Acts 13
13
The Beginning of the Global Spread of the Gospel
1 Now there were in Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen who was brought up with* Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart now for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, having fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them off.
4 So, having been sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they set sail to Cyprus. 5 And when they came to Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they also had John as an assistant. 6 And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a brilliant man. He called Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for thus his name means) resisted them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul (also called Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed intently at him 10 and said, “O you who are full of all deceit and all villainy, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness. Will you not stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon* you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a set time.” And immediately, mist and darkness fell upon him, and he was going around looking for someone to lead him by the hand. 12 Then when the proconsul saw what had taken place, he believed, being struck with amazement at the teaching regarding* the Lord.
Paul’s Preaching at Pisidian Antioch
13 Now Paul and his associates* sailed away from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. But John went away from them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 And they went on from Perga and arrived at Pisidian Antioch. And after they entered the synagogue on the day of the Sabbath,* they sat down. 15 So after the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them,* saying, “Men and brothers, if there is any word of exhortation by you for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand, he said:
“Men of Israel, and those who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people during their sojourn* in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. 18 And for a period of about forty years, He endured their ways in the wilderness. 19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 And then, they demanded for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And after He removed him, He raised David as king to them, to whom He also said, testifying, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’ 23 From this man's descendants,* according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Saviour, Jesus. 24 Before His coming,* John had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 But as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose me to be? I am not He.* No, but behold, He comes after me, of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of His feet.’
26 “Men and brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God—to us the word of this salvation has been sent. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not know this One, and the voices of the prophets that are read on every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning Him. 28 And although they found no cause worthy of death, they requested Pilate to kill Him. 29 And when they had accomplished all the things that were written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30 But God raised Him from the dead, 31 who appeared for many days to those who had accompanied Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people. 32 And we preach the gospel to you—the promise that was made to the fathers— 33 that this promise God has fulfilled to us, their children,* by raising Jesus, just as it is also written in the second psalm:
‘You are My Son,
today I have begotten You.’*
34 And with respect to the fact that He raised Him from the dead, no more going to return to corruption, He has spoken thus:
‘I will give you the holy and reliable blessings of David.’**
35 Therefore, He also says in another psalm:
‘You will not allow Your Holy One to experience corruption.’*
36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers, and experienced corruption. 37 But He whom God raised did not experience corruption.
38 “Therefore, let it be known to you—men and brothers—that through this One, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and from all the things from which you were not able to be justified by the Law of Moses, 39 in this One, everyone who believes is justified. 40 So, be on your guard, lest what is stated by the prophets come upon you:
41 ‘Look, you scoffers, and wonder and perish,
for I am working a work in your days,
a work that you would never believe,
even if someone were to declare it to you.’ ”*
42 And as they were leaving, they invited* them to speak about these things to them on the next Sabbath. 43 And when the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and the God-adoring converts to Judaism* followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, kept persuading them to continue in the grace of God.
44 And on the coming Sabbath, almost the whole city gathered together to hear the word of the Lord. 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began to contradict what was being spoken by Paul by maligning him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you cast it aside and judge yourselves not worthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For thus the Lord has commanded us:
‘I have set you as a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth.’ ”*
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. And as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord* kept spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews instigated the God-adoring women of elevated social status and the leading men of the city, and they stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district. 51 But, having shaken off the dust from their feet against them, they went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Notes
1 Or the foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch , or an intimate friend of Herod the tetrarch
11 Or against
12 Greek of
13 Greek the ones around [him]
14 Greek Sabbaths
15 The phrase a message to them is added to the translation to clarify the text
17 Greek the sojourn
23 Greek seed
24 Greek the coming of His person
25 The personal pronoun He is not found in the Greek text, but is added here for the purpose of clarification
33 Some ancient manuscripts read to our children
33 Quoted from Ps. 2:8
33 One ancient Greek manuscript inserts the rest of Ps. 2:8 at the end of the verse: Ask from Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession
34 Greek the holy of David, the reliable
34 Quoted from Is. 55:3
35 Quoted from Ps. 16:10
41 Quoted from Hab. 1:5
42 Or begged
43 Or God-adoring proselytes
47 Quoted from Is. 49:6
49 One ancient Greek manuscript omits the genitive phrase of the Lord
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
