Acts 13
1Now there were prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2And while they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to do.”
3Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
4So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
5And when they arrived in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. (Now, they also had John as their helper.)
6And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a certain sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-jesus,
7who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. The proconsul summoned Barnabas and Saul because he desired to hear the word of God.
8But Elymas the sorcerer (that is how his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
9But Saul (who is also called Paul), filled with holy spirit, looked directly at him
10and said, “O you son of the Devil, full of every sort of deceit and wickedness, you enemy of all righteousness, will you never stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?
11And now, look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12Then, when the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, being amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
13Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem.
14Continuing on from Perga, they came to Antioch of Pisidia and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down.
15And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Men, brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the People, say it.”
16And Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you Gentiles who are God-fearers, listen!
17The God of the People, Israel, chose our fathers, and exalted the People during their sojourn in the land of Egypt, and with a mighty arm he led them out of it.
18And for about a time of 40 years he endured their conduct in the desert.
19And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them the land as an inheritance.
20And after these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet—all this took about 450 years—
21and afterward they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled for 40 years.
22And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; and he also testified about him and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do everything I want him to do.
23From this man’s seed God has, according to his promise, brought to Israel a Savior—Jesus.
24Before his coming, John had proclaimed to all the People of Israel baptism as a sign of repentance.
25Now while John was completing his mission, he kept saying, ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not he. But, pay attention, one is coming after me—I am not even worthy to untie the strap of his sandals!’
26“Men, brothers, sons of the race of Abraham, and those Gentiles among you who are God-fearers, the message of this salvation has been sent out to us.
27Since those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him, nor the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, they fulfilled them by condemning him.
28And without having found a reason to put him to death, they nevertheless asked Pilate to execute him.
29And when they had carried out all the things that were written about him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb.
30But God raised him from among the dead,
31and for many days he was seen by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the People.
32And now we are telling to you the good news of the promise made to the Fathers,
33that God has fulfilled this promise to us, that is, to their children, by raising up Jesus, just as it is written in the second psalm, You are my Son; today I have become your Father.
34Now concerning the fact that he raised him from among the dead, never again destined to return to death and corruption, he has spoken in this way: I will give to you the sacred promises made to David, the trustworthy ones!
35Therefore he says also in another place, You will not allow your Devout One to see corruption.
36“For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and saw corruption,
37but he whom God raised did not see corruption.
38Therefore let it be known among you, men, brothers, that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,
39and by him everyone who believes is declared righteous from all the things that kept you from being able to be declared righteous under the Law of Moses.
40Therefore, be careful that what was spoken by the prophets does not happen to you:
41Look, you scoffers, be amazed and perish! For I am doing something in your days, something that you will never believe, even if someone told you in detail.”
42And as they were going out, the people were urging Paul and Barnabas to speak to them about these things again the next Sabbath.
43Now when the synagogue meeting had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and were persuading them to continue in the grace of God.
44And the next Sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of the Lord.
45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things that were spoken by Paul, slandering him.
46Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of life in the age to come, look, we are turning to the Gentiles.
47For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles, so that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”
48Now when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as believed were at that time appointed to life in the age to come.
49And the word of the Lord spread through the whole region.
50But the Jews stirred up the God-fearing women of prominence, and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their region.
51But they shook off the dust of their feet as a symbol against them, and came to Iconium.
52And the disciples were filled with joy and holy spirit.