ACTS 13 [†]Now there were in the church at Antioch  n prophets and  n teachers,  o Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, [1] Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of  p Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2[†]While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,  q the Holy Spirit said,  r “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul  s for the work to which I have called them.” 3[†]Then after fasting and  t praying they laid their hands on them and  u sent them off.

4[†]So, being sent out  v by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5[†]When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God  w in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had  x John to  y assist them. 6[†]When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain  z magician,  a a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7[†]He was with  b the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8[†]But Elymas the  z magician (for that is the meaning of his name)  c opposed them, seeking to turn  d the proconsul away from the faith. 9[†]But Saul, who was also called Paul,  e filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10and said, “You  f son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and  g villainy, will you not stop  h making crooked  i the straight paths of the Lord? 11[†]And now, behold,  j the 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  k people to lead him by the hand. 12Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at  l the teaching of the Lord.

13[†]Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And  m John left them and returned  n to Jerusalem, 14[†]but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And  o on the Sabbath day  p they went into the synagogue and sat down. 15[†]After  q the reading from  r the Law and the Prophets,  s the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any  t word of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16[†]So Paul stood up, and  u motioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and  v you who fear God, listen. 17[†] w The God of this people Israel  x chose our fathers and  y made the people great  z during their stay in the land of Egypt, and  a with uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18And for about  b forty years  c he put up with [2] them in the wilderness. 19And  d after destroying  e seven nations in the land of Canaan,  f he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20[†]All this took about 450 years. And after that  g he gave them judges until  h Samuel the prophet. 21Then  i they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul  j the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22And  k when he had removed him,  l he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said,  m ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse  n a man after my heart,  o who will do all my will.’ 23 p Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel  q a Savior, Jesus,  r as he promised. 24Before his coming,  s John had proclaimed  t a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25And as John was finishing his course,  u he 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  v who fear God, to us has been sent  w the message of  x this salvation. 27For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because  y they did not recognize him nor understand  z the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath,  a fulfilled them by condemning him. 28And  b though they found in him no guilt worthy of death,  c they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29And when  d they had carried out all that was written of him,  e they took him down from  f the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30But  g God raised him from the dead, 31[†]and for many days  h he appeared to those  i who had come up with him  j from Galilee to Jerusalem,  k who are now  l his witnesses to the people. 32And we bring you the good news  m that what God promised to the fathers, 33 n this 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,  p  q no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

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

35Therefore he says also in another psalm,

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

36[†]For David, after he had  t served the purpose of God in his own generation,  u fell asleep and  v was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37but he whom  w God raised up did not see corruption. 38[†]Let it be known to you therefore, brothers,  x that through this man  y forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39and by him  z everyone who believes is freed [3] from everything  a from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

41  b “‘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.’”

42[†]As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43[†]And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and  c devout  d converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them  e to continue in  f the grace of God.

44[†]The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 g But  h when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with  i jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul,  j reviling him. 46[†]And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God  k be spoken first to you.  l Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves  m unworthy of eternal life, behold, we  n are turning to the Gentiles. 47 o For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

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

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

48[†]And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and  s glorifying 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. 50 t But the Jews [4] incited the devout  u women of high standing and the leading men of the city,  v stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and  w drove them out of their district. 51[†]But they  x shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled  y with joy and  z with the Holy Spirit.