Acts 13
13
1The church at Antioch had prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (the childhood friend of Herod the tetrarch), and Saul. 2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart#13:2. Or “dedicate.” Barnabas and Saul to do the work I've called them to.” 3After they had fasted, prayed, and placed their hands on them in blessing, they sent them on their way.
4So Barnabas and Saul, directed by the Holy Spirit, went to Seleucia. From there they sailed to Cyprus. 5Arriving at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John#13:5. This John is John Mark (12:25). was with them as their assistant. 6They traveled throughout the island and eventually came to Paphos. There they found a Jewish magician, a false prophet by the name of Bar-jesus. 7He was close to the governor, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. Sergius Paulus invited Barnabas and Saul to come and visit him since he wanted to hear the word of God. 8But the magician Elymas (his Greek name) opposed them, trying to prevent the governor from trusting in God.
9Saul, also called Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and looked straight at him. 10“You are full of deception and all kinds of evil, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right! Will you never give up perverting the Lord's true ways? 11Look, the Lord's hand is on you and you will become blind. You will not see the sun for some time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell on him, and he had to find someone who could lead him by the hand. 12When the governor saw what happened he trusted in God, amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
13Then Paul and those with him sailed from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia, while John left them and went back to Jerusalem. 14They went through Perga and on to Antioch of Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and were seated. 15After the readings from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent them a message saying, “Brothers, please share with the congregation any words of encouragement you may have.”
16Paul stood up, motioned with his hand to get their attention, and began speaking. “Men of Israel, and all of you who have reverence for God, listen to me. 17The God of the people of Israel chose our forefathers, and gave our people prosperity during their stay in the land of Egypt. Then with his mighty power he led them out of Egypt, 18and he patiently dealt with them in the desert for about forty years.
19After he had overthrown seven nations living in the land of Canaan, God divided their land among the Israelites and gave it to them to inherit. This took about four hundred and fifty years. 20Then he provided them with judges as leaders until the time of the prophet Samuel. 21Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled for forty years. 22Then God removed Saul, and made David their king. God approved of David, saying ‘I found David the son of Jesse to be a man according to my own heart; he will do everything I intend.’#13:22. See 1 Samuel 13:14.
23Jesus is David's descendant; he is the Savior that God promised to bring to Israel. 24Before Jesus came, John announced the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25As John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one you're looking for. But after me one is coming whose sandals I'm not worthy to untie.’#13:25. Quoting Luke 3:16.
26My brothers, children of Abraham and those of you who have reverence for God: the message of this salvation has been sent to us! 27The people living in Jerusalem and their leaders didn't recognize Jesus or understand the words spoken by the prophets that are read every Sabbath. In fact they fulfilled the prophetic words by condemning him! 28Even though they couldn't find any evidence to sentence him to death, they still asked Pilate to have him killed. 29After they had fulfilled everything predicted that they would do to him, they took him down from the cross and buried him in a tomb. 30But God raised him from the dead, 31and he appeared over the course of many days to those who had followed him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people.
32We are here to bring to you the good news of the promise that God made to our forefathers, 33that he has now fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus from the dead. As it is written in Psalm 2: ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’#13:33. Quoting Psalms 2:7. 34God raised him from the dead, never to die again, as he indicated by saying, ‘I will give you what is holy and trustworthy, as I promised to David.’#13:34. Referring to Isaiah 55:3. 35As another psalm says, ‘You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.’#13:35. Quoting Psalms 16:10. 36But David died, after he had done what God wanted in his own time, and he was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed. 37The one God raised from the dead saw no decay.
38My brothers, I want you to understand that we're telling you that through this man sins are forgiven. 39Through him everyone who trusts in him is made morally right#13:39 “Morally right”: this is far more than simply being right in the sense of “correct,” so the word “morally” is added here from all that is wrong—in a way that you could never be set right by the law of Moses. 40Make sure that what the prophets said doesn't happen to you: 41‘You who are scornful, look in amazement, and die! For what I'm doing in your lifetime is something that you could never believe, even if someone told you!’”#13:41. Quoting Habakkuk 1:5.
42As they were leaving, the people pleaded with them to tell them more the next Sabbath. 43After the meeting in the synagogue, many of the Jews and the converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas who spoke with them, encouraging them to continue to hold on to the grace of God. 44The following Sabbath almost the whole town turned out to hear the word of God. 45However, when the Jews saw the crowds, they became extremely jealous, contradicting what Paul was saying and cursing him.
46So Paul and Barnabas spoke out strongly, saying “We had to speak the word of God to you first. But now that you're rejecting it—you're deciding that you're not worthy of eternal life—well now we're turning to the foreigners. 47That's what the Lord has told us to do: ‘I've made you a light to the foreigners, and through you salvation will go to the ends of the earth.’”#13:47. Quoting Isaiah 49:6. 48When the foreigners heard this they were overjoyed, praising the Lord's word, and all those chosen for eternal life trusted in God. 49So God's word was spread throughout the region. 50But the Jews incited the prominent religious women and leaders of the city to persecute Paul and Barnabas, and had them expelled from their territory. 51So they shook the dust off their feet against them as a sign of protest, and went on to Iconium. 52And the believers continued to be filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Acts 13
13
1In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers. Among them were Barnabas, Simeon, and Lucius from Cyrene. Simeon was also called Niger. Another was Manaen. He had been brought up with Herod, the ruler of Galilee. Saul was among them too. 2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke. “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for me,” he said. “I have appointed them to do special work.” 3The prophets and teachers fasted and prayed. They placed their hands on Barnabas and Saul. Then they sent them off.
Events on Cyprus
4Barnabas and Saul were sent on their way by the Holy Spirit. They went down to Seleucia. From there they sailed to Cyprus. 5They arrived at Salamis. There they preached God’s word in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
6They traveled all across the island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jew named Bar-Jesus. He was an evil magician and a false prophet. 7He was an attendant of Sergius Paulus, the governor. Paulus was a man of understanding. He sent for Barnabas and Saul. He wanted to hear God’s word. 8But the evil magician named Elymas opposed them. The name Elymas means Magician. He tried to keep the governor from becoming a believer. 9Saul was also known as Paul. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked straight at Elymas. He said to him, 10“You are a child of the devil! You are an enemy of everything that is right! You cheat people. You use all kinds of tricks. Won’t you ever stop twisting the right ways of the Lord? 11Now the Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to go blind. For a while you won’t even be able to see the light of the sun.”
Right away mist and darkness came over him. He tried to feel his way around. He wanted to find someone to lead him by the hand. 12When the governor saw what had happened, he believed. He was amazed at what Paul was teaching about the Lord.
Paul Preaches in Pisidian Antioch
13From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. 14From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15The Law and the Prophets were read aloud. Then the leaders of the synagogue sent word to Paul and his companions. They said, “Brothers, do you have any words of instruction for the people? If you do, please speak.”
16Paul stood up and motioned with his hand. Then he said, “Fellow Israelites, and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17The God of Israel chose our people who lived long ago. He blessed them greatly while they were in Egypt. With his mighty power he led them out of that country. 18He put up with their behavior for about 40 years in the desert. 19And he destroyed seven nations in Canaan. Then he gave the land to his people as their rightful share. 20All this took about 450 years.
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21Then the people asked for a king. He gave them Saul, son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. He ruled for 40 years. 22God removed him and made David their king. Here is God’s witness about him. ‘David, son of Jesse, is a man dear to my heart,’ he said. ‘David will do everything I want him to do.’
23“From this man’s family line God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus. This is what he had promised. 24Before Jesus came, John preached that we should turn away from our sins and be baptized. He preached this to all Israel. 25John was coming to the end of his work. ‘Who do you suppose I am?’ he said. ‘I am not the one you are looking for. But there is someone coming after me. I am not good enough to untie his sandals.’
26“Listen, fellow children of Abraham! Listen, you Gentiles who worship God! This message of salvation has been sent to us. 27The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus. By finding him guilty, they made the prophets’ words come true. These are read every Sabbath day. 28The people and their rulers had no reason at all for sentencing Jesus to death. But they asked Pilate to have him killed. 29They did everything that had been written about Jesus. Then they took him down from the cross. They laid him in a tomb. 30But God raised him from the dead. 31For many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. Now they are telling our people about Jesus.
32“We are telling you the good news. What God promised our people long ago 33he has done for us, their children. He has raised up Jesus. This is what is written in the second Psalm. It says,
“ ‘You are my son.
Today I have become your father.’ (Psalm 2:7)
34God raised Jesus from the dead. He will never rot in the grave. As God has said,
“ ‘Holy and sure blessings were promised to David.
I will give them to you.’ (Isaiah 55:3)
35In another place it also says,
“ ‘You will not let your holy one rot away.’ (Psalm 16:10)
36“David carried out God’s purpose while he lived. Then he died. He was buried with his people. His body rotted away. 37But the one whom God raised from the dead did not rot away.
38“My friends, here is what I want you to know. I announce to you that your sins can be forgiven because of what Jesus has done. 39Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin. Moses’ law could not make you right in God’s eyes. 40Be careful! Don’t let what the prophets spoke about happen to you. They said,
41“ ‘Look, you who make fun of the truth!
Wonder and die!
I am going to do something in your days
that you would never believe.
You wouldn’t believe it even if someone told you.’ ” (Habakkuk 1:5)
42Paul and Barnabas started to leave the synagogue. The people invited them to say more about these things on the next Sabbath day. 43The people were told they could leave the service. Many Jews followed Paul and Barnabas. Many Gentiles who faithfully worshiped the God of the Jews did the same. Paul and Barnabas talked with them. They tried to get them to keep living in God’s grace.
44On the next Sabbath day, almost the whole city gathered. They gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45When the Jews saw the crowds, they became very jealous. They began to disagree with what Paul was saying. They said evil things against him.
46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly. “We had to speak God’s word to you first,” they said. “But you don’t accept it. You don’t think you are good enough for eternal life. So now we are turning to the Gentiles. 47This is what the Lord has commanded us to do. He said,
“ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles.
You will bring salvation to the whole earth.’ ” (Isaiah 49:6)
48When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. They honored the word of the Lord. All who were appointed for eternal life believed.
49The word of the Lord spread through the whole area. 50But the Jewish leaders stirred up the important women who worshiped God. They also stirred up the men who were leaders in the city. The Jewish leaders tried to get the women and men to attack Paul and Barnabas. They threw Paul and Barnabas out of that area. 51Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet. This was a warning to the people who had opposed them. Then Paul and Barnabas went on to Iconium. 52The believers were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
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