Acts 13:11

Mace New Testament

his hand is falling upon thee, thou shalt be blind, and not see the sun for some time." immediately his eyes were covered with obscurity and darkness; so that he grop'd about for somebody to lead him by the hand.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Now, look, the Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time.” Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

King James Version (1611)
And now behold, the hand of the Lord is vpon thee, & thou shalt be blind, not seeing the Sunne for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkenes, and he went about, seeking some to lead him by the hand.

King James Version
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

English Standard Version
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time." Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.

New American Standard Bible
"Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time." And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

New Century Version
Now the Lord will touch you, and you will be blind. For a time you will not be able to see anything—not even the light from the sun." Then everything became dark for Elymas, and he walked around, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand.

Amplified Bible
"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.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time." And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time." And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

Berean Standard Bible
Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and for a time you will be blind and unable to see the light of the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

Contemporary English Version
The Lord is going to punish you by making you completely blind for a while." Suddenly the man's eyes were covered by a dark mist, and he went around trying to get someone to lead him by the hand.

Complete Jewish Bible
So now, look! The hand of the Lord is upon you; and for a while you will be blind, unable to see the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over Elymas; and he groped about, trying to find someone to lead him by the hand.

Darby Translation
And now behold, [the] Lord's hand [is] 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.

Easy-to-Read Version
Now the Lord will touch you and you will be blind. For a time you will not be able to see anything—not even the light from the sun." Then everything became dark for Elymas. He walked around lost. He was trying to find someone to lead him by the hand.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Nowe therefore behold, the hand of the Lorde is vpon thee, and thou shalt be blinde, and not see the sunne for a season. And immediately there fel on him a mist & a darknes; and he went about, seeking some to leade him by the hand.

George Lamsa Translation
And now the hand of the LORD is against you, and you shall be blind, and shall not see the sun for a time. And in that very hour there fell on him a mist and darkness; and he went about seeking some one to lead him by the hand.

Good News Translation
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.

Lexham English Bible
And now behold, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a while. And immediately mist and darkness fell over him, and he was going around looking for people to lead him by the hand.

Literal Translation
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun until a time. And instantly a mist and darkness fell on him, and going about he sought some to lead him by the hand.

American Standard Version
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

Bible in Basic English
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.

Hebrew Names Version
Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!" Immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

International Standard Version
The hand of the Lord is against you now, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a while!" At that moment a dark mist came over him, and he went around looking for someone to lead him by the hand.Exodus 9:3; 1 Samuel 5:6;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And now the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, and not see the sun until the time. And in the hour there fell upon him obscurity and darkness, and he went about asking some one to hold him by the hand.

Murdock Translation
And now, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, and shalt not see the sun for a time. And immediately there fell upon him a mist and darkness; and he went about, inquiring who would take him by the hand.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And nowe beholde, the hande of the Lorde is vpon thee, and thou shalt be blynde, and not see the sunne for a season. And immediatly, there fell on hym a myste, and a darcknesse, and he went about, seekyng [them] that shoulde leade hym by the hande.

English Revised Version
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

World English Bible
Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!" Immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And now behold the hand of the Lord is upon thee; and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately a mist and darkness fell upon him, and going about, he sought some to lead him.

Weymouth's New Testament
The Lord's hand is now upon you, and you will be blind for a time and unable to see the light of day." Instantly there fell upon him a mist and a darkness, and, as he walked about, he begged people to lead him by the hand.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And now lo! the hoond of the Lord is on thee, and thou schalt be blynde, and not seynge the sunne in to a tyme. And anoon myste and derknesse felden doun on hym; and he yede aboute, and souyte hym that schulde yyue hoond to hym.

Update Bible Version
And now, look, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

Webster's Bible Translation
And now behold, the hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

New English Translation
Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!" Immediately mistiness and darkness came over him, and he went around seeking people to lead him by the hand.

New King James Version
And now, indeed, 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.

New Living Translation
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.

New Life Bible
And 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.

New Revised Standard
And now listen—the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun." Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by the hand.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, therefore, lo! the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun, until a fitting time. And, instantly, there fell upon him a mist and darkness; and, going about, he was seeking such as might lead him by the hand.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And now behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee: and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a time. And immediately there fell a mist and darkness upon him: and going about, he sought some one to lead him by the hand.

Revised Standard Version
And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind and unable to see the sun for a time." Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And now beholde the honde of the Lorde is vpon the and thou shalt be blinde and not se the sunne for a season. And immediatly ther fell on him a myste and a darcknes and he went aboute sekinge them that shuld leade him by the honde.

Young's Literal Translation
and now, lo, a hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season;' and presently there fell upon him a mist and darkness, and he, going about, was seeking some to lead [him] by the hand;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And now beholde, the hade of the LORDE commeth vpon the, and thou shalt be blynde, and not se the Sonne for a season, And immediatly there fell on him a myst and darknesse, and he wente aboute, and soughte them that shulde lede him by the hande.

THE MESSAGE
Barnabas, Saul, and Doctor Know-It-All 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. 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." 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. Sent off on their new assignment by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went down to Seleucia and caught a ship for Cyprus. 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. They traveled the length of the island, and at Paphos came upon a Jewish wizard 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. The governor invited Barnabas and Saul in, wanting to hear God's Word firsthand from them. 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. But Saul (or Paul), full of the Holy Spirit and looking him straight in the eye, said, "You bag of wind, you parody of a devil—why, you stay up nights inventing schemes to cheat people out of God. 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.

Simplified Cowboy Version
Watch what's fixing to happen to you. The Lord is fixing to show you who's boss. He's jerking the sight right out of your head, and you won't even be able to see the sun for a while." Right then, something like a dark fog enveloped him, and he couldn't see. He started screaming and feeling around for someone to help him.

Contextual Overview

⁴ being thus appointed missionarys by the holy spirit, they went to Seleucia, where they embark'd for Cyprus. ⁵ when they were arrived at Salamis, they preach'd the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and had John for their assistant. ⁶ Having travers'd the isle as far as to Paphos, they found a Jew there nam'd Barjesus, who was a false prophet and magician: ⁷ he was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a man of prudence: who sent for Barnabas and Saul, desiring to hear the word of God. ⁸ but Elymas (a name which signifies Magus) opposed them, endeavouring to seduce the proconsul from the faith. ⁹ then Saul, who was nam'd likewise Paul, full of the holy spirit, look'd fixedly upon him, ¹⁰ and said, "thou heap of imposture and mischief, offspring of the devil, and enemy to all justice, wilt thou not cease to pervers men from the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹ his hand is falling upon thee, thou shalt be blind, and not see the sun for some time." immediately his eyes were covered with obscurity and darkness; so that he grop'd about for somebody to lead him by the hand. ¹² the proconsul seeing the fact, embraced the faith, being struck with admiration of the christian doctrine. ¹³ after which Paul and his company set out from Paphos to Perga in Pamphilia, where John quitted them in order to return to Jerusalem.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

hand: Exodus 9:3, 1 Samuel 5:6, 1 Samuel 5:9, 1 Samuel 5:11, Job 19:21, Psalms 32:4, Psalms 38:2, Psalms 39:10, Psalms 39:11

thou: Acts 9:8, Acts 9:9, Acts 9:17, Genesis 19:11, 2 Kings 6:8, Isaiah 29:10, John 9:39, Romans 11:7-10, Romans 11:25

a mist: 2 Peter 2:17

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 22:28 - If thou return 2 Kings 6:18 - Smite this people 2 Chronicles 18:27 - If Job 12:25 - grope Job 38:15 - from Isaiah 51:18 - that taketh Ezekiel 11:13 - when Luke 11:34 - but Acts 5:5 - hearing Acts 22:11 - being 2 Corinthians 10:6 - in 2 Timothy 3:9 - their Hebrews 8:9 - I took

Cross-References

Hebrews 10:25
as some do; but encourage one another: even so much the more, as you see the day approaching.

1 Peter 2:17
of God. Be respectful to all, love your brethren, fear God, and honour the king.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And now behold the hand of the Lord is upon thee,.... That is, the power of God was just ready to be exerted on him in a way of punishment, by striking him with blindness:

and thou shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a season: so blind as not to see the sun, when it shined ever so brightly: this punishment seems to be but for a time; and some say that Elymas repented, and had his sight restored to him; and after that he returned to his sorcery, and again greatly opposed Barnabas in the island of Cyprus:

and immediately there fell on him a mist and darkness; as soon as ever the apostle had said the above words, a dark mist fell upon his eyes, which began the blindness, and issued in a total one:

and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand; he groped about the room, if he could find, and lay hold on some person to lead him: for he was quickly stone blind, so that he could not guide himself, as the men of Sodom were, when smitten with blindness by the angel; wherefore, though they groped about for the door of the house till they were weary, they could not find it, Genesis 19:11 of which the Jews say, as here, that it was מכה מאת השם, "a stroke from God" u. Blind men need one to hold them by the hand, and lead them, as Samson, Judges 16:26 and Saul, Acts 9:8. The striking this man with blindness is an instance of the power the apostles were endued with, for the punishing of offenders: so Ananias and Sapphira were struck dead for telling a lie: and the incestuous person was delivered to Satan to undergo a corporeal punishment for his incest; as Hymenaeus and Alexander were for their blasphemy, Acts 5:5.

u Tzeror Hammor, fol. 20. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The hand of the Lord is upon thee - God shall punish thee. By this sudden and miraculous punishment he would be awed and humbled, and the proconsul and others would be convinced that he was an impostor, and that the gospel was true. His wickedness deserved such punishment; and at the same time that due punishment was inflicted, it was designed that the gospel should be extended by this means. In all this there was the highest evidence that Paul was under the inspiration of God. He was full of the Holy Spirit; he detected the secret feelings and desires of the heart of Elymas; and he inflicted on him a punishment that could have proceeded from none but God. That the apostles had the power of inflicting punishment is apparent from various places in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:20. The punishment inflicted on Elymas, also, would be highly emblematic of the darkness and perverseness of his conduct.

Not seeing the sun for a season - For how long a time this blindness was to continue is nowhere specified. It was, however, in mercy ordained that the blindness should not be permanent and final; and though it was a punishment, it was at the same time benevolent, for nothing would be more likely to lead him to reflection and repentance than such a state of blindness. It was such a manifest proof that God was opposed to him it was such a sudden divine judgment; it so completely cut him off from all possibility of practicing his arts of deception, that it was adapted to bring him to repentance. Accordingly there is a tradition in the early church that he became a Christian. Origen says that “Paul, by a word striking him blind, by anguish converted him to godliness” (Clark).

A mist - The word used here properly denotes “a darkness or obscurity of the air; a cloud,” etc. But it also denotes “an extinction of sight by the drying up or disturbance of the tumors of the eye” (Hippocrates, as quoted by Schleusner).

And a darkness - Blindness, night. What was the precise cause or character of this miracle is not specified.

And he went about ... - This is a striking account of the effect of the miracle. The change was so sudden that he knew not where to go. He sought someone to guide him in the paths with which he had before been familiar. How soon can God bring down the pride of man, and make him as helpless as an infant! How easily can He touch our senses, the organs of our most exquisite pleasures, and wither away all our enjoyments! How dependent are we upon Him for the inestimable blessing of sight! And how easily can He annihilate all the sinner’s pleasures, break up all his plans, and humble him in the dust! Sight is his gift; and it is a mercy unspeakably great that He does not overwhelm us in thick darkness, and destroy forever all the pleasure that through this organ is conveyed to the soul.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 13:11. The hand of the Lord is upon thee — The power of God is now about to deal with thee in the way of justice.

Thou shalt be blind — Every word here proves the immediate inspiration of Paul. He was full of the Holy Ghost when he began this address: by the light of that Spirit he discerned the state of Elymas, and exposed his real character; and, by the prophetic influence of that same Spirit, he predicted the calamity that was about to fall upon him, while as yet there was no sign of his blindness! Mark this!

Not seeing the sun for a season. — In the midst of judgment God remembers mercy. This blindness was not to be perpetual: it was intended to be the means of awakening and softening the hard heart of this poor sinner. There is an ancient tradition, and it is mentioned both by Origen and Chrysostom, that Elymas, in consequence of this became a sincere convert to the religion of Christ. Origen says: "And Paul by a word striking him blind, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paul, δια των πονων επιστρεφει αυτον εις θεοσεβειαν, by anguish converted him to godliness." And, commenting on-Thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun, αχρι καιρου, for a season, asks, "And why for a season? That, being smitten on account of his transgressions, and brought to repentance, he might at last be deemed worthy to see the sun, not only with his body, but with his mind; that the Divine virtue might be proclaimed in restoring him to sight, and his soul, believing, might receive godliness." Com. in Exod., vol. i. p. 117, edit. de la Rue, Par. 1733.

There fell on him a mist and darkness — αχλυς, achlus, is a disordered state of the eye, in which the patient sees through a thick mist. This thick mist, or perturbed state of the eye, took place first: it increased, and σκοτος, thick, positive darkness, was the issue.

He went about — πεπιαγων. Not knowing how to take a right step, he groped about in great uncertainty; and, not being able to find his way, he sought for some persons to lead him by the hand. This state of Elymas is inimitably expressed in one of the cartoons of Raphael, now at Hampton-court, (and lately engraved, in the true spirit of the original, by Mr. Thomas Holloway,) in which his whole figure expresses the depth of distress, concern, uncertainty, and confusion; and, to use a word common in exhibiting this matchless piece of painting, he is blind from head to foot. In this manner the text authorizes the painter to express the state of this miserable culprit.