Acts 13 - Lexham English Bible (LEB)

Barnabas and Saul Sent Out from Antioch

13 Now there were prophets and teachers in Antioch in the church that was there: Barnabas, and Simeon (who was called Niger), and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch), and Saul. ² And while^[a] they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart now for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then, after they^[b] had fasted and prayed and placed their^[c] hands on them, they sent them^[d] away.

Confronting a Magician on Cyprus

⁴ Therefore, sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed away to Cyprus. ⁵ And when they^[e] came to Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they also had John as assistant. ⁶ And when they^[f] had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and^[g] wished to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the magician (for his name is translated in this way) opposed them, attempting to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ But Saul (also called Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰ and^[h] said, “O you who are full of all deceit and of all unscrupulousness, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness! Will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord! ¹¹ And now behold, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a while.^[i] And immediately mist and darkness fell over him, and he was going around looking for people^[j] to lead him^[k] by the hand. ¹² Then when^[l] the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, because he^[m] was astounded at the teaching about^[n] the Lord.

Preaching in the Synagogue at Pisidian Antioch

¹³ Now Paul and his companions^[o] put out to sea from Paphos and^[p] came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John departed from them and^[q] returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And they went on from Perga and^[r] arrived at Pisidian Antioch. And they entered into the synagogue on the day of the Sabbath and^[s] sat down. ¹⁵ So after the reading from the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent word^[t] to them, saying, “Men and brothers, if there is any message of exhortation by you for the people, say it.”^[u]

¹⁶ So Paul stood up,^[v] and motioning with his^[w] hand, he said, “Israelite men, and those who fear God, listen! ¹⁷ The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people during their^[x] stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. ¹⁸ And for a period of time of about forty years, he put up with them in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And after^[y] destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave their land to his people^[z] as an inheritance. ²⁰ This took^[aa] about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things, he gave them^[ab] judges until Samuel the prophet. ²¹ And then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And after^[ac] removing him, he raised up David for their king, about whom he also said, testifying, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man in accordance with my heart, who will carry out all my will.’^{[ad] 23} From the descendants of this man, according to his promise, God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus. ²⁴ Before his coming^[ae] John had publicly proclaimed^[af] a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ But while John was completing his^[ag] mission, he said, ‘What do you suppose me to be? I am not he! But behold, one is coming after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of his^[ah] feet!’

²⁶ “Men and brothers, sons of the family of Abraham and those among you who fear God—to us the message of this salvation has been sent! ²⁷ For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they^[ai] did not recognize this one, and the voices of the prophets that are read on every Sabbath, fulfilled them^[aj] by^[ak] condemning him.^{[al] 28} And although they^[am] found no charge worthy of death, they asked Pilate that he be executed. ²⁹ And when they had carried out all the things that were written about him, they took him^[an] down from the tree and^[ao] placed him^[ap] in a tomb. ³⁰ But God raised him from the dead, ³¹ who appeared for many days to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem—who are now his witnesses to the people. ³² And we proclaim the good news to you: that the promise that was made to the fathers, ³³ this promise^[aq] God has fulfilled to our children^[ar] by^[as] raising Jesus, as it is also written in the second psalm,

‘You are my Son;
today I have fathered you.’^[at]

³⁴ But that he has raised him from the dead, no more going to return to decay, he has spoken in this way: ‘I will give you the reliable divine decrees of David.’^{[au] 35} Therefore he also says in another psalm,^[av]

‘You will not permit your Holy One to experience decay.’^[aw]

³⁶ For David, after^[ax] serving the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was buried with^[ay] his fathers, and experienced decay. ³⁷ But he whom God raised up did not experience decay.

³⁸ “Therefore let it be known to you, men and brothers, that through this one forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and from all the things from which you were not able to be justified by the law of Moses, ³⁹ by this one everyone who believes is justified! ⁴⁰ Watch out, therefore, lest what is stated by the prophets come upon you:^[az]

⁴¹ ‘Look, you scoffers,
and be astonished and perish!
For I am doing a work in your days,
a work that you would never believe
even if someone were to tell it^[ba] to you.’”^[bb]

Response to the Message in Pisidian Antioch

⁴² And as^[bc] they were going out, they began urging^[bd] that these things be spoken about to them on the next Sabbath. ⁴³ And after^[be] the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and the devout^[bf] proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking to them and^[bg] were persuading them to continue in the grace of God. ⁴⁴ And on the coming Sabbath, nearly the whole city came together to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵ But when^[bh] the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting what was being said by Paul by^[bi] reviling him.^{[bj] 46} Both Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly and^[bk] said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life! Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles! ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us:

‘I have appointed you to be^[bl] a light for the Gentiles,
that you would bring^[bm] salvation to the end of the earth.’^[bn]

⁴⁸ And when^[bo] the Gentiles heard this,^[bp] they began to rejoice^[bq] and to glorify the word of the Lord. And all those who were designated for eternal life believed. ⁴⁹ So the word of the Lord was carried through the whole region. ⁵⁰ But the Jews incited the devout women of high social standing and the most prominent men of the city, and stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and threw them out of their district. ⁵¹ So after^[br] shaking off the dust from their feet against them, they went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Footnotes

1. Acts 13:2 Here “while” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“were serving”)
2. Acts 13:3 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had fasted”) which is understood as temporal
3. Acts 13:3 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
4. Acts 13:3 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
5. Acts 13:5 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“came”) which is understood as temporal
6. Acts 13:6 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had crossed over”) which is understood as temporal
7. Acts 13:7 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“summoned”) has been translated as a finite verb
8. Acts 13:10 Here “and” is supplied because the participle in the previous verse (“looked intently at”) has been translated as a finite verb
9. Acts 13:11 Literally “until the time”
10. Acts 13:11 In Greek the direct object (“people”) is understood and must be supplied in the English translation; since the following noun is plural, “people” rather than “someone” is used here
11. Acts 13:11 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
12. Acts 13:12 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
13. Acts 13:12 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was astounded”) which is understood as causal
14. Acts 13:12 Here “about” reflects an objective genitive (“the Lord” is the object of the teaching)
15. Acts 13:13 Literally “those around Paul”
16. Acts 13:13 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“put out to sea”) has been translated as a finite verb
17. Acts 13:13 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“departed”) has been translated as a finite verb
18. Acts 13:14 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“went on”) has been translated as a finite verb
19. Acts 13:14 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“entered”) has been translated as a finite verb
20. Acts 13:15 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
21. Acts 13:15 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
22. Acts 13:16 *Here the participle (“stood up”) is translated as a finite verb because of English style
23. Acts 13:16 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
24. Acts 13:17 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
25. Acts 13:19 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“destroying”) which is understood as temporal
26. Acts 13:19 The words “to his people” are supplied as a clarification of who received the land
27. Acts 13:20 The words “This took” are not in the Greek text but are supplied in keeping with English style
28. Acts 13:20 Here the indirect object “them” is not in the Greek text but is implied
29. Acts 13:22 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“removing”) which is understood as temporal
30. Acts 13:22 A quotation from 1 Sam 13:14
31. Acts 13:24 Literally “the presence of his coming”
32. Acts 13:24 Here the participle (“had publicly proclaimed”) has been translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style
33. Acts 13:25 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
34. Acts 13:25 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
35. Acts 13:27 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“did not recognize”) which is understood as causal
36. Acts 13:27 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
37. Acts 13:27 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“condemning”) which is understood as means
38. Acts 13:27 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
39. Acts 13:28 Here “although” is supplied as a component of the genitive absolute participle (“found”) which is understood as concessive
40. Acts 13:29 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
41. Acts 13:29 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“took … down”) has been translated as a finite verb
42. Acts 13:29 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
43. Acts 13:33 It is necessary to repeat the word “promise” from the previous verse for clarity here
44. Acts 13:33 Some manuscripts have “to us their children”
45. Acts 13:33 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“raising”) which is understood as means
46. Acts 13:33 A quotation from Ps 2:7
47. Acts 13:34 A quotation from Isa 55:3
48. Acts 13:35 *The word “psalm” is not in the Greek text but is implied
49. Acts 13:35 A quotation from Ps 16:10
50. Acts 13:36 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“serving”) which is understood as temporal
51. Acts 13:36 Literally “was gathered to”
52. Acts 13:40 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
53. Acts 13:41 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
54. Acts 13:41 A quotation from Hab 1:5
55. Acts 13:42 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“were going out”)
56. Acts 13:42 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began urging”)
57. Acts 13:43 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“had broken up”)
58. Acts 13:43 Or “God-fearing”
59. Acts 13:43 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“were speaking to”) has been translated as a finite verb
60. Acts 13:45 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal
61. Acts 13:45 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“reviling”) which is understood as means
62. Acts 13:45 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
63. Acts 13:46 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“spoke boldly”) has been translated as a finite verb
64. Acts 13:47 Literally “for”
65. Acts 13:47 Literally “that you would bring”
66. Acts 13:47 An allusion to Isa 42:6; 49:6
67. Acts 13:48 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal
68. Acts 13:48 *Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
69. Acts 13:48 The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to rejoice”)
70. Acts 13:51 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“shaking off”) which is understood as temporal