Act 13 | ISV | STEP | Barnabas and Saul Travel to Cyprus Now Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius from Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch.

Acts 13

1 Barnabas and Saul Travel to Cyprus

Now Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius from Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch.Acts 11:22-27; 14:26; 15:35; Rom 16:21 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me to do the work for which I called them.”Num 8:14; Matt 9:38; Acts 9:15; 14:26; 22:21; Rom 1:1; 10:15; Gal 1:15; 2:9; Eph 3:7-8; 1Tim 2:7; 2Tim 1:11; Heb 5:4 3 Then they fasted and prayed, laid their hands on them, and let them go.Acts 6:6

4 Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.Acts 4:36 5 Arriving in Salamis, they began to preach God's word in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John to help them.Acts 12:25; 13:46; 15:37

6 They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish occult practitioner and false prophet named Bar-Jesus.Acts 8:9 7 He was associated with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. He sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the occult practitioner (that is the meaning of his name) continued to oppose them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.Exod 7:11; 2Tim 3:8

9 But Saul, also known as ^{▼▼Lit. who was also} Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked him straight in the eyeActs 4:8 10 and said, “You are full of every form of deception and trickery, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right! You will never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord, will you?Matt 13:38; John 8:44; 1John 3:8 11 The hand of the Lord is against you now, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a while!” At that moment a dark mist came over him, and he went around looking for someone to lead him by the hand.Exod 9:3; 1Sam 5:6 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the Lord's teaching. 13 Paul and Barnabas Go to Antioch in PisidiaThen Paul and his men set sail from Paphos and arrived in Perga in Pamphylia. But John left them and went back to Jerusalem.Acts 15:38 14 They left Perga and arrived in Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.Acts 16:13; 17:2; 18:4 15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders asked them, ^{▼▼Lit. sent to them} “Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement ^{▼▼Or word of exhortation} for the people, you may speak.”Luke 4:16; Acts 4:27; Heb 13:22

16 Then Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and said: “Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen!Acts 10:35 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made them a great people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he led them out of it.Exod 1:1; 6:6; Deut 7:6-7; Ps 105:23-24; Acts 7:17 18 After he had put up with ^{▼▼Other mss. read nourished} them for forty years in the wilderness,Exod 16:35; Num 14:33-34; Ps 95:9-10; Acts 7:36 19 he destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan. Then he gave them their land as an inheritanceDeut 7:1; Josh 14:1-2; Ps 78:55 20 for about 450 years. After that he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel.Judg 2:16; 1Sam 3:1-21

21 “Then they demanded a king, and for forty years God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin.1Sam 8:5; 10:1 22 But he removed Saul ^{▼▼Lit. him} and made David their king, about whom he testified, ‘I have found that David, the son of Jesse, is a man after my own heart, who will carry out all my wishes.’ ^{▼▼Ps 89:20; 1 Sam 13:14}1Sam 13:14; 2Sam 2:4; 5:3; Ps 89:20; Hos 13:11; Acts 7:46 23 It was from this man's descendants that God, as he promised, brought to Israel a Savior, who is Jesus.2Sam 7:12; Ps 132:11; Isa 11:1; Matt 1:21; Luke 1:32, 69; Acts 2:30; Rom 1:3; 11:26 24 Before his coming, John had already preached a baptism of repentance to all the people in Israel.Matt 3:1; Luke 3:3 25 When John was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one. No, but he is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet.’Matt 3:11; Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16; John 1:20, 27

26 “My brothers, descendants of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, it is to us ^{▼▼Other mss. read to you} that the message of this salvation has been sent.Matt 10:6; Luke 24:47; Acts 3:26; 13:46 27 For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders, not knowing who he was, condemned him and fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.Luke 23:34; Acts 2:14-15; 3:17; 15:21; 26:22; 28:23; 1Cor 2:8 28 Although they found no reason to sentence him to death, they asked Pilate to have him executed.Matt 27:22; Mark 15:13-14; Luke 23:21-22; John 19:6, 15; Acts 3:13 29 When they had finished doing everything that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and placed him in a tomb.Matt 27:59; Mark 15:46; Luke 18:31; 23:53; 24:44; John 19:28, 30, 36-38 30 But God raised him from the dead,Matt 28:6; Acts 2:24; 5:30 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come with him to Jerusalem from Galilee. These are now his witnesses to the people.Matt 28:16; Acts 1:3, 8, 11; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 1Cor 15:5-7 32 We are telling you the good news: What God promised our ancestorsGen 3:15; 12:3; 22:18; Acts 26:6; Rom 4:13; Gal 3:16 33 he has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.’ ^{▼▼Ps 2:7}Ps 2:7; Heb 1:5; 5:5 34 He raised him from the dead, never to experience decay. As he said, ‘I will give you the holy promises made to David.’ ^{▼▼Isa 55:3 (LXX)}Isa 55:3 35 In another Psalm ^{▼▼The Gk. lacks Psalm} he says, ‘You will not let your Holy One experience decay.’ ^{▼▼Ps 16:10 (LXX)}Ps 16:10; Acts 2:31 36 For David, after he had served God's purpose in his own generation, died ^{▼▼Lit. fell asleep} and was laid to rest with his ancestors, and so he experienced decay.1Kings 2:10; Acts 2:29 37 However, the man whom God raised did not experience decay.

38 “Therefore, brothers, you must understand that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,Jer 31:34; Dan 9:24; Luke 24:47; 1John 2:12 39 and that everyone who believes in him is justified and freed from everything that kept you from being justified by the law of Moses.Isa 53:11; Rom 3:28; 8:3; Heb 7:19 40 So be careful that what the prophets said does not happen to you:Isa 29:14; Hab 1:5

41 ‘Look, you mockers!

Be amazed and die!

For I am doing a work in your days,

a work that you would not believe

even if someone told you!’” ^{▼▼Hab 1:5 (LXX)}

42 As Paul and Barnabas ^{▼▼Lit. As they} were leaving, the people kept urging them to tell them the same things the next Sabbath. 43 When the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who kept talking to them and urging them to continue in the grace of God.Acts 11:23; 14:22; Titus 2:11; Heb 12:15; 1Pet 5:12

44 The next Sabbath almost the whole town gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ^{▼▼Other mss. read of God} 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to object to the statements made by Paul and even to abuse him.Acts 18:6; 1Pet 4:4; Jude 1:10

46 Then Paul and Barnabas boldly declared, “We had to speak God's word to you first, but since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now going to turn to the Gentiles.Exod 32:10; Deut 32:21; Isa 55:5; Matt 10:6; 21:43; Acts 3:26; 18:6; 28:28; Rom 1:16; 10:19 47 For that is what the Lord ordered us to do: ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles to be the means of salvation to the very ends of the earth.’” ^{▼▼Isa 49:6}Isa 42:6; 49:6; Luke 2:32

48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. Meanwhile, all who had been destined to eternal life believed,Acts 2:47 49 and the word of the Lord began to spread throughout the whole region.

50 But the Jews stirred up devout women of high social standing and the officials in the city, started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their territory.2Tim 3:1-17 51 So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.Matt 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5; Acts 18:6 52 Meanwhile, the disciples continued to be full of joy and of the Holy Spirit.Matt 5:12; John 16:22; Acts 2:46