The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 Now there were at Antioch, in the church there, prophets and teachers, Barnabas, and Symeon who was named Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, a relation of Herod the king, and Saul.
1
In the church at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (called the Black), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (who had been brought up with Governor Herod ), and Saul.
2 And while they were doing the Lord's work, and going without food, the Holy Spirit said, Let Barnabas and Saul be given to me for the special work for which they have been marked out by me.
2
While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul, to do the work to which I have called them."
3 Then, after prayer and going without food they put their hands on them, and sent them away.
3
They fasted and prayed, placed their hands on them, and sent them off.
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia; and from there they went by ship to Cyprus.
4
Having been sent by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went to Seleucia and sailed from there to the island of Cyprus.
5 And at Salamis they were preaching the word of God in the Synagogues of the Jews: and John was with them, helping them.
5
When they arrived at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues. They had John Mark with them to help in the work.
6 And when they had gone through all the island to Paphos, they came across a certain wonder-worker and false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus;
6
They went all the way across the island to Paphos, where they met a certain magician named Bar-Jesus, a Jew who claimed to be a prophet.
7 Who was with the ruler, Sergius Paulus, an able man. This man sent for Barnabas and Saul, desiring to have knowledge of the word of God.
7
He was a friend of the governor of the island, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor called Barnabas and Saul before him because he wanted to hear the word of God.
8 But Elymas, the wonder-worker (for that is the sense of his name), put himself against them, with the purpose of turning the ruler from the faith.
8
But they were opposed by the magician Elymas (that is his name in Greek), who tried to turn the governor away from the faith.
9 But Saul, whose other name is Paul, being full of the Holy Spirit, looking hard at him, said,
9
Then Saul - also known as Paul - was filled with the Holy Spirit; he looked straight at the magician
10 O you, who are full of false tricks and evil ways, a son of the Evil One, hating all righteousness, will you for ever be turning people from the right ways of the Lord?
10
and said, "You son of the Devil! You are the enemy of everything that is good. You are full of all kinds of evil tricks, and you always keep trying to turn the Lord's truths into lies!
11 And now, see, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind and not able to see the sun for a time. And straight away a dark mist came down on him; and he went about looking for a guide.
11
The Lord's hand will come down on you now; you will be blind and will not see the light of day for a time." At once Elymas felt a dark mist cover his eyes, and he walked around trying to find someone to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the ruler, when he saw what was done, had faith, being full of wonder at the teaching of the Lord.
12
When the governor saw what had happened, he believed; for he was greatly amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
13 Then Paul and those who were with him went by ship from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia: and there John went away from them and came back to Jerusalem.
13
Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and came to Perga, a city in Pamphylia, where John Mark left them and went back to Jerusalem.
14 But they, going through from Perga, came to Antioch in Pisidia; and they went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath and were seated.
14
They went on from Perga and arrived in Antioch in Pisidia, and on the Sabbath they went into the synagogue and sat down.
15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the Synagogue sent to them, saying, Brothers, if you have a word of comfort for the people, say on.
15
After the reading from the Law of Moses and from the writings of the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent them a message: "Friends, we want you to speak to the people if you have a message of encouragement for them."
16 And Paul, getting up and making a sign with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and you who have the fear of God, give ear.
16
Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to speak: "Fellow Israelites and all Gentiles here who worship God: hear me!
17 The God of this people Israel made selection of our fathers, lifting the people up from their low condition when they were living in the land of Egypt, and with a strong arm took them out of it.
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The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors and made the people a great nation during the time they lived as foreigners in Egypt. God brought them out of Egypt by his great power,
18 And for about forty years he put up with their ways in the waste land.
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and for forty years he endured them in the desert.
19 And having put to destruction seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them the land for their heritage for about four hundred and fifty years.
19
He destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan and made his people the owners of the land.
20 And after these things he gave them judges, till the time of Samuel the prophet.
20
All of this took about 450 years. "After this he gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel.
21 Then at their request for a king, God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the family of Benjamin, who was their king for forty years.
21
And when they asked for a king, God gave them Saul son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, to be their king for forty years.
22 And having put him on one side, he made David their king, to whom he gave witness, saying, I have taken David, the son of Jesse, a man dear to my heart, who will do all my pleasure.
22
After removing him, God made David their king. This is what God said about him: "I have found that David son of Jesse is the kind of man I like, a man who will do all I want him to do.'
23 From this man's seed has God given to Israel a Saviour, even Jesus, as he gave his word;
23
It was Jesus, a descendant of David, whom God made the Savior of the people of Israel, as he had promised.
24 For whose coming John made ready the way by preaching to all the people of Israel the baptism which goes with a change of heart.
24
Before Jesus began his work, John preached to all the people of Israel that they should turn from their sins and be baptized.
25 And when John was completing his work, he said, What do I seem to you to be? I am not he; but one is coming after me, whose shoes I am not good enough to undo.
25
And as John was about to finish his mission, he said to the people, "Who do you think I am? I am not the one you are waiting for. But listen! He is coming after me, and I am not good enough to take his sandals off his feet.'
26 My brothers, children of the family of Abraham, and those among you who have the fear of God, to us the word of this salvation is sent.
26
"My fellow Israelites, descendants of Abraham, and all Gentiles here who worship God: it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent!
27 For the men of Jerusalem and their rulers, having no knowledge of him, or of the sayings of the prophets which come to their ears every Sabbath day, gave effect to them by judging him.
27
For the people who live in Jerusalem and their leaders did not know that he is the Savior, nor did they understand the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. Yet they made the prophets' words come true by condemning Jesus.
28 And though no cause of death was seen in him, they made a request to Pilate that he might be put to death.
28
And even though they could find no reason to pass the death sentence on him, they asked Pilate to have him put to death.
29 And when they had done all the things said in the Writings about him, they took him down from the tree, and put him in the place of the dead.
29
And after they had done everything that the Scriptures say about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.
30 But God gave him back from the dead:
30
But God raised him from death,
31 And for a number of days he was seen by those who came with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses before the people.
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and for many days he appeared to those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now witnesses for him to the people of Israel.
32 And we are giving you the good news of the undertaking made to the fathers,
32
And we are here to bring the Good News to you: what God promised our ancestors he would do, he has now done for us, who are their descendants, by raising Jesus to life. As it is written in the second Psalm, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father.'
33 Which God has now put into effect for our children, by sending Jesus; as it says in the second Psalm, You are my Son; this day I have given you being.
34 And about his coming back from the dead, never again to go to destruction, he has said these words, I will give you the holy and certain mercies of David.
34
And this is what God said about raising him from death, never to rot away in the grave: "I will give you the sacred and sure blessings that I promised to David.'
35 Because he says in another Psalm, You will not let your Holy One see destruction.
35
As indeed he says in another passage, "You will not allow your faithful servant to rot in the grave.'
36 Now David, having done God's work for his generation, went to sleep, and was put with his fathers, and his body came to destruction:
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For David served God's purposes in his own time, and then he died, was buried with his ancestors, and his body rotted in the grave.
37 But he, who was lifted up by God, did not see destruction.
37
But this did not happen to the one whom God raised from death.
38 And so, let it be clear to you, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is offered to you:
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All of you, my fellow Israelites, are to know for sure that it is through Jesus that the message about forgiveness of sins is preached to you; you are to know that everyone who believes in him is set free from all the sins from which the Law of Moses could not set you free.
39 And through him everyone who has faith is made free from all those things, from which the law of Moses was not able to make you free.
40 So take care that these words of the prophets do not come true for you;
40
Take care, then, so that what the prophets said may not happen to you:
41 See, you doubters, have wonder and come to your end; for I will do a thing in your days to which you will not give belief, even if it is made clear to you.
41
"Look, you scoffers! Be astonished and die! For what I am doing today is something that you will not believe, even when someone explains it to you!' "
42 And when they went out, they made a request that these words might be said to them again on the Sabbath after.
42
As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to come back the next Sabbath and tell them more about these things.
43 Now when the meeting was ended, a number of the Jews and of the God-fearing Gentiles who had become Jews, went after Paul and Barnabas: who put before them how important it was to keep on in the grace of God.
43
After the people had left the meeting, Paul and Barnabas were followed by many Jews and by many Gentiles who had been converted to Judaism. The apostles spoke to them and encouraged them to keep on living in the grace of God.
44 And on the Sabbath after, almost all the town came together to give hearing to the word of God.
44
The next Sabbath nearly everyone in the town came to hear the word of the Lord.
45 But when the Jews saw such a great number of people, they were full of envy and said evil words against Paul's preaching.
45
When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy; they disputed what Paul was saying and insulted him.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas without fear said, It was necessary for the word of God to be given to you first; but because you will have nothing to do with it, and have no desire for eternal life, it will now be offered to the Gentiles.
46
But Paul and Barnabas spoke out even more boldly: "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we will leave you and go to the Gentiles.
47 For so the Lord has given us orders, saying, I have given you for a light to the Gentiles so that you may be for salvation to the ends of the earth.
47
For this is the commandment that the Lord has given us: "I have made you a light for the Gentiles, so that all the world may be saved.' "
48 And the Gentiles, hearing this, were glad and gave glory to the word of God: and those marked out by God for eternal life had faith.
48
When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and praised the Lord's message; and those who had been chosen for eternal life became believers.
49 And the word of the Lord went through all the country.
49
The word of the Lord spread everywhere in that region.
50 But the Jews, working up the feelings of the God-fearing women of high position and of the chief men of the town, got an attack started against Paul and Barnabas, driving them out of those parts.
50
But the Jews stirred up the leading men of the city and the Gentile women of high social standing who worshiped God. They started a persecution against Paul and Barnabas and threw them out of their region.
51 But they, shaking off the dust of that place from their feet, came to Iconium.
51
The apostles shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went on to Iconium.
52 And the disciples were full of joy and of the Holy Spirit.
52
The believers in Antioch were full of joy and the Holy Spirit.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.