First Missionary Journey

13 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets [who spoke a new message of God to the people] and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called ^[a]Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with ^[b]Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch, and Saul. ² While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul (Paul) for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them [in approval and dedication] and sent them away [on their first journey].

⁴ So then, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. ⁵ When Barnabas and Saul arrived at Salamis, they began to preach the word of God [proclaiming the message of eternal salvation through faith in Christ] in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John [Mark] as their assistant. ⁶ When they had traveled through the entire island [of Cyprus] as far as Paphos, they found a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was [closely associated] with the ^[c]proconsul [of the province], Sergius Paulus, an intelligent and sensible man. He called for Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ]. ⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul away from accepting the faith. ⁹ But ^[d]Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit and led by Him, looked steadily at Elymas, ¹⁰ and said, “^[e]You [Elymas] who are full of every [kind of] deceit, and every [kind of] fraud, you son of the devil, enemy of everything that is right and good, will you never stop perverting the straight paths of the Lord?^{(A) 11 [f]}Now, watch! The hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, [so blind that you will be] unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and he groped around, seeking people to lead him by the hand. ¹² The proconsul believed [the message of salvation] when he saw what had happened, being astonished at the teaching concerning the Lord.

¹³ Now Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; but ^[g]John [Mark] left them and went back to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ Now they went on from Perga and arrived at Antioch in Pisidia, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. ¹⁵ After the reading of the Law and the [writings of the] Prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers (kinsmen), if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it.” ¹⁶ So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand, he said,

“Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen! ¹⁷ The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great and numerous during their stay [as foreigners] in the land of Egypt, and then with an ^[h]uplifted arm He led them out of there.^{(B) 18} For a period of about forty years He put up with their behavior in the wilderness.^{(C) 19} When He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave their land [to our ancestors] as an inheritance—this took about four hundred and fifty years.^{(D) 20} After this, He gave them judges until the prophet Samuel. ²¹ Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And when He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king: of him He testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart [conforming to My will and purposes], who will do all My will.’^{(E) 23} From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel a Savior, [in the person of] Jesus, according to His promise. ²⁴ Before ^[i]His coming John [the Baptist] had preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was finishing his course [of ministry], he kept saying, ‘What or who do you think that I am? I am not He [the Christ]; but be aware, One is coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie [even as His slave]!’