Acts 13 - New King James Version (NKJV)

Paul and Barnabas Are Sent to the Gentiles

13 Now ^(A)in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: ^(B)Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, ^(C)Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. ² As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, ^(D)“Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work ^(E)to which I have called them.” ³ Then, ^(F)having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.

Preaching in Cyprus

⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to ^(G)Cyprus. ⁵ And when they arrived in Salamis, ^(H)they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had ^(I)John as their assistant.

⁶ Now when they had gone through ^[a]the island to Paphos, they found ^(J)a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. ⁸ But ^(K)Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) ^[b]withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. ⁹ Then Saul, who also is called Paul, ^(L)filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him ¹⁰ and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, ^(M)you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? ¹¹ And now, indeed, ^(N)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. ¹² Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

At Antioch in Pisidia

¹³ Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and ^(O)John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and ^(P)went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. ¹⁵ And ^(Q)after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have ^(R)any word of ^[c]exhortation for the people, say on.”

¹⁶ Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and ^(S)you who fear God, listen: ¹⁷ The God of this people ^[d]Israel ^(T)chose our fathers, and exalted the people ^(U)when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with ^[e]an uplifted arm He ^(V)brought them out of it. ¹⁸ Now ^(W)for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. ¹⁹ And when He had destroyed ^(X)seven nations in the land of Canaan, ^(Y)He distributed their land to them by allotment.

²⁰ “After that ^(Z)He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, ^(AA)until Samuel the prophet. ^{21 (AB)}And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them ^(AC)Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And ^(AD)when He had removed him, ^(AE)He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ^(AF)‘I have found David the son of Jesse, ^(AG)a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ ^{23 (AH)}From this man’s seed, according ^(AI)to the promise, God raised up for Israel ^(AJ)a^[f] Savior—Jesus— ^{24 (AK)}after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. ²⁵ And as John was finishing his course, he said, ^(AL)‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, ^(AM)there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’

²⁶ “Men and brethren, sons of the ^[g]family of Abraham, and ^(AN)those among you who fear God, ^(AO)to you the ^[h]word of this salvation has been sent. ²⁷ For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, ^(AP)because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. ^{28 (AQ)}And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. ^{29 (AR)}Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, ^(AS)they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. ^{30 (AT)}But God raised Him from the dead. ^{31 (AU)}He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. ³² And we declare to you glad tidings—^(AV)that promise which was made to the fathers. ³³ God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm:

^(AW)‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.’

³⁴ And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to ^[i]corruption, He has spoken thus:

^(AX)‘I will give you the sure ^[j]mercies of David.’

³⁵ Therefore He also says in another Psalm:

^(AY)‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’

³⁶ “For David, after he had served ^[k]his own generation by the will of God, ^(AZ)fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and ^[l]saw corruption; ³⁷ but He whom God raised up ^[m]saw no corruption. ³⁸ Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that ^(BA)through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; ³⁹ and ^(BB)by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. ⁴⁰ Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you:

⁴¹ ‘Behold,^(BC) you despisers,
Marvel and perish!
For I work a work in your days,
A work which you will by no means believe,
Though one were to declare it to you.’ ”

Blessing and Conflict at Antioch

^{42 [n]}So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. ⁴³ Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, ^(BD)persuaded them to continue in ^(BE)the grace of God.

⁴⁴ On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. ⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they ^(BF)opposed the things spoken by Paul. ⁴⁶ Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, ^(BG)“It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but ^(BH)since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, ^(BI)we turn to the Gentiles. ⁴⁷ For so the Lord has commanded us:

^(BJ)‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,
That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

⁴⁸ Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. ^(BK)And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

⁴⁹ And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. ⁵⁰ But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, ^(BL)raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. ^{51 (BM)}But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples ^(BN)were filled with joy and ^(BO)with the Holy Spirit.

Footnotes

1. Acts 13:6 NU the whole island
2. Acts 13:8 opposed
3. Acts 13:15 encouragement
4. Acts 13:17 M omits Israel
5. Acts 13:17 Mighty power
6. Acts 13:23 M salvation, after
7. Acts 13:26 stock
8. Acts 13:26 message
9. Acts 13:34 the state of decay
10. Acts 13:34 blessings
11. Acts 13:36 in his
12. Acts 13:36 underwent decay
13. Acts 13:37 underwent no decay
14. Acts 13:42 Or And when they went out of the synagogue of the Jews; NU And when they went out, they begged

Cross references

1. Acts 13:1 : Acts 14:26
2. Acts 13:1 : Acts 11:22
3. Acts 13:1 : Rom. 16:21
4. Acts 13:2 : Num. 8:14; Acts 9:15; 22:21; Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:15; 2:9
5. Acts 13:2 : Matt. 9:38; Acts 14:26; Rom. 10:15; Eph. 3:7, 8; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11; Heb. 5:4
6. Acts 13:3 : Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:20; Luke 5:35; Acts 6:6
7. Acts 13:4 : Acts 4:36
8. Acts 13:5 : [Acts 13:46]
9. Acts 13:5 : Acts 12:25; 15:37
10. Acts 13:6 : Acts 8:9
11. Acts 13:8 : Ex. 7:11; 2 Tim. 3:8
12. Acts 13:9 : Acts 2:4; 4:8
13. Acts 13:10 : Matt. 13:38; John 8:44; [1 John 3:8]
14. Acts 13:11 : Ex. 9:3; 1 Sam. 5:6; Job 19:21; Ps. 32:4; Heb. 10:31
15. Acts 13:13 : Acts 15:38
16. Acts 13:14 : Acts 16:13
17. Acts 13:15 : Luke 4:16
18. Acts 13:15 : Heb. 13:22
19. Acts 13:16 : Acts 10:35
20. Acts 13:17 : Ex. 6:1, 6; 13:14, 16; Deut. 7:6–8
21. Acts 13:17 : Acts 7:17
22. Acts 13:17 : Ex. 14:8
23. Acts 13:18 : Ex. 16:35; Num. 14:34; Acts 7:36
24. Acts 13:19 : Deut. 7:1
25. Acts 13:19 : Josh. 14:1, 2; 19:51; Ps. 78:55
26. Acts 13:20 : Judg. 2:16; 1 Sam. 4:18; 7:15
27. Acts 13:20 : 1 Sam. 3:20; Acts 3:24
28. Acts 13:21 : 1 Sam. 8:5
29. Acts 13:21 : 1 Sam. 10:20–24
30. Acts 13:22 : 1 Sam. 15:23, 26, 28
31. Acts 13:22 : 1 Sam. 16:1, 12, 13
32. Acts 13:22 : Ps. 89:20
33. Acts 13:22 : 1 Sam. 13:14
34. Acts 13:23 : Is. 11:1
35. Acts 13:23 : Ps. 132:11
36. Acts 13:23 : [Matt. 1:21]
37. Acts 13:24 : Matt. 3:1; [Luke 3:3]
38. Acts 13:25 : Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16
39. Acts 13:25 : John 1:20, 27
40. Acts 13:26 : Ps. 66:16
41. Acts 13:26 : Matt. 10:6
42. Acts 13:27 : Luke 23:34
43. Acts 13:28 : Matt. 27:22, 23; Mark 15:13, 14; Luke 23:21–23; John 19:15; Acts 3:14; [2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15]; 1 Pet. 2:22
44. Acts 13:29 : Luke 18:31
45. Acts 13:29 : Matt. 27:57–61; Mark 15:42–47; Luke 23:50–56; John 19:38–42
46. Acts 13:30 : Ps. 16:10, 11; Hos. 6:2; Matt. 12:39, 40; 28:6
47. Acts 13:31 : Matt. 28:16; Acts 1:3, 11; 1 Cor. 15:5–8
48. Acts 13:32 : [Gen. 3:15]
49. Acts 13:33 : Ps. 2:7; Heb. 1:5
50. Acts 13:34 : Is. 55:3
51. Acts 13:35 : Ps. 16:10; Acts 2:27
52. Acts 13:36 : Acts 2:29
53. Acts 13:38 : Jer. 31:34
54. Acts 13:39 : [Is. 53:11; John 3:16]
55. Acts 13:41 : Hab. 1:5
56. Acts 13:43 : Acts 11:23
57. Acts 13:43 : Titus 2:11; Heb. 12:15; 1 Pet. 5:12
58. Acts 13:45 : Acts 18:6; 1 Pet. 4:4; Jude 10
59. Acts 13:46 : Matt. 10:6; Acts 3:26; Rom. 1:16
60. Acts 13:46 : Ex. 32:10; Deut. 32:21; Is. 55:5; Matt. 21:43; Rom. 10:19
61. Acts 13:46 : Acts 18:6
62. Acts 13:47 : Is. 42:6; 49:6; Luke 2:32
63. Acts 13:48 : [Acts 2:47]
64. Acts 13:50 : Acts 7:52; 2 Tim. 3:11
65. Acts 13:51 : Matt. 10:14; Mark 6:11; [Luke 9:5]
66. Acts 13:52 : Matt. 5:12; John 16:22
67. Acts 13:52 : Acts 2:4; 4:8, 31; 13:9