Act 13 | ESV | STEP | Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers , Barnabas , Simeon who was called Niger , Lucius of Cyrene , Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch , and Saul .

1 Now there were in the church at Antioch ^aprophets and ^bteachers, ^cBarnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, ^{▼▼ Niger is a Latin word meaning black, or dark} Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of ^eHerod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, ^fthe Holy Spirit said, ^g“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul ^hfor the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and ⁱpraying they laid their hands on them and ^jsent them off.

Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus

4 So, being sent out ^kby the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God ^lin the synagogues of the Jews. And they had ^mJohn to ⁿassist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain ^omagician, ^pa Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with ^qthe proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the ^rmagician (for that is the meaning of his name) ^sopposed them, seeking to turn ^tthe proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, ^ufilled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You ^vson of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and ^wvillainy, will you not stop ^xmaking crooked ^ythe straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, ^zthe hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking ^aapeople to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at ^abthe teaching of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia

13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And ^acJohn left them and returned ^adto Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And ^aeon the Sabbath day ^afthey went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After ^agthe reading from ^ahthe Law and the Prophets, ^aithe rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any ^ajword of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and ^akmotioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and ^alyou who fear God, listen. 17 ^amThe God of this people Israel ^anchose our fathers and ^aomade the people great ^apduring their stay in the land of Egypt, and ^aqwith uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about ^arforty years ^ashe put up with ^{▼▼Some manuscripts he carried (compare Deuteronomy 1:31)} them in the wilderness. 19 And ^auafter destroying ^avseven nations in the land of Canaan, ^awhe gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that ^axhe gave them judges until ^aySamuel the prophet. 21 Then ^azthey asked for a king, and God gave them Saul ^bathe son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And ^bbwhen he had removed him, ^bche raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ^bd‘I have found in David the son of Jesse ^bea man after my heart, ^bfwho will do all my will.’ 23 ^bgOf this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel ^bha Savior, Jesus, ^bias he promised. 24 Before his coming, ^bjJohn had proclaimed ^bka baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, ^blhe said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you ^bmwho fear God, to us has been sent ^bnthe message of ^bothis salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ^bpthey did not recognize him nor understand ^bqthe utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, ^brfulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And ^bsthough they found in him no guilt worthy of death, ^btthey asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when ^buthey had carried out all that was written of him, ^bvthey took him down from ^bwthe tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But ^bxGod raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days ^byhe appeared to those ^bzwho had come up with him ^cafrom Galilee to Jerusalem, ^cbwho are now ^cchis witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news ^cdthat what God promised to the fathers, 33 ^cethis he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

^cf“‘You are my Son,
today I have begotten you.’
34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, ^cg, ^chno more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you ^cithe holy and sure blessings of David.’
35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

^cj“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’
36 For David, after he had ^ckserved the purpose of God in his own generation, ^clfell asleep and ^cmwas laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom ^cnGod raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, ^cothat through this man ^cpforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him ^cqeveryone who believes is freed ^{▼▼Greek justified; twice in this verse} from everything ^csfrom which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

41 ^ct“‘Look, you scoffers,
be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”
42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and ^cudevout ^cvconverts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them ^cwto continue in ^cxthe grace of God.

44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 ^cyBut ^czwhen the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with ^dajealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, ^dbreviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God ^dcbe spoken first to you. ^ddSince you thrust it aside and judge yourselves ^deunworthy of eternal life, behold, we ^dfare turning to the Gentiles. 47 ^dgFor so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

^dh“‘I have made you ^dia light for the Gentiles,
that you may ^djbring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and ^dkglorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 ^dlBut the Jews ^{▼▼Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time} incited the devout ^dnwomen of high standing and the leading men of the city, ^dostirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and ^dpdrove them out of their district. 51 But they ^dqshook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled ^drwith joy and ^dswith the Holy Spirit.