Job: There Is No Mediator

9 Then Job answered and said:

Job: I Would Plead with God

Paul and Barnabas Are Sent to the Gentiles

13 Now ^(A)in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: ^(B)Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, ^(C)Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ^(D)“Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work ^(E)to which I have called them.” ³ Then, ^(F)having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

Preaching in Cyprus

⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to ^(G)Cyprus. ⁵ And when they arrived in Salamis, ^(H)they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had ^(I)John as their assistant.

⁶ Now when they had gone through ^[a]the island to Paphos, they found ^(J)a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But ^(K)Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) ^[b]withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ Then Saul, who also is called Paul, ^(L)filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰ and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, ^(M)you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹ And now, indeed, ^(N)the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.”

And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

At Antioch in Pisidia

¹³ Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and ^(O)John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and ^(P)went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. ¹⁵ And ^(Q)after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have ^(R)any word of ^[c]exhortation for the people, say on.”

¹⁶ Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and ^(S)you who fear God, listen: ¹⁷ The God of this people ^[d]Israel ^(T)chose our fathers, and exalted the people ^(U)when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with ^[e]an uplifted arm He ^(V)brought them out of it. ¹⁸ Now ^(W)for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And when He had destroyed ^(X)seven nations in the land of Canaan, ^(Y)He distributed their land to them by allotment.

²⁰ “After that ^(Z)He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, ^(AA)until Samuel the prophet. ^21 (AB)And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them ^(AC)Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And ^(AD)when He had removed him, ^(AE)He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ^(AF)‘I have found David the son of Jesse, ^(AG)a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ ^23 (AH)From this man’s seed, according ^(AI)to the promise, God raised up for Israel ^(AJ)a^[f] Savior—Jesus— ^24 (AK)after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was finishing his course, he said, ^(AL)‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, ^(AM)there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’

²⁶ “Men and brethren, sons of the ^[g]family of Abraham, and ^(AN)those among you who fear God, ^(AO)to you the ^[h]word of this salvation has been sent. ²⁷ For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, ^(AP)because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. ^28 (AQ)And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. ^29 (AR)Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, ^(AS)they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. ^30 (AT)But God raised Him from the dead. ^31 (AU)He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. ³² And we declare to you glad tidings—^(AV)that promise which was made to the fathers. ³³ God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:

³⁴ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to ^[i]corruption, He has spoken thus:

³⁵ Therefore He also says in another Psalm:

³⁶ “For David, after he had served ^[k]his own generation by the will of God, ^(AZ)fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and ^[l]saw corruption; ³⁷ but He whom God raised up ^[m]saw no corruption. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that ^(BA)through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ and ^(BB)by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

Blessing and Conflict at Antioch

^42 [n]So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, ^(BD)persuaded them to continue in ^(BE)the grace of God.

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. ⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they ^(BF)opposed the things spoken by Paul. ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ^(BG)“It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but ^(BH)since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, ^(BI)we turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us:

⁴⁸ Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. ^(BK)And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. ⁵⁰ But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, ^(BL)raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. ^51 (BM)But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples ^(BN)were filled with joy and ^(BO)with the Holy Spirit.

At Iconium

14 Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the ^(BP)Greeks believed. ² But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and ^[o]poisoned their ^[p]minds against the brethren. ³ Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, ^(BQ)who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and ^(BR)wonders to be done by their hands.

⁴ But the multitude of the city was ^(BS)divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the ^(BT)apostles. ⁵ And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, ^(BU)to abuse and stone them, ⁶ they became aware of it and ^(BV)fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. ⁷ And they were preaching the gospel there.

Idolatry at Lystra

^8 (BW)And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. ⁹ This man heard Paul speaking. ^[q]Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰ said with a loud voice, ^(BX)“Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. ¹¹ Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, ^(BY)“The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” ¹² And Barnabas they called ^[r]Zeus, and Paul, ^[s]Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. ¹³ Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, ^(BZ)intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.

¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, ^(CA)they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out ¹⁵ and saying, “Men, ^(CB)why are you doing these things? ^(CC)We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from ^(CD)these useless things ^(CE)to the living God, ^(CF)who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, ^16 (CG)who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. ^17 (CH)Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, ^(CI)gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with ^(CJ)food and gladness.” ¹⁸ And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.

Stoning, Escape to Derbe

^19 (CK)Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, ^(CL)they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be ^(CM)dead. ²⁰ However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

Strengthening the Converts

²¹ And when they had preached the gospel to that city ^(CN)and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, ²² strengthening the souls of the disciples, ^(CO)exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ^(CP)“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” ²³ So when they had ^(CQ)appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. ²⁴ And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. ²⁵ Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. ²⁶ From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed.

²⁷ Now when they had come and gathered the church together, ^(CR)they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had ^(CS)opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸ So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.