Acts

¹Now in the Church that was at Antioch, there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was surnamed Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ²As they were liturgizing¹⁴²⁸ to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

³Then, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul¹⁴²⁹ and sent them on their way. ⁴Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. ⁵When they were at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues, with John as their attendant. ⁶After going through the island to Paphos, they met a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar Jesus. ⁷He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. Being an intelligent man, the proconsul called Barnabas and Saul in order to hear the word of God. ⁸However, Elymas the sorcerer (this is his name when translated) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹But filled with the Holy Spirit, Saul (who is also called Paul), fixed his eyes on Elymas^{1430 10}and said, “You are full of all [kinds of] deceit and cunning, you son of the devil and enemy of all righteousness! Will you not stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is against you! You will be blind, unable to see the sun for a season!”

At once, mist and darkness fell upon Elymas¹⁴³¹, and he began to grope around, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹²When the proconsul saw what had taken place, he believed and was amazed by the teaching of the Lord.

¹³Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos to Perga in Pamphylia where John left them to return to Jerusalem. ¹⁴Continuing from Perga, they came to Antioch of Pisidia. There, they went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down [to listen]. ¹⁵After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent them a message, “Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak!”

Paul speaks in a synagogue

¹⁶So Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and said, “Men of Israel and you [Gentiles] who fear God, listen! ¹⁷The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people prosper when they lived as aliens in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm, he led them out of it. ¹⁸For a period of about forty years, he put up with them in the wilderness. ¹⁹And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, God¹⁴³² distributed their land among them by lot. ²⁰After this, for about four hundred fifty years, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. ²¹Then they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin [who ruled] for forty years. ²²After removing him, God¹⁴³³ raised up David to be their king, even bearing witness to him, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ ²³From this man’s seed, God has brought salvation¹⁴³⁴ to Israel, according to his promise. ²⁴This was before the coming of Jesus,¹⁴³⁵ when John first preached the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵As John was completing his work, he said, ‘Who do you suppose that I am? I am not he! But behold, one comes after me whose sandals¹⁴³⁶ I am unworthy to untie.’ ²⁶Brethren, children of the line of Abraham, and those among you who fear God,¹⁴³⁷ this message¹⁴³⁸ of salvation has been sent to you! ²⁷Indeed, those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize him or the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath. Still, by condemning him, they fulfilled the prophets! ²⁸Although they could find no cause for his execution, they asked Pilate to have Jesus¹⁴³⁹ killed. ²⁹After fulfilling 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 the dead, ³¹and he was seen for many days by those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are his witnesses to the people. ³²And now, we bring you the Good News that the promise made to the fathers has come about: ³³God has fulfilled it for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm:

You are my Son.

Today I have begotten you.¹⁴⁴⁰

³⁴That God raised him up from the dead to never again return to corruption, he has declared in these words: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’^{1441 35}Therefore, he also says in another psalm, ‘You will not allow your holy one to see decay.’^{1442 36}Then, after having in his own generation served God’s purpose, David fell asleep. He was laid with his fathers and saw decay. ³⁷But he whom God raised up did not see decay! ³⁸Therefore, may you know, brethren, that through this man the remission of sins is proclaimed to you! ³⁹By him, everyone who believes is justified¹⁴⁴³ from all things, things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰Beware therefore, for fear that what is spoken in the prophets may come on you:

⁴¹Behold, you scoffers, be amazed, and perish!

For in your days, I [shall] accomplish a work,

which you will not believe, even if one would proclaim it to you.¹⁴⁴⁴

⁴²And so, as the Jews were leaving the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.^{1445 43}Now when the congregation was dismissed, many Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and encouraged them to persevere in the grace of God. ⁴⁴The next Sabbath, almost the entire city was gathered to hear the word of God! ⁴⁵But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy and opposed what Paul said, contradicting and blaspheming.

Turning to the Gentiles

⁴⁶Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that God’s word should be spoken to you first. But since you are rejecting it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles! ⁴⁷For this is what the Lord has commanded us, saying:

I have set you as a light for the Gentiles,

So that you should bring salvation

to the uttermost parts of the earth.”¹⁴⁴⁶

⁴⁸When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and received¹⁴⁴⁷ the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. ⁴⁹Thus, the word of the Lord was spread throughout the entire region. ⁵⁰But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women as well as the leading men of the city. They instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their borders. ⁵¹So the apostles¹⁴⁴⁸ shook off the dust of their feet against these people and went to Iconium. ⁵²And the disciples were filled with joy and [with] the Holy Spirit.

In Iconium and Lystra

1428. Greek leitourgou,ntwn (leitourgountwn)
1429. Greek “them”
1430. Greek “him”
1431. Greek “him”
1432. Greek “he”
1433. Greek “he”
1434. TR and CT read “a Savior, Jesus” instead of “salvation.” MT agrees with PT.
1435. Greek “his coming”
1436. Greek “the sandal of {his} feet”
1437. “those among you who fear God” is a reference to Gentiles.
1438. Or “word”
1439. Greek “him”
1440. Psalm 2:7
1441. Isaias 55:3
1442. Psalm 16:10/15 LXX
1443. Greek dikaiou/tai (dikaioutai)
1444. Habakkuk 1:5. Agrees with LXX against MT.
1445. Text is uncertain—another possible reading is “As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath” (RSV).
1446. Isaias 49:6
1447. Most other manuscripts read “glorified” instead of “received”
1448. Greek “they”