Acts 13; Acts 14; Acts 15

Acts 13

1 In the Antioch congregation were prophets and teachers - Bar-Nabba, Shim'on (known as "the Black"), Lucius (from Cyrene), Menachem (who had been brought up with Herod the governor) and Sha'ul.

2 One time when they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Ruach HaKodesh said to them, "Set aside for me Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul for the work to which I have called them."

3 After fasting and praying, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

4 So these two, after they had been sent out by the Ruach HaKodesh, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.

5 After landing in Salamis, they began proclaiming the word of God in the synagogues, with Yochanan (Mark) as an assistant;

6 and thus they made their way throughout the whole island. They ended up in Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and pseudo-prophet named Bar-Yeshua.

7 He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. Now the governor had called for Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul and was anxious to hear the message about God;

8 but the sorcerer Elymas (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, doing his best to turn the governor away from the faith.

9 Then Sha'ul, also known as Paul, filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, stared straight at him and said,

10 "You son of Satan, full of fraud and evil! You enemy of everything good! Won't you ever stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?k

11 So now, look! The hand of the Lord is upon you; and for a while you will be blind, unable to see the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over Elymas; and he groped about, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand.

12 Then, on seeing what had happened, the governor trusted, astounded by the teaching about the Lord.

13 Having set sail from Paphos, Sha'ul and his companions arrived at Perga in Pamphylia. There Yochanan left them and returned to Yerushalayim,

14 but the others went on from Perga to Pisidian Antioch, and on Shabbat they went into the synagogue and sat down.

15 After the reading from the Torah and from the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent them a message, "Brothers, if any of you has a word of exhortation for the people, speak!"

16 So Sha'ul stood, motioned with his hand, and said: "Men of Isra'el and God-fearers, listen!

17 The God of this people Isra'el chose our fathers. He made the people great during the time when they were living as aliens in Egypt and with a stretched-out arm he led them out of that land.

18 For some forty yearsm he took care of them in the desert,

19 and after he had destroyed seven nationsn in the land of Kena'an he gave their land to his people as an inheritance.

20 All this took about 450 years. After that, he gave them judges, o down to the prophet Sh'mu'el.

21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Sha'ul Ben-Kish, a man from the tribe of Binyamin. After forty years,

22 God removed him and raised up David as king for them, making his approval known with these words, 'I found David Ben-Yishai to be a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want.'

23 "In keeping with his promise, God has brought to Isra'el from this man's descendants a deliverer, Yeshua.

24 Now before the coming of Yeshua, Yochanan proclaimed to all the people of Isra'el an immersion in connection with turning to God from sin.

25 But as Yochanan was ending his work, he said, 'Who do you suppose I am? Well - I'm not! But after me is coming someone, the sandals of whose feet I am unworthy to untie.'

26 "Brothers! - sons of Avraham and those among you who are 'God-fearers'! It is to us that the message of this deliverance has been sent!

27 For the people living in Yerushalayim and their leaders did not recognize who Yeshua was or understand the message of the Prophets read every Shabbat, so they fulfilled that message by condemning him.

28 They could not find any legitimate ground for a death sentence; nevertheless they asked Pilate to have him executed;

29 and when they had carried out all the things written about him, he was taken down from the stakeq and placed in a tomb.

30 "But God raised him from the dead!

31 He appeared for many days to those who had come up with him from the Galil to Yerushalayim; and they are now his witnesses to the people.

32 "As for us, we are bringing you the Good News that what God promised to the fathers,

33 he has fulfilled for us the children in raising up Yeshua, as indeed it is written in the second Psalm, 'You are my Son; today I have become your Father.'

34 And as for his raising him up from the dead, to return to decay no more, he said, 'I will give the holy and trustworthy things of David to you.'

35 This is explained elsewhere: 'You will not let your Holy One see decay.'

36 For David did indeed serve God's purposes in his own generation; but after that, he died, was buried with his fathers and did see decay.

37 However, the one God raised up did not see decay.

38 "Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you that through this man is proclaimed forgiveness of sins!

39 That is, God clears everyone who puts his trust in this man, even in regard to all the things concerning which you could not be cleared by the Torah of Moshe.

40 "Watch out, then, so that this word found in the Prophets may not happen to you:

41 'You mockers! Look, and marvel, and die! For in your own time, I am doing a work that you simply will not believe, even if someone explains it to you!' "

42 As they left, the people invited Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba to tell them more about these matters the following Shabbat.

43 When the synagogue meeting broke up, many of the born Jews and devout proselytes followed Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, who spoke with them and urged them to keep holding fast to the love and kindness of God.

44 The next Shabbat, nearly the whole city gathered together to hear the message about the Lord;

45 but when the Jews who had not believed saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and spoke up against what Sha'ul was saying and insulted him.

46 However, Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba answered boldly: "It was necessary that God's word be spoken first to you. But since you are rejecting it and are judging yourselves unworthy of eternal life - why, we're turning to the Goyim!

47 For that is what ADONAI has ordered us to do: 'I have set you as a light for the Goyim, to be for deliverance to the ends of the earth.' "

48 The Gentiles were very happy to hear this. They honored the message about the Lord, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life came to trust.

49 And the message about the Lord was carried throughout the whole region.

50 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the women 'God-fearers' of high social standing and the leading men of the city, and they organized persecution against Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba and expelled them from their district.

51 However, Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba shook off the dust of their feet against them and went on to Iconium;

52 and the talmidim were filled with joy and with the Ruach HaKodesh.

Acts 14

1 In Iconium the same thing happened - they went into the synagogue and spoke in such a way that a large number of both Jews and Greeks came to trust.

2 But the Jews who would not be persuaded stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

3 Therefore, Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba remained for a long time, speaking boldly about the Lord, who bore witness to the message about his love and kindness by enabling them to perform signs and miracles.

4 However, the people of the city were divided - some sided with the unbelieving Jews, others with the emissaries.

5 Eventually the unbelievers, both Jews and Gentiles, together with their leaders, made a move to mistreat the emissaries, even to stone them;

6 but they learned of it and escaped to Lystra and Derbe, towns in Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country,

7 where they continued proclaiming the Good News.

8 There was a man living in Lystra who could not use his feet - crippled from birth, he had never walked.

9 This man listened to Sha'ul speaking. Sha'ul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

10 said with a loud voice, "Stand up on your feet!" He jumped up and began to walk.

11 When the crowds saw what Sha'ul had done, they began to shout in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in the form of men!"

12 They began calling Bar-Nabba "Zeus" and Sha'ul "Hermes," since he did most of the talking;

13 and the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, intending to offer a sacrifice to them with the people.

14 When the emissaries Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul heard of it, they tore their clothes and ran into the crowd, shouting,

15 "Men! Why are you doing this? We're just men, human like you! We are announcing Good News to you - turn from these worthless things to the living God who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them!w

16 In times past, he allowed all peoples to walk in their own ways;

17 yet he did not leave himself without evidence of his nature; because he does good things, giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons, filling you with food and your hearts with happiness!"

18 Even saying this barely kept the crowds from sacrificing to them.

19 Then some unbelieving Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. They won over the crowds, stoned Sha'ul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.

20 But as the talmidim gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day, he left with Bar-Nabba for Derbe.

21 After proclaiming the Good News in that city and making many people into talmidim, they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch,

22 strengthening the talmidim, encouraging them to remain true to the faith, and reminding them that it is through many hardships that we must enter the Kingdom of God.

23 After appointing elders for them in every congregation, Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord in whom they had put their trust.

24 Passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.

25 After speaking the message in Perga, they came down to Attalia; and from there, they sailed back to Antioch,

26 the place where they had been handed over to the care of God for the work which they had now completed.

27 When they arrived, they gathered the Messianic community together and reported what God had done through them, that he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

28 And they stayed for some time there with the talmidim.

Acts 15

1 But some men came down from Y'hudah to Antioch and began teaching the brothers, "You can't be saved unless you undergo b'rit-milah in the manner prescribed by Moshe."

2 This brought them into no small measure of discord and dispute with Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba. So the congregation assigned Sha'ul, Bar-Nabba and some of themselves to go and put this sh'eilah before the emissaries and the elders up in Yerushalayim.

3 After being sent off by the congregation, they made their way through Phoenicia and Shomron, recounting in detail how the Gentiles had turned to God; and this news brought great joy to all the brothers.

4 On arrival in Yerushalayim, they were welcomed by the Messianic community, including the emissaries and the elders; and they reported what God had done through them.

5 But some of those who had come to trust were from the party of the P'rushim; and they stood up and said, "It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Torah of Moshe."

6 The emissaries and the elders met to look into this matter.

7 After lengthy debate, Kefa got up and said to them, "Brothers, you yourselves know that a good while back, God chose me from among you to be the one by whose mouth the Goyim should hear the message of the Good News and come to trust.

8 And God, who knows the heart, bore them witness by giving the Ruach HaKodesh to them, just as he did to us;

9 that is, he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their heart by trust.

10 So why are you putting God to the test now by placing a yoke on the neck of the talmidim which neither our fathers nor we have had the strength to bear?

11 No, it is through the love and kindness of the Lord Yeshua that we trust and are delivered-and it's the same with them."

12 Then the whole assembly kept still as they listened to Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul tell what signs and miracles God had done through them among the Gentiles.

13 Ya'akov broke the silence to reply. "Brothers," he said, "hear what I have to say.

14 Shim'on has told in detail what God did when he first began to show his concern for taking from among the Goyim a people to bear his name.

15 And the words of the Prophets are in complete harmony with this for it is written,

16 '"After this, I will return; and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David. I will rebuild its ruins, I will restore it,

17 so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, that is, all the Goyim who have been called by my name,"

18 says ADONAI, who is doing these things.' All this has been known for ages.

19 "Therefore, my opinion is that we should not put obstacles in the way of the Goyim who are turning to God.

20 Instead, we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled and from blood.

21 For from the earliest times, Moshe has had in every city those who proclaim him, with his words being read in the synagogues every Shabbat."

22 Then the emissaries and the elders, together with the whole Messianic community, decided to select men from among themselves to send to Antioch with Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba. They sent Y'hudah, called Bar-Sabba, and Sila, both leading men among the brothers,

23 with the following letter: From: The emissaries and the elders, your brothers To: The brothers from among the Gentiles throughout Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings!

24 We have heard that some people went out from among us without our authorization, and that they have upset you with their talk, unsettling your minds.

25 So we have decided unanimously to select men and send them to you with our dear friends Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul,

26 who have dedicated their lives to upholding the name of our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah.

27 So we have sent Y'hudah and Sila, and they will confirm in person what we are writing.

28 For it seemed good to the Ruach HaKodesh and to us not to lay any heavier burden on you than the following requirements:

29 to abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will be doing the right thing. Shalom!

30 The messengers were sent off and went to Antioch, where they gathered the group together and delivered the letter.

31 After reading it, the people were delighted by its encouragement.

32 Y'hudah and Sila, who were also prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.

33 After they had spent some time there, they were sent off with a greeting of "Shalom!" from the brothers to those who had sent them.

34

35 But Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba stayed in Antioch, where they and many others taught and proclaimed the Good News of the message about the Lord.

36 After some time, Sha'ul said to Bar-Nabba, "Let's go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we proclaimed the message about the Lord, and see how they're doing."

37 Now Bar-Nabba wanted to take with them Yochanan, the one called Mark.

38 But Sha'ul thought it would be unwise to take this man with them, since he had gone off and left them in Pamphylia to do the work by themselves.

39 There was such sharp disagreement over this that they separated from each other, with Bar-Nabba taking Mark and sailing off to Cyprus.

40 However, Sha'ul chose Sila and left, after the brothers had committed him to the love and kindness of the Lord.

41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the congregations.