1 I n the church in the city of Antioch there were preachers and teachers. They were Barnabas, Simeon Niger, Lucius of the country of Cyrene, Manaen of Herod’s family, and Saul.

Now there were in Antioch, in the assembly which was, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, foster-brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2 W hile they were worshiping the Lord and eating no food so they could pray better, the Holy Spirit said, “Let Barnabas and Saul be given to Me for the work I have called them to.” Paul and Barnabas Go to Antioch

And as they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me now Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

3 T hese preachers and teachers went without food during that time and prayed. Then they laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them away.

Then, having fasted and prayed, and having laid hands on them, they let go.

4 T hey were sent by the Holy Spirit to the city of Seleucia. From there they went by ship to the island of Cyprus.

They therefore, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, and thence sailed away to Cyprus.

5 W hen they went to shore at the city of Salamis, they preached the Word of God in the Jewish place of worship. John Mark was with them as their helper.

And being in Salamis, they announced the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John also as attendant.

6 T hey went over Cyprus as far as the city of Paphos. While there, they found a Jew who did witchcraft. He was a false preacher named Barjesus.

And having passed through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man a magician, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus,

7 S ergius Paulus was the leader of the country and a man who knew much. Barjesus was with Sergius Paulus. Sergius Paulus asked Barnabas and Saul to come to him so he might hear the Word of God.

who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. He, having called Barnabas and Saul to, desired to hear the word of God.

8 B ut Elymas (as he called himself), the man who did witchcraft, worked against Barnabas and Saul. He tried to keep the leader of the country from putting his trust in the Lord.

But Elymas the magician (for so his name is by interpretation) opposed them, seeking to turn away the proconsul from the faith.

9 S aul, whose other name was Paul, was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked at Elymas.

But Saul, who also Paul, filled with Holy Spirit, fixing his eyes upon him,

10 T hen Saul said, “You false preacher and trouble-maker! You son of the devil! You hate what is right! Will you always be turning people from the right ways of the Lord?

said, O full of all deceit and all craft: son of devil, enemy of all righteousness; wilt thou not cease perverting the right paths of Lord?

11 A nd now look! The hand of the Lord is on you. You will become blind. For a time you will not be able to see the sun.” At once it became dark to Elymas, and he could not see. He asked people to take him by the hand to lead him from place to place.

And now behold, Lord's hand upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell upon him a mist and darkness; and going about he sought persons who should lead him by the hand.

12 T he leader of the country put his trust in the Lord because he saw what had happened. He was surprised and wondered about the teaching of the Lord.

Then the proconsul, seeing what had happened, believed, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord.

13 P aul and those with him went by ship from Paphos to the city of Perga in the country of Pamphylia. John Mark did not go with them but went back to Jerusalem. Paul Preaches in Antioch

And having sailed from Paphos, Paul and his company came to Perga of Pamphylia; and John separated from them and returned to Jerusalem.

14 F rom Perga they went on to the city of Antioch in the country of Pisidia. On the Day of Rest they went into the Jewish place of worship and sat down.

But they, passing through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia; and entering into the synagogue on the sabbath day they sat down.

15 A fter the leaders had read from the Jewish Law and the writings of the early preachers, they sent to them saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of comfort and help for the people, say it now.”

And after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation to the people, speak.

16 P aul got up. He raised his hand and said, “Jewish men and you who honor God, listen!

And Paul, rising up and making a sign with the hand, said, Israelites, and ye that fear God, hearken.

17 T he God of the Jews chose our early fathers and made them a great people during the time they lived in the land of Egypt. With a strong hand He took them out from there.

The God of this people Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people in their sojourn in land of Egypt, and with a high arm brought them out of it,

18 F or about forty years He took care of them in the desert.

and for a time of about forty years he nursed them in the desert.

19 H e destroyed the people of seven nations in the land of Canaan. Then He divided the land and gave it to them as their own.

And having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.

20 F or about 450 years He let them have special leaders. They had these leaders until the time of Samuel.

And after these things he gave judges till Samuel the prophet, about four hundred and fifty years.

21 “ Then they wanted a king. God gave them Saul who was the son of Kish from the family group of Benjamin. He was king forty years.

And then they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul, son of Kis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, during forty years.

22 W hen God took Saul as king from them, He made David to be their king. He said, ‘David, Jesse’s son, will please My heart. He will do all I want done.’

And having removed him he raised up to them David for king, of whom also bearing witness he said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall do all my will.

23 “ From this man’s family, God gave to the Jews the One Who saves from the punishment of sin as He had promised. He is Jesus.

Of this man's seed according to promise has God brought to Israel a Saviour, Jesus;

24 B efore Jesus came, John had preached to all the Jews that they should be baptized because they were sorry for their sins and turned from them.

John having proclaimed before the face of his entry baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

25 W hen John was near the end of his work, he asked, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the Christ. No, but He is coming later and I am not good enough to get down and help Him take off His shoes!’

And as John was fulfilling his course he said, Whom do ye suppose that I am? I am not. But behold, there comes one after me, the sandal of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.

26 “ Men and brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and all of you who honor God, listen! This news of being able to be saved from the punishment of sin has been sent to you.

Brethren, sons of Abraham's race, and those who among you fear God, to you has the word of this salvation been sent:

27 T he people of Jerusalem and their leaders did not know Him. They did not understand the words from the early preachers. These words were read to them every Day of Rest. But they did the very thing the early preachers had said they would do by handing Him over to die.

for those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, not having known him, have fulfilled also the voices of the prophets which are read on every sabbath, judging.

28 T hey could find no reason that He should die, but they asked Pilate to have Him killed.

And having found no cause of death, they begged of Pilate that he might be slain.

29 W hen everything was done that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a grave.

And when they had fulfilled all things written concerning him, they took him down from the cross and put him in a sepulchre;

30 B ut God raised Him from the dead.

but God raised him from among dead,

31 F or many days He was seen by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. These are the ones who tell the people about Him.

who appeared for many days to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

32 “ We bring you the Good News about the promise made to our early fathers.

And we declare unto you the glad tidings of the promise made to the fathers,

33 G od has finished this for us who are their children. He did this by raising Jesus from the dead. It is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son. Today I have become Your Father.’

that God has fulfilled this to us their children, having raised up Jesus; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten thee.

34 G od proved that Jesus was His Son by raising Him from the dead. He will never die again. He has said, ‘I will complete the promises made to David.’

But that he raised him from among dead, no more to return to corruption, he spoke thus: I will give to you the faithful mercies of David.

35 “ In another Psalm He says, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to go back to dust!’

Wherefore also he says in another, Thou wilt not suffer thy gracious one to see corruption.

36 D avid was a good leader for the people of his day. He did what God wanted. Then he died and was put into a grave close to his father’s grave. His body went back to dust.

For David indeed, having in his own generation ministered to the will of God, fell asleep, and was added to his fathers and saw corruption.

37 B ut God raised this One (Christ) to life. He did not go back to dust.

But he whom God raised up did not see corruption.

38 “ Men and brothers, listen to this. You may be forgiven of your sins by this One I am telling you about.

Be it known unto you, therefore, brethren, that through this man remission of sins is preached to you,

39 E veryone who puts his trust in Christ will be made right with God. You will be made free from those things the Law of Moses could not make you free from.

and from all things from which ye could not be justified in the law of Moses, in him every one that believes is justified.

40 B ut look out! The writings of the early preachers tell of many things that you do not want to happen to you.

See therefore that that which is spoken in the prophets do not come upon,

41 ‘ Listen, you who doubt and laugh at the truth will die. I will do a work during your days. It will be a work that you will not believe even if someone tells you about it.’”

Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which ye will in no wise believe if one declare it to you.

42 A s Paul and Barnabas went out of the Jewish place of worship, the people asked them to talk about these things on the next Day of Rest.

And as they went out they begged that these words might be spoken to them the ensuing sabbath.

43 T he people went from the place of worship. Many Jews and others who had become Jews followed Paul and Barnabas as they talked to the Jews. They told them to keep on trusting in the loving-favor of God. Paul and Barnabas Go to the People Who Are Not Jews

And the congregation of the synagogue having broken up, many of the Jews and of the worshipping proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

44 A lmost all of the people of the town came to hear the Word of God on the next Day of Rest.

And on the coming sabbath almost all the city was gathered together to hear the word of God.

45 T he Jews were filled with jealousy when they saw so many people. They spoke against the things Paul said by saying he was wrong. They also spoke against God.

But the Jews, seeing the crowds, were filled with envy, and contradicted the things said by Paul, speaking injuriously.

46 P aul and Barnabas said to the people in plain words, “We must preach the Word of God to you first. But because you put it aside, you are not good enough for life that lasts forever. So we will go to the people who are not Jews.

And Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly and said, It was necessary that the word of God should be first spoken to you; but, since ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the nations;

47 T he Lord gave us a work to do. He said, ‘You are to be a light to the people who are not Jews. You are to preach so that men over all the earth can be saved from the punishment of their sins.’”

for thus has the Lord enjoined us: I have set thee for a light of the nations, that thou shouldest be for salvation to the end of the earth.

48 T he people who were not Jews were glad when they heard this. They were thankful for the Word of God. Those who were chosen for life that lasts forever believed.

And the nations, hearing it, rejoiced, and glorified the word of the Lord, and believed, as many as were ordained to eternal life.

49 T he Word of God was preached over all that land.

And the word of the Lord was carried through the whole country.

50 T he Jews worked on the feelings of the women who were religious and respected. They worked on the leading men of the city also. They worked against Paul and Barnabas and made them leave their city.

But the Jews excited the women of the upper classes who were worshippers, and the first people of the city, and raised a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and cast them out of their coasts.

51 B ut Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off from their feet against them and went to the city of Iconium.

But they, having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, came to Iconium.

52 T he missionaries were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

And the disciples were filled with joy and Holy Spirit.