Book of Common Prayer

¹⁹ Those who were scattered abroad through the affliction that arose about Stephen walked throughout till they came to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, preaching the word to no one but the Jews only. ²⁰ But some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they came to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks and preached the Lord Jesus. ²¹ And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

²² Reports of these things came to the ears of the congregation that was in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to go to Antioch. ²³ When he arrived and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should continually cleave unto the Lord. ²⁴ For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

²⁵ Then Barnabas departed to Tarsus, to seek Saul. ²⁶ And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for a whole year they were with the congregation there, and taught many people. And the disciples of Antioch were the first that were called Christian.

²⁷ In those days, prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ And one of them, named Agabus, stood up and signified by the Spirit that there would be great dearth throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days of the Emperor Claudius. ²⁹ Then the disciples, everyone according to his ability, determined to send aid to the brethren who dwelt in Judea. ³⁰ Which thing they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

²⁹ And directly, as soon as they had left the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. ³⁰ And Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick of a fever. And right away they told him of her. ³¹ And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. And the fever left her immediately, and she ministered to them.

³² And in the evening, when the sun was down, people brought to him all their sick and those that were possessed with devils. ³³ And all the city gathered together at the door. ³⁴ And he healed many who were sick of different diseases. And he cast out many devils, and would not permit the devils to speak, because they knew him.

³⁵ And in the morning very early, Jesus arose and went out to a solitary place, and there prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and those who were with him followed after Jesus. ³⁷ And when they had found him, they said to him, All the people are searching for you. ³⁸ He said to them, Let us go into the next towns so that I can preach there also; for truly, I came out for that purpose.

³⁹ And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast the devils out.

⁴⁰ And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, who kneeled down to him and said to him, If you will, you can make me clean. ⁴¹ And Jesus had compassion on him, and put forth his hand, touched him, and said to him, I will; be clean. ⁴² And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him and he was cleansed. ⁴³ And Jesus charged the man, and sent him away directly, ⁴⁴ and said to him, See that you say nothing to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.

⁴⁵ But the man (as soon as he had left) began to talk freely, and to tell everyone what had been done, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter into the towns, but was out in the country. And people came to him from every quarter.