Barnabas and Saul Sent from Antioch by the Holy Spirit
Now there were at aAntioch, in the bchurch that was there, cprophets and dteachers: eBarnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of fCyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with gHerod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, athe Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me bBarnabas and Saul for cthe work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted and aprayed and blaid their hands on them, cthey sent them away.
On Cyprus
4 So, being asent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to bCyprus. 5 And when they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in athe synagogues of the Jews, and they also had bJohn as their helper. 6 And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a amagician, a Jewish bfalse prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the aproconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the amagician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the bproconsul away from cthe faith. 9 But Saul, who was also known as Paul, afilled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, 10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you ason of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked bthe straight ways of the Lord? 11 Now, behold, athe hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. 12 Then the aproconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being astonished at bthe teaching of the Lord.
In Pisidian Antioch
13 Now after Paul and his companions set sail from aPaphos, they came to bPerga in cPamphylia, but dJohn left them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 But going on from Perga, they arrived at aPisidian bAntioch. And on cthe Sabbath day, they went into dthe synagogue and sat down. 15 And after athe reading of the Law and bthe Prophets cthe synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and amotioning with his hand said,
“Men of Israel, and byou who fear God, listen: 17 The God of this people Israel achose our fathers and blifted up the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm cHe led them out from it. 18 And for aa period of about forty years bHe put up with them in the wilderness. 19 aAnd when He destroyed bseven nations in the land of Canaan, He cdistributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took dabout 450 years. 20 After these things He agave them judges until bSamuel the prophet. 21 Then they aasked for a king, and God gave them bSaul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And after He had aremoved him, He raised up David to be their king, about whom He also said, bearing witness, ‘bI have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’ 23 aFrom the seed of this man, baccording to promise, God has brought to Israel ca Savior, Jesus, 24 after aJohn had preached before His coming a bbaptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John awas fulfilling his course, bhe kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of His feet.’
26 “Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us the word of athis salvation was sent. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem, and their arulers, brecognizing neither Him nor the utterances of cthe prophets which are dread every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning Him. 28 And though they found no ground for death, they aasked Pilate that He be executed. 29 And when they had afinished all that was written concerning Him, bthey took Him down from cthe tree and dlaid Him in a tomb. 30 But God araised Him from the dead; 31 and for many days aHe appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now bHis witnesses to the people. 32 And we aproclaim to you the good news of bthe promise made to the fathers, 33 that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He araised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘bYou are My Son; today I have begotten You.’ 34 But that He araised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way: ‘bI will give you the holy and faithful lovingkindnesses of David.’ 35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘aYou will not give Your Holy One over to see corruption.’ 36 For aDavid, after he had served bthe purpose of God in his own generation, cfell asleep and was laid among his fathers and saw corruption; 37 but He whom God araised did not see corruption. 38 Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that athrough Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and that in Him, aeveryone who believes is justified from all things which you could not be justified from through the Law of Moses. 40 Therefore watch out, so that the thing spoken of ain the Prophets may not come upon you:
41 ‘aLook, you scoffers, and marvel, and perish;
For I am accomplishing a work in your days,
A work which you will never believe, though someone should recount it to you.’”
42 And as Paul and Barnabas were leaving, the people kept pleading that these words might be spoken to them the next aSabbath. 43 Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the aGod-fearing bproselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in cthe grace of God.
Many Gentiles Believe
44 And the next aSabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when athe Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, blaspheming. 46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you afirst. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, bwe are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the Lord has commanded us,
‘aI have placed You as a blight for the Gentiles,
That You may bring salvation to the end of the earth.’”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying athe word of the Lord, and as many as bhad been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And athe word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region. 50 But athe Jews incited the bGod-fearing women cof prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But ahaving shaken off the dust of their feet against them, they went to bIconium. 52 And the disciples were continually afilled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
In Iconium
Now it happened that in aIconium bthey entered the synagogue of the Jews together and spoke in such a manner cthat a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of dGreeks. 2 But athe bunbelieving Jews instigated and embittered the minds of the Gentiles against cthe brothers. 3 Therefore they spent a long time there aspeaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that bsigns and wonders be done through their hands. 4 aBut the multitude of the city was divided; and some sided with bthe Jews, and some with cthe apostles. 5 And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and athe Jews with their rulers to mistreat and to bstone them, 6 they became aware of it and fled to the cities of aLycaonia, bLystra and cDerbe, and the surrounding region; 7 and there they continued to aproclaim the gospel.
In Lystra and Derbe
8 And at aLystra ba man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 9 This man listened to Paul as he spoke, who, awhen he fixed his gaze on him and saw that he had bfaith to be saved from being lame, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” aAnd he leaped up and began to walk. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the aLycaonian language, “bThe gods have become like men and have come down to us.” 12 And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and awas wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when athe apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they btore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also amen of the same nature as you, bproclaiming the gospel to you that you should turn from these cvain things to a dliving God, ewho made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In the generations gone by He apermitted all the nations to bgo their own ways; 17 and yet aHe did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and bgave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 And saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
19 But aJews came from bAntioch and cIconium, and after winning over the crowds and dstoning Paul, they were dragging him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. 20 But while athe disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to bDerbe. 21 And after they had aproclaimed the gospel to that city and had bmade many disciples, they returned to cLystra and to dIconium and to eAntioch, 22 strengthening the souls of athe disciples, encouraging them to continue in bthe faith, and saying, “cThrough many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.” 23 And when athey had appointed belders for them in every church, having cprayed with fasting, they dcommended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
The Return to Antioch
24 And when they passed through aPisidia, they came into bPamphylia. 25 And when they had spoken the word in aPerga, they went down to Attalia. 26 And from there they sailed to aAntioch, from bwhere they had been ccommitted to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. 27 And when they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to areport all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a bdoor of faith to the Gentiles. 28 And they spent not a little time with athe disciples.