1Now there were at 1Antioch, in the 2church that was there, 3prophets and 4teachers: 5Barnabas, and Simeon who was calledNiger, and Lucius of 6Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with 7Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
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While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, 8the HolySpiritsaid, "Setapart for Me 9Barnabas and Saul for 10the work to which I have called them."
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Then, when they had fasted and 11prayed and 12laid their hands on them, 13they sent them away.
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So, being 14sent out by the HolySpirit, they wentdown to Seleucia and from there they sailed to 15Cyprus.
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When they reachedSalamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in 16the synagogues of the Jews; and they alsohad17John as their helper.
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When they had gonethrough the wholeisland as far as Paphos, they found a 18magician, a Jewish19falseprophetwhosename was Bar-Jesus,
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who was with the 20proconsul, SergiusPaulus, a man of intelligence. ThismansummonedBarnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
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But Elymas the 21magician (for so his name is translated ) was opposing them, seeking to turn the 22proconsulaway from 23the faith.
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But Saul, who was also known as Paul, 24filled with the HolySpirit, fixed his gaze on him,
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and said, "You who are full of alldeceit and fraud, you 25son of the devil, you enemy of allrighteousness, will you not cease to makecrooked26the straightways of the Lord?
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"Now, behold, 27the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time." And immediately a mist and a darknessfell upon him, and he wentaboutseeking those who would lead him by the hand.
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Then the 28proconsulbelieved when he saw what had happened, being amazed at 29the teaching of the Lord.
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NowPaul and his companions*put out to sea from 30Paphos and came to 31Perga in 32Pamphylia; but 33Johnleft them and returned to Jerusalem.
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But going on from Perga, they arrived at 34Pisidian35Antioch, and on 36the Sabbathday they went into 37the synagogue and satdown.
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After38the reading of the Law and 39the Prophets40the synagogueofficialssent to them, saying, "Brethren*, if you have anyword of exhortation for the people, say it."
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Paulstood up, and 41motioning with his handsaid, "Men of Israel, and 42 you who fearGod, listen:
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"The God of thispeopleIsrael43chose our fathers and 44made the peoplegreatduring their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an upliftedarm45He led them out from it.
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"For 46a period of aboutfortyyears47He put up with them in the wilderness.
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"48When He had destroyed49sevennations in the land of Canaan, He 50distributed their land as an inheritance -all of which took 51aboutfourhundred and fiftyyears.
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"Afterthesethings He 52gave them judgesuntil53Samuel the prophet.
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"Then they 54asked for a king, and Godgave them 55Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for fortyyears.
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"After He had 56removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He alsotestified and said, '57I HAVE FOUNDDAVID the son of Jesse, A MANAFTER MY HEART, who will doall My will.'
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"58From the descendants of thisman, 59according to promise, God has brought to Israel60a Savior, Jesus,
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after 61John had proclaimedbefore His coming* a 62baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
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"And whileJohn63was completing his course, 64he kept saying, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is comingafter me the sandals of whosefeet I am not worthy to untie.'
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"Brethren*, sons of Abraham'sfamily, and thoseamong you who fearGod, to us the message of 65thissalvation has been sent.
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"For those who live in Jerusalem, and their 66rulers, 67recognizing neither Him nor the utterances of 68the prophets which are 69readeverySabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.
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"And though they foundnoground for putting Him to death, they 70askedPilate that He be executed.
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"When they had 71carried out all that was writtenconcerning Him, 72they took Him down from 73the cross and 74laid Him in a tomb.
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and for manydays76He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very oneswho are now77His witnesses to the people.
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"And we 78preach to you the goodnews of 79the promisemade to the fathers,
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that God has fulfilledthis promise to our children in that He 80raised up Jesus, as it is alsowritten in the secondPsalm, '81YOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.'
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"As for the fact that He 82raised Him up from the dead, nolonger to return to decay, He has spoken in thisway: '83I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.'
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"Therefore He alsosays in another Psalm, '84YOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLYONE TO UNDERGODECAY.'
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"For 85David, after he had served86the purpose of God in his owngeneration, 87fellasleep, and was laidamong his fathers and underwentdecay;
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"Therefore let it be known to you, brethren*, that 89through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,
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and through Him 90everyone who believes is freed from allthings, from which you could not be freedthrough the Law of Moses.
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"Thereforetakeheed, so that the thingspoken of 91in the Prophets may not come upon you:
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'92BEHOLD, YOU SCOFFERS, AND MARVEL, AND PERISH; FOR I AM ACCOMPLISHING A WORK IN YOUR DAYS, A WORKWHICH YOU WILL NEVER*BELIEVE, THOUGHSOMEONE SHOULD DESCRIBE IT TO YOU.' "
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As Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that thesethings might be spoken to them the next93Sabbath.
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Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the 94God-fearing95proselytesfollowedPaul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in 96the grace of God.