1 There were also in the Church that was at Antiochia, certaine Prophets and teachers, as Barnabas, and Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manahen (which had bin brought vp with Herod the Tetrarche) and Saul. 2 Nowe as they ministred to the Lord, and fasted, the holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the worke whereunto I haue called them. 3 Then fasted they and prayed, and layde their hands on them, and let them goe. 4 And they, after they were sent foorth of the holy Ghost, came downe vnto Seleucia, and from thence they sayled to Cyprus. 5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the worde of God in the Synagogues of the Iewes: and they had also Iohn to their minister. 6 So when they had gone throughout the yle vnto Paphus, they found a certaine sorcerer, a false prophet, being a Iewe, named Bariesus, 7 Which was with the Deputie Sergius Paulus, a prudent man. He called vnto him Barnabas and Saul, and desired to heare the woorde of God. 8 But Elymas, ye sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstoode them, and sought to turne away the Deputie from the faith. 9 Then Saul (which also is called Paul) being full of the holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, 10 And sayde, O full of all subtiltie and all mischiefe, the childe of the deuill, and enemie of all righteousnesse, wilt thou not cease to peruert the straight waies of the Lord? 11 Nowe therefore behold, the hand of the Lord is vpon thee, and thou shalt be blinde, and not see the sunne for a season. And immediately there fel on him a mist and a darknes; and he went about, seeking some to leade him by the hand. 12 Then the Deputie when he sawe what was done, beleeued, and was astonied at the doctrine of the Lord. 13 Nowe when Paul and they that were with him were departed by shippe from Paphus, they came to Perga a citie of Pamphylia: then Iohn departed from them, and returned to Hierusalem. 14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antiochia a citie of Pisidia, and went into the Synagogue on ye Sabbath day, and sate downe. 15 And after the lecture of the Law and Prophets, the rulers of ye Synagogue sent vnto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye haue any word of exhortation for the people, say on. 16 Then Paul stoode vp and beckened with the hand, and sayde, Men of Israel, and yee that feare God, hearken. 17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt in the land of Egypt, and with an high arme brought them out thereof. 18 And about the time of fourtie yeeres, suffered he their maners in the wildernesse. 19 And he destroied seuen nations in the land of Chanaan, and deuided their lad to them by lot. 20 Then afterward he gaue vnto them Iudges about foure hundreth and fiftie yeeres, vnto the time of Samuel the Prophet. 21 So after that, they desired a King, and God gaue vnto them Saul, the sonne of Cis, a man of ye tribe of Beniamin, by the space of fourty yeres. 22 And after he had taken him away, he raised vp Dauid to be their King, of whom he witnessed, saying, I haue found Dauid the sonne of Iesse, a man after mine owne heart, which will doe all things that I will. 23 Of this mans seede hath God according to his promise raised vp to Israel, ye Sauiour Iesus: 24 When Iohn had first preached before his coming the baptisme of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And when Iohn had fulfilled his course, he saide, Whom ye thinke that I am, I am not he: but beholde, there commeth one after me, whose shooe of his feete I am not worthy to loose. 26 Yee men and brethren, children of the generation of Abraham, and whosoeuer among you feareth God, to you is the woorde of this saluation sent. 27 For the inhabitants of Hierusalem, and their rulers, because they knewe him not, nor yet the woordes of the Prophets, which are read euery Sabbath day, they haue fulfilled them in condemning him. 28 And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate to kill him. 29 And when they had fulfilled all things that were written of him, they tooke him downe from the tree, and put him in a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him vp from the dead. 31 And hee was seene many dayes of them, which came vp with him from Galile to Hierusalem, which are his witnesses vnto the people. 32 And we declare vnto you, that touching the promise made vnto the fathers, 33 God hath fulfilled it vnto vs their children, in that he raised vp Iesus, euen as it is written in the seconde Psalme, Thou art my Sonne: this day haue I begotten thee. 34 Nowe as concerning that he raised him vp from the dead, no more to returne to corruption, he hath said thus, I wil giue you the holy things of Dauid, which are faithfull. 35 Wherefore hee sayeth also in another place, Thou wilt not suffer thine Holy one to see corruption. 36 Howbeit, Dauid after hee had serued his time by the counsell of God, hee slept, and was laid with his fathers, and sawe corruption. 37 But he whom God raised vp, sawe no corruption. 38 Be it knowen vnto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached vnto you the forgiuenesse of sinnes. 39 And from al things, from which ye could not be iustified by the Law of Moses, by him euery one that beleeueth, is iustified. 40 Beware therefore lest that come vpon you, which is spoken of in the Prophets, 41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and vanish away: for I woorke a woorke in your daies, a woorke which yee shall not beleeue, if a man would declare it you. 42 And when they were come out of the Synagogue of the Iewes, the Gentiles besought, that they woulde preach these woordes to them the next Sabbath day. 43 Nowe when the congregation was dissolued, many of the Iewes and Proselytes that feared God, followed Paul and Barnabas, which spake to them, and exhorted them to continue in the grace of God. 44 And ye next Sabbath day came almost the whole citie together, to heare the worde of God. 45 But when the Iewes saw the people, they were full of enuie, and spake against those things, which were spoken of Paul, contrarying them, and railing on them. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas spake boldly, and sayde, It was necessarie that the woorde of God shoulde first haue beene spoken vnto you: but seeing yee put it from you, and iudge your selues vnworthie of euerlasting life, loe, we turne to the Gentiles. 47 For so hath the Lord commanded vs, saying, I haue made thee a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be the saluation vnto the end of the world. 48 And when the Gentiles heard it, they were glad, and glorified the woorde of the Lord: and as many as were ordeined vnto eternall life, beleeued. 49 Thus the worde of the Lord was published throughout the whole countrey. 50 But the Iewes stirred certaine deuoute and honourable women, and the chiefe men of the citie, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coastes. 51 But they shooke off the dust of their feete against them, and came vnto Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with ioy, and with the holy Ghost.
Barnabas and Saul Are Chosen and Sent
1 In the church at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (called the Black), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (who had been brought up with Governor Herod ), and Saul. 2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, to do the work to which I have called them.”
3 They fasted and prayed, placed their hands on them, and sent them off.
In Cyprus
4 Having been sent by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went to Seleucia and sailed from there to the island of Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues. They had John Mark with them to help in the work.
6 They went all the way across the island to Paphos, where they met a certain magician named Bar-Jesus, a Jew who claimed to be a prophet. 7 He was a friend of the governor of the island, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor called Barnabas and Saul before him because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But they were opposed by the magician Elymas (that is his name in Greek), who tried to turn the governor away from the faith. 9 Then Saul—also known as Paul—was filled with the Holy Spirit; he looked straight at the magician 10 and said, “You son of the Devil! You are the enemy of everything that is good. You are full of all kinds of evil tricks, and you always keep trying to turn the Lord's truths into lies! 11 The Lord's hand will come down on you now; you will be blind and will not see the light of day for a time.”
At once Elymas felt a dark mist cover his eyes, and he walked around trying to find someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the governor saw what had happened, he believed; for he was greatly amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
In Antioch in Pisidia
13 Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and came to Perga, a city in Pamphylia, where John Mark left them and went back to Jerusalem. 14 They went on from Perga and arrived in Antioch in Pisidia, and on the Sabbath they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After the reading from the Law of Moses and from the writings of the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message: “Friends, we want you to speak to the people if you have a message of encouragement for them.” 16 Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to speak:
“Fellow Israelites and all Gentiles here who worship God: hear me! 17 The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors and made the people a great nation during the time they lived as foreigners in Egypt. God brought them out of Egypt by his great power, 18 and for forty years he endured them in the desert. 19 He destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and made his people the owners of the land. 20 All of this took about 450 years.
“After this he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel. 21 And when they asked for a king, God gave them Saul son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their king for forty years. 22 After removing him, God made David their king. This is what God said about him: ‘I have found that David son of Jesse is the kind of man I like, a man who will do all I want him to do.’ 23 It was Jesus, a descendant of David, whom God made the Savior of the people of Israel, as he had promised. 24 Before Jesus began his work, John preached to all the people of Israel that they should turn from their sins and be baptized. 25 And as John was about to finish his mission, he said to the people, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one you are waiting for. But listen! He is coming after me, and I am not good enough to take his sandals off his feet.’
26 “My fellow Israelites, descendants of Abraham, and all Gentiles here who worship God: it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent! 27 For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not know that he is the Savior, nor did they understand the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Yet they made the prophets' words come true by condemning Jesus. 28 And even though they could find no reason to pass the death sentence on him, they asked Pilate to have him put to death. 29 And after they had done everything that the Scriptures say about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from death, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now witnesses for him to the people of Israel. 32-33 And we are here to bring the Good News to you: what God promised our ancestors he would do, he has now done for us, who are their descendants, by raising Jesus to life. As it is written in the second Psalm,
‘You are my Son;
today I have become your Father.’
34 And this is what God said about raising him from death, never to rot away in the grave:
‘I will give you the sacred and sure blessings
that I promised to David.’
35 As indeed he says in another passage,
‘You will not allow your faithful servant to rot in the grave.’
36 For David served God's purposes in his own time, and then he died, was buried with his ancestors, and his body rotted in the grave. 37 But this did not happen to the one whom God raised from death. 38-39 All of you, my fellow Israelites, are to know for sure that it is through Jesus that the message about forgiveness of sins is preached to you; you are to know that everyone who believes in him is set free from all the sins from which the Law of Moses could not set you free. 40 Take care, then, so that what the prophets said may not happen to you:
41 ‘Look, you scoffers! Be astonished and die!
For what I am doing today
is something that you will not believe,
even when someone explains it to you!’”
42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to come back the next Sabbath and tell them more about these things. 43 After the people had left the meeting, Paul and Barnabas were followed by many Jews and by many Gentiles who had been converted to Judaism. The apostles spoke to them and encouraged them to keep on living in the grace of God.
44 The next Sabbath nearly everyone in the town came to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; they disputed what Paul was saying and insulted him. 46 But Paul and Barnabas spoke out even more boldly: “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we will leave you and go to the Gentiles. 47 For this is the commandment that the Lord has given us:
‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
so that all the world may be saved.’”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the Lord's message; and those who had been chosen for eternal life became believers.
49 The word of the Lord spread everywhere in that region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the leading men of the city and the Gentile women of high social standing who worshiped God. They started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and threw them out of their region. 51 The apostles shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went on to Iconium. 52 The believers in Antioch were full of joy and the Holy Spirit.