Psalm 114

God’s Deliverance of Israel

Preparing for the Mission Field

13 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch,^(A) and Saul.

² As they were worshiping^[a] the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”^{(B) 3} Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.^(C)

The Mission to Cyprus

⁴ So being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.^{(D) 6} When they had traveled the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.^{(E) 7} He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.^{(F) 8} But Elymas the sorcerer (that is the meaning of his name) opposed^(G) them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.^(H)

⁹ But Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at Elymas ¹⁰ and said, “You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery, you son of the devil^(I) and enemy of all that is right. Won’t you ever stop perverting the straight paths^(J) of the Lord? ¹¹ Now, look, the Lord’s hand is against you.^(K) You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

¹² Then, when he saw what happened, the proconsul believed, because he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.^(L)