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Acts 13

New Living Translation NLT

1 Among the prophets and teachers of the church at Antioch of Syria were Barnabas, Simeon (called “the black man” ), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (the childhood companion of King Herod Antipas ), and Saul.

2 One day as these men were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Dedicate Barnabas and Saul for the special work to which I have called them.”

3 So after more fasting and prayer, the men laid their hands on them and sent them on their way.

4 So Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. They went down to the seaport of Seleucia and then sailed for the island of Cyprus.

5 There, in the town of Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogues and preached the word of God. John Mark went with them as their assistant.

6 Afterward they traveled from town to town across the entire island until finally they reached Paphos, where they met a Jewish sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

7 He had attached himself to the governor, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent man. The governor invited Barnabas and Saul to visit him, for he wanted to hear the word of God.

8 But Elymas, the sorcerer (as his name means in Greek), interfered and urged the governor to pay no attention to what Barnabas and Saul said. He was trying to keep the governor from believing.

9 Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he looked the sorcerer in the eye.

10 Then he said, “You son of the devil, full of every sort of deceit and fraud, and enemy of all that is good! Will you never stop perverting the true ways of the Lord?

11 Watch now, for the Lord has laid his hand of punishment upon you, and you will be struck blind. You will not see the sunlight for some time.” Instantly mist and darkness came over the man’s eyes, and he began groping around begging for someone to take his hand and lead him.

12 When the governor saw what had happened, he became a believer, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

13 Paul and his companions then left Paphos by ship for Pamphylia, landing at the port town of Perga. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem.

14 But Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue for the services.

15 After the usual readings from the books of Moses and the prophets, those in charge of the service sent them this message: “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, come and give it.”

16 So Paul stood, lifted his hand to quiet them, and started speaking. “Men of Israel,” he said, “and you God-fearing Gentiles, listen to me.

17 “The God of this nation of Israel chose our ancestors and made them multiply and grow strong during their stay in Egypt. Then with a powerful arm he led them out of their slavery.

18 He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

19 Then he destroyed seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to Israel as an inheritance.

20 All this took about 450 years. “After that, God gave them judges to rule until the time of Samuel the prophet.

21 Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who reigned for forty years.

22 But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’

23 “And it is one of King David’s descendants, Jesus, who is God’s promised Savior of Israel!

24 Before he came, John the Baptist preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized.

25 As John was finishing his ministry he asked, ‘Do you think I am the Messiah? No, I am not! But he is coming soon—and I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the sandals on his feet.’

26 “Brothers—you sons of Abraham, and also you God-fearing Gentiles—this message of salvation has been sent to us!

27 The people in Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the one the prophets had spoken about. Instead, they condemned him, and in doing this they fulfilled the prophets’ words that are read every Sabbath.

28 They found no legal reason to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway.

29 “When they had done all that the prophecies said about him, they took him down from the cross and placed him in a tomb.

30 But God raised him from the dead!

31 And over a period of many days he appeared to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people of Israel.

32 “And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors,

33 and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. This is what the second psalm says about Jesus: ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your Father. ’

34 For God had promised to raise him from the dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave. He said, ‘I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David.’

35 Another psalm explains it more fully: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.’

36 This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed.

37 No, it was a reference to someone else—someone whom God raised and whose body did not decay.

38 “Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins.

39 Everyone who believes in him is declared right with God—something the law of Moses could never do.

40 Be careful! Don’t let the prophets’ words apply to you. For they said,

41 ‘Look, you mockers, be amazed and die! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.’ ”

42 As Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue that day, the people begged them to speak about these things again the next week.

43 Many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, and the two men urged them to continue to rely on the grace of God.

44 The following week almost the entire city turned out to hear them preach the word of the Lord.

45 But when some of the Jews saw the crowds, they were jealous; so they slandered Paul and argued against whatever he said.

46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles.

47 For the Lord gave us this command when he said, ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’ ”

48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.

49 So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region.

50 Then the Jews stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas and ran them out of town.

51 So they shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium.

52 And the believers were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

The Message Bible MSG

1 The congregation in Antioch was blessed with a number of prophet-preachers and teachers: Barnabas, Simon, nicknamed Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, an advisor to the ruler Herod, Saul.

2 One day as they were worshiping God - they were also fasting as they waited for guidance - the Holy Spirit spoke: "Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do."

3 So they commissioned them. In that circle of intensity and obedience, of fasting and praying, they laid hands on their heads and sent them off.

4 Sent off on their new assignment by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went down to Seleucia and caught a ship for Cyprus.

5 The first thing they did when they put in at Salamis was preach God's Word in the Jewish meeting places. They had John along to help out as needed.

6 They traveled the length of the island, and at Paphos came upon a Jewish wizard

7 who had worked himself into the confidence of the governor, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man not easily taken in by charlatans. The wizard's name was Bar-Jesus. He was as crooked as a corkscrew.

8 But Dr. Know-It-All (that's the wizard's name in plain English) stirred up a ruckus, trying to divert the governor from becoming a believer.

9 But Saul (or Paul), full of the Holy Spirit and looking him straight in the eye, said,

10 "You bag of wind, you parody of a devil - why, you stay up nights inventing schemes to cheat people out of God.

11 But now you've come up against God himself, and your game is up. You're about to go blind - no sunlight for you for a good long stretch." He was plunged immediately into a shadowy mist and stumbled around, begging people to take his hand and show him the way.

12 When the governor saw what happened, he became a believer, full of enthusiasm over what they were saying about the Master.

13 From Paphos, Paul and company put out to sea, sailing on to Perga in Pamphylia. That's where John called it quits and went back to Jerusalem.

14 From Perga the rest of them traveled on to Antioch in Pisidia.

15 After the reading of the Scriptures - God's Law and the Prophets - the president of the meeting asked them, "Friends, do you have anything you want to say? A word of encouragement, perhaps?"

16 Paul stood up, paused and took a deep breath, then said, "Fellow Israelites and friends of God, listen.

17 God took a special interest in our ancestors, pulled our people who were beaten down in Egyptian exile to their feet, and led them out of there in grand style.

18 He took good care of them for nearly forty years in that godforsaken wilderness

19 and then, having wiped out seven enemies who stood in the way, gave them the land of Canaan for their very own -

20 a span in all of about four hundred fifty years.

21 But then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, out of the tribe of Benjamin. After Saul had ruled forty years,

22 God removed him from office and put King David in his place, with this commendation: 'I've searched the land and found this David, son of Jesse. He's a man whose heart beats to my heart, a man who will do what I tell him.'

23 "From out of David's descendants God produced a Savior for Israel, Jesus, exactly as he promised -

24 but only after John had thoroughly alerted the people to his arrival by preparing them for a total life-change.

25 As John was finishing up his work, he said, 'Did you think I was the One? No, I'm not the One. But the One you've been waiting for all these years is just around the corner, about to appear. And I'm about to disappear.'

26 "Dear brothers and sisters, children of Abraham, and friends of God, this message of salvation has been precisely targeted to you.

27 The citizens and rulers in Jerusalem didn't recognize who he was and condemned him to death.

28 They couldn't find a good reason, but demanded that Pilate execute him anyway.

29 They did just what the prophets said they would do, but had no idea they were following to the letter the script of the prophets, even though those same prophets are read every Sabbath in their meeting places.

30 And then God raised him from death.

31 There is no disputing that - he appeared over and over again many times and places to those who had known him well in the Galilean years, and these same people continue to give witness that he is alive.

32 "And we're here today bringing you good news: the Message that what God promised the fathers

33 has come true for the children - for us! He raised Jesus, exactly as described in the second Psalm: My Son! My very own Son! Today I celebrate you!

34 "When he raised him from the dead, he did it for good - no going back to that rot and decay for him. That's why Isaiah said, 'I'll give to all of you David's guaranteed blessings.'

35 So also the psalmist's prayer: 'You'll never let your Holy One see death's rot and decay.'

36 "David, of course, having completed the work God set out for him, has been in the grave, dust and ashes, a long time now.

37 But the One God raised up - no dust and ashes for him!

38 I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised.

39 He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God.

40 "Don't take this lightly. You don't want the prophet's sermon to describe you:

41 Watch out, cynics; Look hard - watch your world fall to pieces. I'm doing something right before your eyes That you won't believe, though it's staring you in the face."

42 When the service was over, Paul and Barnabas were invited back to preach again the next Sabbath.

43 As the meeting broke up, a good many Jews and converts to Judaism went along with Paul and Barnabas, who urged them in long conversations to stick with what they'd started, this living in and by God's grace.

44 When the next Sabbath came around, practically the whole city showed up to hear the Word of God.

45 Some of the Jews, seeing the crowds, went wild with jealousy and tore into Paul, contradicting everything he was saying, making an ugly scene.

46 But Paul and Barnabas didn't back down. Standing their ground they said, "It was required that God's Word be spoken first of all to you, the Jews. But seeing that you want no part of it - you've made it quite clear that you have no taste or inclination for eternal life - the door is open to all the outsiders. And we're on our way through it,

47 following orders, doing what God commanded when he said, I've set you up as light to all nations. You'll proclaim salvation to the four winds and seven seas!"

48 When the non-Jewish outsiders heard this, they could hardly believe their good fortune. All who were marked out for real life put their trust in God - they honored God's Word by receiving that life.

49 And this Message of salvation spread like wildfire all through the region.

50 Some of the Jews convinced the most respected women and leading men of the town that their precious way of life was about to be destroyed. Alarmed, they turned on Paul and Barnabas and forced them to leave.

51 Paul and Barnabas shrugged their shoulders and went on to the next town, Iconium,

52 brimming with joy and the Holy Spirit, two happy disciples.