Acts of the Apostles 13

¹ In the church at Antioch the following were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

² One day while they were offering worship to the Lord and keeping a fast, the Holy Spirit said, ‘I want Barnabas and Saul set apart for the work to which I have called them’.

³ So it was that after fasting and prayer they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

⁴ So these two, sent on their mission by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.

⁵ They landed at Salamis and proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; John acted as their assistant.

⁶ They travelled the whole length of the island, and at Paphos they came in contact with a Jewish magician called Bar-jesus.

⁷ This false prophet was one of the attendants of the proconsul Sergius Paulus who was an extremely intelligent man. The proconsul summoned Barnabas and Saul and asked to hear the word of God,

⁸ but Elymas Magos-as he was called in Greek-tried to stop them so as to prevent the proconsul’s conversion to the faith.

⁹ Then Saul, whose other name is Paul, looked him full in the face

¹⁰ and said, ‘You utter fraud, you impostor, you son of the devil, you enemy of all true religion, why don’t you stop twisting the straightforward ways of the Lord?

¹¹ Now watch how the hand of the Lord will strike you: you will be blind, and for a time you will not see the sun.’ That instant, everything went misty and dark for him, and he groped about to find someone to lead him by the hand.

¹² The proconsul, who had watched everything, became a believer, being astonished by what he had learnt about the Lord.

¹³ Paul and his friends went by sea from Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia where John left them to go back to Jerusalem.

¹⁴ The others carried on from Perga till they reached Antioch in Pisidia. Here they went to synagogue on the sabbath and took their seats.

¹⁵ After the lessons from the Law and the Prophets had been read, the presidents of the synagogue sent them a message: ‘Brothers, if you would like to address some words of encouragement to the congregation, please do so’.

¹⁶ Paul stood up, held up a hand for silence and began to speak:

¹⁷ The God of our nation Israel chose our ancestors, and made our people great when they were living as foreigners in Egypt; then by divine power he led them out,

¹⁸ and for about forty years took care of them in the wilderness.

¹⁹ When he had destroyed seven nations in Canaan, he put them in possession[*a] of their land

²⁰ for about four hundred and fifty years. After this he gave them judges, down to the prophet Samuel.

²¹ Then they demanded a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of

²² Benjamin. After forty years, he deposed him and made David their king, of whom he approved in these words, “I have selected David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will carry out my whole purpose”.[*b]

²³ To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour,

²⁴ whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel.

²⁵ Before John ended his career he said, “I am not the one you imagine me to be; that one is coming after me and I am not fit to undo his sandal”.

²⁶ ‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant for you.

²⁷ What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on every sabbath.

²⁸ Though they found nothing to justify his death, they condemned him and asked Pilate to have him executed.

²⁹ When they had carried out everything that scripture foretells about him they took him down from the tree and buried him in a tomb.

³⁰ But God raised him from the dead,

³¹ and for many days he appeared to those who had accompanied him from Galilee to Jerusalem: and it is these same companions of his who are now his witnesses before our people.

³² ‘We have come here to tell you the Good News. It was to our ancestors that God made the promise but

³³ it is to us, their children, that he has fulfilled it, by raising Jesus from the dead. As scripture says in the first psalm: You are my son: today I have become your father.

³⁴ The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to return to corruption, is no more than what he had declared: To you I shall give the sure and holy things promised to David.[*c]

³⁵ This is explained by another text: You will not allow your holy one to experience corruption.[*d]

³⁶ Now when David in his own time had served God’s purposes he died; he was buried with his ancestors and has certainly experienced corruption.

³⁷ The one whom God has raised up, however, has not experienced corruption.

³⁸ ‘My brothers, I want you to realise that it is through him that forgiveness of your sins is proclaimed. Through him justification from all sins which the Law of Moses was unable to justify

³⁹ is offered to every believer.

⁴⁰ ‘So be careful – or what the prophets say will happen to you.

⁴¹ Cast your eyes around you, mockers; be amazed, and perish! For I am doing something in your own days that you would not believe if you were to be told of it.'[*e]

⁴² As they left they were asked to preach on the same theme the following sabbath.

⁴³ When the meeting broke up many Jews and devout converts joined Paul and Barnabas and in their talks with them Paul and Barnabas urged them to remain faithful to the grace God had given them.

⁴⁴ The next sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the word of God.

⁴⁵ When they saw the crowds, the Jews, prompted by jealousy, used blasphemies and contradicted everything Paul said.

⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly. ‘We had to proclaim the word of God to you first, but since you have rejected it, since you do not think yourselves worthy of eternal life, we must turn to the pagans.

⁴⁷ For this is what the Lord commanded us to do when he said: I have made you a light for the nations, so that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.'[*f]

⁴⁸ It made the pagans very happy to hear this and they thanked the Lord for his message; all who were destined for eternal life became believers.

⁴⁹ Thus the word of the Lord spread through the whole countryside.

⁵⁰ But the Jews worked upon some of the devout women of the upper classes and the leading men of the city and persuaded them to turn against Paul and Barnabas and expel them from their territory.

⁵¹ So they shook the dust from their feet in defiance and went off to Iconium;

⁵² but the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.