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Now there were at ^(a)Antioch, in the ^(b)church that was there, ^(c)prophets and ^(d)teachers: ^(e)Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of ^(f)Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with ^(g)Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, ^(h)the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me ⁽ⁱ⁾Barnabas and Saul for ^(j)the work to which I have called them."

Then, when they had fasted and ^(k)prayed and ^(l)laid their hands on them, ^(m)they sent them away.

So, being ⁽ⁿ⁾sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to ^(o)Cyprus.

When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in ^(p)the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had ^(q)John as their helper.

When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a ^(r)magician, a Jewish ^(s)false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

who was with the ^(t)proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

But Elymas the ^(u)magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the ^(v)proconsul away from ^(w)the faith.

But Saul, who was also known as Paul, ^[a](x)filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,

and said, "You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you ^(y)son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked ^(z)the straight ways of the Lord?

Now, behold, ^(aa)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.

Then the ^(ab)proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at ^(ac)the teaching of the Lord.

Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from ^(ad)Paphos and came to ^(ae)Perga in ^(af)Pamphylia; but ^(ag)John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

But going on from Perga, they arrived at ^(ah)Pisidian ^(ai)Antioch, and on ^(aj)the Sabbath day they went into ^(ak)the synagogue and sat down.

After ^(al)the reading of the Law and ^(am)the Prophets ^(an)the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, "Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it."

Paul stood up, and ^(ao)motioning with his hand said, "Men of Israel, and ^(ap)you who fear God, listen:

The God of this people Israel ^(aq)chose our fathers and ^[b](ar)made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm ^(as)He led them out from it.

For ^(at)a period of about forty years ^(au)He put up with them in the wilderness.

^(av)When He had destroyed ^(aw)seven nations in the land of Canaan, He ^(ax)distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took ^(ay)about four hundred and fifty years.

After these things He ^(az)gave them judges until ^(ba)Samuel the prophet.

Then they ^(bb)asked for a king, and God gave them ^(bc)Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

After He had ^(bd)removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘^(be)I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart , who will do all My ^[c]will.'

^(bf)From the descendants of this man, ^(bg)according to promise, God has brought to Israel ^(bh)a Savior, Jesus,

after ^(bi)John had proclaimed before ^[d]His coming a ^(bj)baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

And while John ^(bk)was completing his course, ^(bl)he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.'

"Brethren, sons of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of ^(bm)this salvation has been sent.

For those who live in Jerusalem, and their ^(bn)rulers, ^(bo)recognizing neither Him nor the ^[e]utterances of ^(bp)the prophets which are ^(bq)read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning Him.

And though they found no ground for putting Him to death, they ^(br)asked Pilate that He be ^[f]executed.

When they had ^(bs)carried out all that was written concerning Him, ^(bt)they took Him down from ^(bu)the ^[g]cross and ^(bv)laid Him in a tomb.

But God ^(bw)raised Him from the dead;

and for many days ^(bx)He appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now ^(by)His witnesses to the people.

And we ^(bz)preach to you the good news of ^(ca)the promise made to the fathers,

that God has fulfilled this promise ^[h]to our children in that He ^(cb)raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘^(cc) You are My Son; today i have begotten You .'

As for the fact that He ^(cd)raised Him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘^(ce)I will give you the holy and ^[i] sure blessings of David .'

Therefore He also says in another Psalm, ‘^(cf) You will not ^[j] allow Your ^[k] Holy One to ^[l] undergo decay .'

For ^(cg)David, after he had ^[m]served ^(ch)the purpose of God in his own generation, ^(ci)fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and ^[n]underwent decay;

but He whom God ^(cj)raised did not ^[o]undergo decay.

Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that ^(ck)through ^[p]Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

and ^[q]through Him ^(cl)everyone who believes is ^[r]freed ^[s]from all things, from which you could not be ^[t]freed ^[u]through the Law of Moses.

Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of ^(cm)in the Prophets may not come upon you:

‘^(cn) Behold, you scoffers, and marvel, and ^[v] perish ; For I am accomplishing a work in your days , A work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you .'"

As ^[w]Paul and Barnabas were going out, the people kept begging that these ^[x]things might be spoken to them the next ^(co)Sabbath.

Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the ^(cp)God-fearing ^[y](cq)proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were urging them to continue in ^(cr)the grace of God.

The next ^(cs)Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of ^[z]the Lord.

But when ^(ct)the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, and were ^[aa]blaspheming.

Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you ^(cu)first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, ^(cv)we are turning to the Gentiles.

For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘^(cw)I have placed You as a ^(cx) light for the Gentiles , That You may ^[ab] bring salvation to the end of the earth .'"

When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying ^(cy)the word of ^[ac]the Lord; and as many as ^(cz)had been appointed to eternal life believed.

And ^(da)the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.

But ^(db)the Jews incited the ^[ad](dc)devout women ^(dd)of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their ^[ae]district.

But ^(de)they shook off the dust of their feet in protest against them and went to ^(df)Iconium.

And the disciples were continually ^(dg)filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

In ^(a)Iconium ^(b)they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a manner ^(c)that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of ^(d)Greeks.

But ^(e)the Jews who ^[a](f)disbelieved stirred up the ^[b]minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against ^(g)the brethren.

Therefore they spent a long time there ^(h)speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that ^[c](i)signs and wonders be done by their hands.

^(j)But the ^[d]people of the city were divided; and some ^[e]sided with ^(k)the Jews, and some with ^(l)the apostles.

And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and ^(m)the Jews with their rulers, to mistreat and to ⁽ⁿ⁾stone them,

they became aware of it and fled to the cities of ^(o)Lycaonia, ^(p)Lystra and ^(q)Derbe, and the surrounding region;

and there they continued to ^(r)preach the gospel.

At ^(s)Lystra ^(t)a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother's womb, who had never walked.

This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, ^(u)when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had ^(v)faith to be ^[f]made well,

said with a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet." ^(w)And he leaped up and began to walk.

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the ^(x)Lycaonian language, "^(y)The gods have become like men and have come down to us."

And they began calling Barnabas, ^[g]Zeus, and Paul, ^[h]Hermes, because he was ^[i]the chief speaker.

The priest of Zeus, whose temple was ^[j]just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and ^(z)wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

But when ^(aa)the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ^(ab)tore their ^[k]robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out

and saying, "Men, why are you doing these things? We are also ^(ac)men of the same nature as you, and ^(ad)preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these ^[l](ae)vain things to a ^(af)living God, ^(ag) who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them .

^[m]In the generations gone by He ^(ah)permitted all the ^[n]nations to ^(ai)go their own ways;

and yet ^(aj)He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and ^(ak)gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, ^[o]satisfying your hearts with food and gladness."

Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

But ^(al)Jews came from ^(am)Antioch and ^(an)Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they ^(ao)stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.

But while ^(ap)the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to ^(aq)Derbe.

After they had ^(ar)preached the gospel to that city and had ^(as)made many disciples, they returned to ^(at)Lystra and to ^(au)Iconium and to ^(av)Antioch,

strengthening the souls of ^(aw)the disciples, encouraging them to continue in ^(ax)the faith, and saying, "^(ay)Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."

When ^(az)they had appointed ^(ba)elders for them in every church, having ^(bb)prayed with fasting, they ^(bc)commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

They passed through ^(bd)Pisidia and came into ^(be)Pamphylia.

When they had spoken the word in ^(bf)Perga, they went down to Attalia.

From there they sailed to ^(bg)Antioch, from ^(bh)which they had been ^(bi)commended to the grace of God for the work that they had ^[p]accomplished.

When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to ^(bj)report all things that God had done with them and ^[q]how He had opened a ^(bk)door of faith to the Gentiles.

And they spent ^[r]a long time with ^(bl)the disciples.