Now in the ^achurch at ^bAntioch there were ^cprophets who spoke a new message of God to the people and ^dteachers: ^eBarnabas, Simeon who was called ¹Niger, Lucius of ^fCyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with ^2gHerod Antipas the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, ^athe Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me ^bBarnabas and Saul (Paul) for ^cthe work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and ^apraying, they ^blaid their hands on them in approval and dedication and ^csent them away on their first journey.

4 So then, being ^asent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to ^bCyprus. 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 ^athe synagogues of the Jews; and they also had ^bJohn Mark as their assistant. 6 When they had traveled through the entire island of Cyprus as far as Paphos, they found a ^asorcerer, a Jewish ^bfalse prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7 who was closely associated with the ^1aproconsul 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 ^asorcerer (for that is how his name is translated) opposed them, trying to turn the ^bproconsul away from accepting ^cthe faith. 9 But ¹Saul, who was also known as Paul, ^afilled with the Holy Spirit and led by Him, looked steadily at Elymas, 10 and said, “¹You Elymas who are full of every kind of deceit, and every kind of fraud, you ^ason of the devil, enemy of everything that is right and good, will you never stop perverting ^bthe straight paths of the Lord? Hos 14:9 11 ¹Now, watch! ^aThe 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 ^aproconsul believed the message of salvation when he saw what had happened, being astonished at ^bthe teaching concerning the Lord.

13 Now Paul and his companions sailed from ^aPaphos and came to ^bPerga in ^cPamphylia; but ^1dJohn Mark left them and went back to Jerusalem. 14 Now they went on from Perga and arrived at ^aAntioch in ^bPisidia, and on ^cthe Sabbath day they went into ^dthe synagogue and sat down. 15 After ^athe reading of the Law and ^bthe writings of the Prophets, ^cthe 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 ^amotioning with his hand, he said,“Men of Israel, and ^byou who fear God, listen! 17 The God of this people Israel ^achose our fathers and ^bmade the people great and numerous during their stay as foreigners in the land of Egypt, and then with an ¹uplifted arm ^cHe led them out of there. Ex 6:1, 6 18 For ^aa period of about forty years ^bHe put up with their behavior in the wilderness. Deut 1:31 19 ^aWhen He had destroyed ^bseven nations in the land of Canaan, He ^cgave their land to our ancestors as an inheritance—this took ^dabout four hundred and fifty years. Deut 7:1; Josh 14:1, 2 20 After this, He ^agave them judges until the prophet ^bSamuel. 21 Then they ^aasked for a king, and God gave them ^bSaul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when He had ^aremoved him, He raised up David to be their king: of him He testified and said, ‘^bI 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.’ 1+@Sam 13:14; Ps 89:20; Is 44:28 23 ^aFrom this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel ^ba Savior, in the person of Jesus, ^caccording to His promise. 24 ¹Before His coming ^aJohn the Baptist had preached a ^bbaptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John ^awas finishing his course of ministry, ^bhe 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!’

26 “Brothers, sons of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of ^athis salvation obtained through faith in Jesus Christ. Ps 107:20 27 For those who live in Jerusalem, and their ^arulers, who failed to ^brecognize or understand both Jesus and the voices of ^cthe prophets which are ^dread every Sabbath, have fulfilled these very prophecies by condemning Him. 28 And though they found no cause or charge deserving death, they ^aasked Pilate to have Him executed. 29 And when they had ^afinished carrying out everything that was written in Scripture about Him, ^bthey took Him down from ^cthe ¹cross and ^dlaid Him in a tomb. 30 But God ^araised Him from the dead; 31 and for many days (forty) ^aHe appeared to those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now ^bHis witnesses to the people. 32 And we are ^abringing you the good news of ^bthe promise made to our fathers (ancestors) , 33 that God has completely fulfilled this promise to our children by ^araising up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘^bYOU ARE MY SON; TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN (fathered) YOU.’ Ps 2:7 34 And as for the fact that He ^araised Him from the dead, never again to return to decay in the grave, He has spoken in this way: ‘^bI WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY AND SURE blessings OF DAVID those blessings and mercies that were promised to him.’ Is 55:3 35 For this reason He also says in another Psalm, ‘^aYOU WILL NOT ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO SEE DECAY.’ Ps 16:10 36 For ^aDavid, after he had served ^bthe purpose of God in his own generation, ^cfell asleep and was buried among his fathers and experienced decay in the grave; 37 but He whom God ^araised to life did not experience decay in the grave. 38 So let it be clearly known by you, brothers, that ^athrough Him forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you; 39 and through Him ^aeveryone who believes who acknowledges Jesus as Lord and Savior and follows Him is ¹justified and declared free of guilt from all things, from which you could not be justified and freed of guilt through the Law of Moses. 40 Therefore be careful, so that the thing spoken of ^ain the writings of the Prophets does not come upon you:

42 As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people kept begging that these things might be spoken to them on the next ^aSabbath. 43 When the congregation of the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and the ^adevout ^bconverts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, talking to them were urging them to continue in ^cthe grace of God.

44 On the next ^aSabbath almost the entire ¹city gathered together to hear the word of the Lord about salvation through faith in Christ. 45 But when ^athe Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things said by Paul, and were slandering him. 46 And at the same time Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and confidently, saying, “It was necessary that God’s message of salvation through faith in Christ be spoken to you Jews ^afirst. Since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, now ^bwe turn to the Gentiles. 47 For that is what the Lord has commanded us, saying,‘^aI HAVE PLACED YOU AS A ^bLIGHT FOR THE GENTILES,SO THAT YOU MAY BRING the message of eternal SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’” Is 49:6

48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying praising and giving thanks for ^athe word of the Lord; and all those who ^bhad been appointed (designated, ordained) to eternal life by God believed in Jesus as the Christ and their Savior. 49 And so ^athe word of the Lord regarding salvation was being spread through the entire region. 50 But ^athe Jews incited the ^bdevout, ^cprominent women and the leading men of the city, and instigated persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them forcibly out of their district. 51 But ^1athey shook its dust from their feet in protest against them and went to ^bIconium. Matt 10:14; Mark 6:11 52 And the disciples were continually ^afilled throughout their hearts and souls with joy and with the Holy Spirit.