Act 13, Act 27 | 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.

Acts 27

Paul Sails for Rome

1 And when it was decided ^dtthat ^duwe should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan ^dvCohort named Julius. 2 And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by ^dwAristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at Sidon. And ^dxJulius ^dytreated Paul kindly and ^dzgave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. 4 And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found ^eaa ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even ^ebthe Fast ^{▼▼That is, the Day of Atonement} was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with ^edinjury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid more attention to ^eethe pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

The Storm at Sea

13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, ^efstruck down from the land. 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts Clauda} we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. 17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would ^ehrun aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, ^{▼▼That is, the sea-anchor (or possibly the mainsail)} and thus they were driven along. 18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day ^ejto jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, ^ekyou should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this ^elinjury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to ^emtake heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night ^enthere ^eostood before me ^epan angel of the God ^eqto whom I belong and ^erwhom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; ^esyou must stand before Caesar. And behold, ^etGod has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But ^euwe must ^evrun aground on some island.”

27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. ^{▼▼About 120 feet; a fathom (Greek orguia) was about 6 feet or 2 meters} A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. ^{▼▼About 90 feet (see previous note)} 29 And fearing that we might ^eyrun on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered ^ezthe ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.

33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, ^{▼▼Or For it is for your deliverance} for ^fbnot a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and ^fcgiving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then they all ^fdwere encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276 ^{▼▼Some manuscripts seventy-six, or about seventy-six} ^ffpersons in the ship.) 38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, ^fgthrowing out the wheat into the sea.

The Shipwreck

39 Now when it was day, ^fhthey did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41 But striking a reef, ^{▼▼Or sandbank, or crosscurrent; Greek place between two seas} ^fjthey ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 42 ^fkThe soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion, ^flwishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that ^fmall were brought safely to land.