey

³⁶ After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return and visit the brothers and sisters in ^(IR)every city in which we proclaimed ^(IS)the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷ Barnabas wanted to take ^(IT)John, called Mark, along with them also. ³⁸ But Paul was of the opinion that they should not take along with them this man who had ^(IU)deserted them ^[bz]in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹ Now it turned into such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took ^(IV)Mark with him and sailed away to ^(IW)Cyprus. ⁴⁰ But Paul chose ^(IX)Silas, and left after being ^(IY)entrusted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹ And he was traveling through ^(IZ)Syria and ^(JA)Cilicia, strengthening the churches.