Chapter 13

Now in the Church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers, among whom were Barnabas and Simon, called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manahen the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Saul and Barnabas unto the work to which I have called them."

Then, having fasted and prayed and laid their hands upon them, they let them go. Cyprus

So they, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.

On their arrival at Salamis they began to preach the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they had also John as assistant.

They went, passing through the whole island as far as Paphos, and there they came across a Jewish magician and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

who was attached to the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a man of discernment. He sent for Barnabas and Saul, and sought to hear the word of God;

but Elymas, the sorcerer (for so his name is translated), opposed them, trying to turn away the proconsul from the faith.

But Saul (also called Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed at him

and said, "O full of all guile and of all deceit, son of the devil, enemy of all justice, wilt thou not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a time." And instantly there fell upon him a mist of darkness, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand.

Then the proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed and was astonished at the Lord's teaching. Antioch in Pisidia

Putting to sea from Paphos, Paul and his companions came to Perge in Pamphylia; but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

But they passed through Perge and reached the Pisidian Antioch; and entering the synagogue on the Sabbath, they sat down.

After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak." Paul's Discourse

Then Paul arose, and motioning with his hand for silence, said, "Israelites and you who fear God, hearken.

The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people when they were sojourners in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm led them forth out of it.

And for a period of forty years he bore with their ways in the desert,

and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land among them by lot

after about four hundred and fifty years. After that he gave them judges, until the time of Samuel the prophet.

Then they demanded a king, and God gave them Saul, the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

And removing him, he raised up David to be their king, and to him he bore witness and said, 'I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all that I desire. '

"From his offspring, God according to promise brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus;

John having first preached before his coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

And when John was coming to the end of his career, he would say, 'I am not he whom you suppose me to be; but behold, there comes one after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose. '

Brethren, children of the race of Abraham, and all among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.

For the inhabitants of Jerusalem and its rulers, not knowing him and the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by sentencing him;

and though they found no ground for putting him to death, they asked of Pilate permission to kill him.

And when they had carried out all that had been written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

But God raised him from the dead on the third day;

and he was seen during many days by those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem; and they are now witnesses for him to the people.

"So we now bring you the good news that the promise made to our fathers,

God has fulfilled to our children, in raising up Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, 'Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. '

And to show that he has raised him up from the dead, never again to return to decay, he has said thus, 'I will give you the holy and sure promises of David. '

Because he says also in another Psalm, 'Thou wilt not let thy Holy One undergo decay. '

"For David, after he had in his own generation served God's purposes, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and did undergo decay;

but he whom God raised to life did not undergo it.

Be it known therefore to you, brethren, that through him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

and in him everyone who believes is acquitted of all the things of which you could not be acquitted by the Law of Moses.

Beware, therefore, that what is said in the Prophets may not prove true of you,

'Behold, you despisers, then wonder and perish, because I work a work in your days, A work which you will not believe, if anyone relates it to you. '"

Now as they were going out, the people asked to have all this said to them on the following Sabbath.

And after the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the worshipping converts went away with Paul and Barnabas, and they talked with them and urged them to hold fast to the grace of God.

And the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

But on seeing the crowds, the Jews were filled with jealousy and contradicted what was said by Paul, and blasphemed.

Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out plainly: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first, but since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we now turn to the Gentiles.

For so the Lord has commanded us, 'I have set thee for a light to the Gentiles, to be a means of salvation to the very ends of the earth. '"

On hearing this the Gentiles were delighted, and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were destined for eternal life believed.

And the word of the Lord spread throughout the whole country.

But the Jews incited the worshipping women of rank and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them from their district.

But they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

And the disciples continued to be filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.