Book of Common Prayer

Mission and magic

13 In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen from the court of Herod the Tetrarch, and Saul. ² As they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the holy spirit said, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ So they fasted and prayed; and then they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴ So off they went, sent out by the holy spirit, and arrived at Seleucia. From there they set sail to Cyprus, ⁵ and when they arrived in Salamis they announced God’s word in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their assistant. ⁶ They went through the whole of the island, all the way to Paphos. There they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. ⁷ He was with the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. He called Barnabas and Saul and asked to hear the word of God. ⁸ The magician Elymas (that is the translation of his name) was opposing them, and doing his best to turn the governor away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul, also named Paul, looked intently at him, filled with the holy spirit.

¹⁰ “You’re full of trickery and every kind of villainy!” he said. “You’re a son of the devil! You’re an enemy of everything that’s right! When are you going to stop twisting the paths that God has made straight? ¹¹ Now see here: the Lord’s hand will be upon you, and you will be blind for a while; you won’t even be able to see the sun!”

At once mist and darkness fell on him, and he went about looking for someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² When the governor saw what had happened, he believed, since he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Teachings on the sabbath

²³ One sabbath, Jesus was walking through the cornfields. His disciples made their way along, plucking corn as they went.

²⁴ “Look here,” said the Pharisees to him, “why are they doing something illegal on the sabbath?”

²⁵ “Haven’t you ever read what David did,” replied Jesus, “when he was in difficulties, and he and his men got hungry? ²⁶ He went into God’s house (this was when Abiathar was high priest), and ate the ‘bread of the presence,’ which only the priests were allowed to eat—and he gave it to the people with him.

²⁷ “The sabbath was made for humans,” he said, “not humans for the sabbath; ²⁸ so the son of man is master even of the sabbath.”

Healing of the man with the withered hand

3 Once more Jesus went to the synagogue. There was a man there with a withered hand. ² People were watching to see if Jesus would heal him on the sabbath, so that they could frame a charge against him.

³ “Stand up,” said Jesus to the man with the withered hand, “and come out here.” And he said to them, ⁴ “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath, or to do evil? To save life or to kill?” They stayed quiet.

⁵ He was deeply upset at their hard-heartedness, and looked round at them angrily. Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out—and his hand was restored. ⁶ The Pharisees went out right away and began to plot with the Herodians against Jesus, trying to find a way to destroy him.