Acts 13-15

1Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.

2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

3And after they had fasted and prayed, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

4So Barnabas and Saul, sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus.

5When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. And John was with them as their helper.

6They traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos, where they found a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,

7an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, a man of intelligence, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God.

8But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.

9Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked directly at Elymas

10and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?

11Now 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.

12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.

13After setting sail from Paphos, Paul and his companions came to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

14And from Perga, they traveled inland to Pisidian Antioch, where they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and sat down.

15After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent word to them: “Brothers, if you have a word of encouragement for the people, please speak.”

16Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began to speak: “Men of Israel and you Gentiles who fear God, listen to me!

17The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers. He made them into a great people during their stay in Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out of that land.

18He endured their conduct for about forty years in the wilderness.

19And having vanquished seven nations in Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance.

20All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet.

21Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.

22After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’

23From the descendants of this man, God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised.

24Before the arrival of Jesus, John preached a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

25As John was completing his course, he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not that One. But there is One coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’

26Brothers, children of Abraham, and you Gentiles who fear God, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent.

27The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning Him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.

28And though they found no ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have Him executed.

29When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.

30But God raised Him from the dead,

31and for many days He was seen by those who had accompanied Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now His witnesses to our people.

32And now we proclaim to you the good news: What God promised our fathers

33He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.’

34In fact, God raised Him from the dead, never to see decay. As He has said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’

35So also, He says in another Psalm: ‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’

36For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.

37But the One whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

38Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.

39Through Him everyone who believes is justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

40Watch out, then, that what was spoken by the prophets does not happen to you:

41‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”

42As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people urged them to continue this message on the next Sabbath.

43After the synagogue was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

44On the following Sabbath, nearly the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.

46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “It was necessary to speak the word of God to you first. But since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.

47For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

48When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord, and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.

49And the word of the Lord spread throughout that region.

50The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.

51So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

1At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.

2But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

3So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

4The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles.

5But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,

6they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region,

7where they continued to preach the gospel.

8In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.

9This man was listening to the words of Paul, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed.

10In a loud voice Paul called out, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk.

11When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

13The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, hoping to offer a sacrifice along with the crowds.

14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,

15“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.

16In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.

17Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

18Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from sacrificing to them.

19Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.

20But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. And the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

21They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,

22strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

23Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

24After passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.

25And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

26From Attalia they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had just completed.

27When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

28And they spent a long time there with the disciples.

1Then some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

2And after engaging these men in sharp debate, Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

3Sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, recounting the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers.

4On their arrival in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and apostles and elders, to whom they reported all that God had done through them.

5But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and declared, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”

6So the apostles and elders met to look into this matter.

7After much discussion, Peter got up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that the Gentiles would hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.

8And God, who knows the heart, showed His approval by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us.

9He made no distinction between us and them, for He cleansed their hearts by faith.

10Now then, why do you test God by placing on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?

11On the contrary, we believe it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

12The whole assembly fell silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.

13When they had finished speaking, James declared, “Brothers, listen to me!

14Simon has told us how God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people to be His own.

15The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written:

16‘After this I will return and rebuild the fallen tent of David. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it,

17so that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does these things

18that have been known for ages.’

19It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not cause trouble for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

20Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals, and from blood.

21For Moses has been proclaimed in every city from ancient times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

22Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to select men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas called Barsabbas and Silas, two leaders among the brothers,

23and sent them with this letter: The apostles and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.

24It has come to our attention that some went out from us without our authorization and unsettled you, troubling your minds by what they said.

25So we all agreed to choose men to send to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

26men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

27Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to tell you in person the same things we are writing.

28It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond these essential requirements:

29You must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.

30So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they assembled the congregation and delivered the letter.

31When the people read it, they rejoiced at its encouraging message.

32Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.

33After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers in peace to return to those who had sent them.

35But Paul and Barnabas remained at Antioch, along with many others, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord.

36Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.”

37Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark.

38But Paul thought it best not to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not accompanied them in the work.

39Their disagreement was so sharp that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus,

40but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.

41And he traveled through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.