Study Desk

In the church that was at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, a close friend of Herod the tetrarch,^(a) and Saul.

As they were ministering to^[a] the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to."^(b)

Then after they had fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them off.^(c)

Being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed God's message in the Jewish synagogues. They also had John as their assistant.^(d)

When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came across a sorcerer, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.^(e)

He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear God's message.^(f)

But Elymas the sorcerer (this is the meaning of his name) opposed^(g) them and tried to turn the proconsul away from the faith.^(h)

Then Saul—also called Paul—filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight at the sorcerer

and said, "You son of the Devil,⁽ⁱ⁾ full of all deceit and all fraud, enemy of all righteousness! Won't you ever stop perverting the straight paths^(j) of the Lord?

Now, look! The Lord's hand is against you.^(k) You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time." Suddenly a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

Then the proconsul, seeing what happened, believed and was astonished at the teaching about the Lord.^(l)

Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and went back to Jerusalem.^(m)

They continued their journey from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.⁽ⁿ⁾

After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you can speak."^(o)

Then Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: "Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen!^(p)

The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty^[b] arm.^(q)

And for about 40 years He put up with them^[c] in the wilderness;^(r)

then after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan,^(s) He gave their land to them as an inheritance.

This all took about 450 years. After this, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.^(t)

Then they asked for a king, so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years.^(u)

After removing him,^(v) He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘ I have found David the son of Jesse, a man loyal to Me, ^(w)[d] who will carry out all My will.'

"From this man's descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus,^[e] to Israel.^(x)

Before He came to public attention,^[f] John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.^(y)

Then as John was completing his life's work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.'^(z)

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

For the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers, since they did not recognize Him or the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled their words^[g] by condemning Him.^(ab)

Though they found no grounds for the death penalty, they asked Pilate to have Him killed.^(ac)

When they had fulfilled all that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and put Him in a tomb.^(ad)

But God raised Him from the dead,^(ae)

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

And we ourselves proclaim to you the good news of the promise that was made to our ancestors.^(ag)

God has fulfilled this 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. ^[h](ah)[i]

Since He raised Him from the dead, never to return to decay, He has spoken in this way, I will grant you the faithful covenant blessings ^[j] made to David. ^(ai)[k]

Therefore He also says in another passage, You will not allow Your Holy One to see decay. ^(aj)[l]

For David, after serving his own generation in God's plan, fell asleep,^(ak) was buried with his fathers, and decayed.^(al)

But the One God raised up did not decay.

Therefore, let it be known to you, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is being proclaimed to you,^(am)

and everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything that you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.^(an)

So beware that what is said in the prophets does not happen to you:

Look, you scoffers, marvel and vanish away, because I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will never believe, even if someone were to explain it to you. "^(ao)[m]

As they^[n] were leaving, the people^[o] begged that these matters be presented to them the following Sabbath.

After the synagogue had been dismissed, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who were speaking with them and persuading them to continue in the grace of God.^(ap)

The following Sabbath almost the whole town assembled to hear the message of the Lord.^[p]

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to oppose what Paul was saying by insulting him.^(aq)

Then Paul and Barnabas boldly said: "It was necessary that God's message be spoken to you first. But since you reject it and consider yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles!^(ar)

For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the ends ^[q] of the earth. "^(as)[r]

When the Gentiles heard this, they rejoiced and glorified the message of the Lord, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

So the message of the Lord spread through the whole region.

But the Jews incited the prominent women, who worshiped God, and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their district.^(at)

But they shook the dust off their feet^(au) against them^(av) and went to Iconium.

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

The same thing happened in Iconium; they entered the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.^(a)

But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the brothers.^(b)

So they stayed there for some time and spoke boldly in reliance on the Lord, who testified to the message of His grace by granting that signs and wonders be performed through them.^(c)

But the people of the city were divided, some siding with the Jews and some with the apostles.^(d)

When an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to assault and stone them,

they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian towns called Lystra and Derbe, and to the surrounding countryside.^(e)

And there they kept evangelizing.^(f)

In Lystra a man without strength in his feet, lame from birth,^[a] and who had never walked, sat

and heard Paul speaking. After observing him closely and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

Paul said in a loud voice, "Stand upright on your feet!" And he jumped up and started to walk around.^(g)

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in the form of men!"^(h)

And they started to call Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the main speaker.

Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought oxen and garlands to the gates. He, with the crowds, intended to offer sacrifice.

The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their robes when they heard this and rushed into the crowd, shouting:⁽ⁱ⁾

"Men! Why are you doing these things? We are men also, with the same nature as you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you should turn from these worthless things^(j) to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them .^(k)[b]

In past generations He allowed all the nations^(l) to go their own way,

although He did not leave Himself without a witness,^(m) since He did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons⁽ⁿ⁾ and satisfying your^[c] hearts with food and happiness."

Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead.^(o)

After the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.^(p)

After they had evangelized that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch,^(q)

strengthening the^[d] disciples by encouraging them to continue in the faith^(r) and by telling them, "It is necessary to pass through many troubles^(s) on our way into the kingdom of God."

When they had appointed elders^(t) in every church and prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

After they spoke the message in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.^(u)

After they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported everything God had done with them^(v) and that He had opened the door^(w) of faith to the Gentiles.

And they spent a considerable time^[e] with the disciples.