Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

¹Now there were in the church at Antioch nprophets and nteachers, oBarnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,1 Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of pHerod the tetrarch, and Saul. ²While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, qthe Holy Spirit said, r“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul sfor the work to which I have called them.” ³Then after fasting and tpraying they laid their hands on them and usent them off.

Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus

⁴So, being sent out vby the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God win the synagogues of the Jews. And they had xJohn to yassist them. ⁶When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain zmagician, aa Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. ⁷He was with bthe proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸But Elymas the zmagician (for that is the meaning of his name) copposed them, seeking to turn dthe proconsul away from the faith. ⁹But Saul, who was also called Paul, efilled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰and said, “You fson of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and gvillainy, will you not stop hmaking crooked ithe straight paths of the Lord? ¹¹And now, behold, jthe 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 kpeople to lead him by the hand. ¹²Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at lthe teaching of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia

¹³Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And mJohn left them and returned nto Jerusalem, ¹⁴but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And oon the Sabbath day pthey went into the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵After qthe reading from rthe Law and the Prophets, sthe rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any tword of encouragement for the people, say it.” ¹⁶So Paul stood up, and umotioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and vyou who fear God, listen. ¹⁷wThe God of this people Israel xchose our fathers and ymade the people great zduring their stay in the land of Egypt, and awith uplifted arm he led them out of it. ¹⁸And for about bforty years che put up with2 them in the wilderness. ¹⁹And dafter destroying eseven nations in the land of Canaan, fhe gave them their land as an inheritance. ²⁰All this took about 450 years. And after that ghe gave them judges until hSamuel the prophet. ²¹Then ithey asked for a king, and God gave them Saul jthe son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²²And kwhen he had removed him, lhe raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, m‘I have found in David the son of Jesse na man after my heart, owho will do all my will.’ ²³pOf this man's offspring God has brought to Israel qa Savior, Jesus, ras he promised. ²⁴Before his coming, sJohn had proclaimed ta baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵And as John was finishing his course, uhe 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 vwho fear God, to us has been sent wthe message of xthis salvation. ²⁷For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ythey did not recognize him nor understand zthe utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, afulfilled them by condemning him. ²⁸And bthough they found in him no guilt worthy of death, cthey asked Pilate to have him executed. ²⁹And when dthey had carried out all that was written of him, ethey took him down from fthe tree and laid him in a tomb. ³⁰But gGod raised him from the dead, ³¹and for many days hhe appeared to those iwho had come up with him jfrom Galilee to Jerusalem, kwho are now lhis witnesses to the people. ³²And we bring you the good news mthat what God promised to the fathers, ³³nthis he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

o“‘You are my Son,

today I have begotten you.’

³⁴And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, pqno more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you rthe holy and sure blessings of David.’

³⁵Therefore he says also in another psalm,

s“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

³⁶For David, after he had tserved the purpose of God in his own generation, ufell asleep and vwas laid with his fathers and saw corruption, ³⁷but he whom wGod raised up did not see corruption. ³⁸Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, xthat through this man yforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹and by him zeveryone who believes is freed3 from everything afrom which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

⁴¹b“‘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.’”

⁴²As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. ⁴³And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and cdevout dconverts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them eto continue in fthe grace of God.

⁴⁴The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵gBut hwhen the Jews4 saw the crowds, they were filled with ijealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, jreviling him. ⁴⁶And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God kbe spoken first to you. lSince you thrust it aside and judge yourselves munworthy of eternal life, behold, we nare turning to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷oFor so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

p“‘I have made you qa light for the Gentiles,

that you may rbring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

⁴⁸And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and sglorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. ⁵⁰tBut the Jews incited the devout uwomen of high standing and the leading men of the city, vstirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and wdrove them out of their district. ⁵¹But they xshook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. ⁵²And the disciples were filled ywith joy and zwith the Holy Spirit.