Acts 13
1 And there were certain in Antioch, in the assembly there, prophets and teachers; both Barnabas, and Simeon who is called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen also — Herod the tetrarch's foster-brother — and Saul;
The church at Antioch had prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (the childhood friend of Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.
2 and in their ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Separate ye to me both Barnabas and Saul to the work to which I have called them,'
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart Barnabas and Saul to do the work I've called them to.”
3 then having fasted, and having prayed, and having laid the hands on them, they sent [them] away.
After they had fasted, prayed, and placed their hands on them in blessing, they sent them on their way.
4 These, indeed, then, having been sent forth by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, thence also they sailed to Cyprus,
So Barnabas and Saul, directed by the Holy Spirit, went to Seleucia. From there they sailed to Cyprus.
5 and having come unto Salamis, they declared the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they had also John [as] a ministrant;
Arriving at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their assistant.
6 and having gone through the island unto Paphos, they found a certain magian, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name [is] Bar-Jesus;
They traveled throughout the island and eventually came to Paphos. There they found a Jewish magician, a false prophet by the name of Bar-jesus.
7 who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man; this one having called for Barnabas and Saul, did desire to hear the word of God,
He was close to the governor, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. Sergius Paulus invited Barnabas and Saul to come and visit him since he wanted to hear the word of God.
8 and there withstood them Elymas the magian — for so is his name interpreted — seeking to pervert the proconsul from the faith.
But the magician Elymas (his Greek name) opposed them, trying to prevent the governor from trusting in God.
9 And Saul — who also [is] Paul — having been filled with the Holy Spirit, and having looked stedfastly on him,
Saul, also called Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and looked straight at him.
10 said, 'O full of all guile, and all profligacy, son of a devil, enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease perverting the right ways of the Lord?
“You are full of deception and all kinds of evil, you son of the devil, you enemy of all that is right! Will you never give up perverting the Lord's true ways?
11 and now, lo, a hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season;' and presently there fell upon him a mist and darkness, and he, going about, was seeking some to lead [him] by the hand;
Look, the Lord's hand is on you and you will become blind. You will not see the sun for some time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell on him, and he had to find someone who could lead him by the hand.
12 then the proconsul having seen what hath come to pass, did believe, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
When the governor saw what happened he trusted in God, amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
13 And those about Paul having set sail from Paphos, came to Perga of Pamphylia, and John having departed from them, did turn back to Jerusalem,
Then Paul and those with him sailed from Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia, while John left them and went back to Jerusalem.
14 and they having gone through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia, and having gone into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, they sat down,
They went through Perga and on to Antioch of Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and were seated.
15 and after the reading of the law and of the prophets, the chief men of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, 'Men, brethren, if there be a word in you of exhortation unto the people — say on.'
After the readings from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent them a message saying, “Brothers, please share with the congregation any words of encouragement you may have.”
16 And Paul having risen, and having beckoned with the hand, said, 'Men, Israelites, and those fearing God, hearken:
Paul stood up, motioned with his hand to get their attention, and began speaking. “Men of Israel, and all of you who have reverence for God, listen to me.
17 the God of this people Israel did choose our fathers, and the people He did exalt in their sojourning in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm did He bring them out of it;
The God of the people of Israel chose our forefathers, and gave our people prosperity during their stay in the land of Egypt. Then with his mighty power he led them out of Egypt,
18 and about a period of forty years He did suffer their manners in the wilderness,
and he patiently dealt with them in the desert for about forty years.
19 and having destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He did divide by lot to them their land.
After he had overthrown seven nations living in the land of Canaan, God divided their land among the Israelites and gave it to them to inherit. This took about four hundred and fifty years.
20 'And after these things, about four hundred and fifty years, He gave judges — till Samuel the prophet;
Then he provided them with judges as leaders until the time of the prophet Samuel.
21 and thereafter they asked for a king, and God did give to them Saul, son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years;
Then the people asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled for forty years.
22 and having removed him, He did raise up to them David for king, to whom also having testified, he said, I found David, the [son] of Jesse, a man according to My heart, who shall do all My will.
Then God removed Saul, and made David their king. God approved of David, saying ‘I found David the son of Jesse to be a man according to my own heart; he will do everything I intend.’
23 'Of this one's seed God, according to promise, did raise to Israel a Saviour — Jesus,
Jesus is David's descendant; he is the Savior that God promised to bring to Israel.
24 John having first preached, before his coming, a baptism of reformation to all the people of Israel;
Before Jesus came, John announced the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.
25 and as John was fulfilling the course, he said, Whom me do ye suppose to be? I am not [he], but, lo, he doth come after me, of whom I am not worthy to loose the sandal of [his] feet.
As John was completing his mission, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the one you're looking for. But after me one is coming whose sandals I'm not worthy to untie.’
26 'Men, brethren, sons of the race of Abraham, and those among you fearing God, to you was the word of this salvation sent,
My brothers, children of Abraham and those of you who have reverence for God: the message of this salvation has been sent to us!
27 for those dwelling in Jerusalem, and their chiefs, this one not having known, also the voices of the prophets, which every sabbath are being read — having judged [him] — did fulfil,
The people living in Jerusalem and their leaders didn't recognize Jesus or understand the words spoken by the prophets that are read every Sabbath. In fact they fulfilled the prophetic words by condemning him!
28 and no cause of death having found, they did ask of Pilate that he should be slain,
Even though they couldn't find any evidence to sentence him to death, they still asked Pilate to have him killed.
29 and when they did complete all the things written about him, having taken [him] down from the tree, they laid him in a tomb;
After they had fulfilled everything predicted that they would do to him, they took him down from the cross and buried him in a tomb.
30 and God did raise him out of the dead,
But God raised him from the dead,
31 and he was seen for many days of those who did come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.
and he appeared over the course of many days to those who had followed him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people.
32 'And we to you do proclaim good news — that the promise made unto the fathers,
We are here to bring to you the good news of the promise that God made to our forefathers,
33 God hath in full completed this to us their children, having raised up Jesus, as also in the second Psalm it hath been written, My Son thou art — I to-day have begotten thee.
that he has now fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus from the dead. As it is written in Psalm 2: ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’
34 'And that He did raise him up out of the dead, no more to return to corruption, he hath said thus — I will give to you the faithful kindnesses of David;
God raised him from the dead, never to die again, as he indicated by saying, ‘I will give you what is holy and trustworthy, as I promised to David.’
35 wherefore also in another [place] he saith, Thou shalt not give Thy kind One to see corruption,
As another psalm says, ‘You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.’
36 for David, indeed, his own generation having served by the will of God, did fall asleep, and was added unto his fathers, and saw corruption,
But David died, after he had done what God wanted in his own time, and he was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed.
37 but he whom God did raise up, did not see corruption.
The one God raised from the dead saw no decay.
38 'Let it therefore be known to you, men, brethren, that through this one to you is the forgiveness of sins declared,
My brothers, I want you to understand that we're telling you that through this man sins are forgiven.
39 and from all things from which ye were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one every one who is believing is declared righteous;
Through him everyone who trusts in him is made morally right from all that is wrong—in a way that you could never be set right by the law of Moses.
40 see, therefore, it may not come upon you that hath been spoken in the prophets:
Make sure that what the prophets said doesn't happen to you:
41 See, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish, because a work I — I do work in your days, a work in which ye may not believe, though any one may declare [it] to you.'
‘You who are scornful, look in amazement, and die! For what I'm doing in your lifetime is something that you could never believe, even if someone told you!’”
42 And having gone forth out of the synagogue of the Jews, the nations were calling upon [them] that on the next sabbath these sayings may be spoken to them,
As they were leaving, the people pleaded with them to tell them more the next Sabbath.
43 and the synagogue having been dismissed, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes did follow Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, were persuading them to remain in the grace of God.
After the meeting in the synagogue, many of the Jews and the converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas who spoke with them, encouraging them to continue to hold on to the grace of God.
44 And on the coming sabbath, almost all the city was gathered together to hear the word of God,
The following Sabbath almost the whole town turned out to hear the word of God.
45 and the Jews having seen the multitudes, were filled with zeal, and did contradict the things spoken by Paul — contradicting and speaking evil.
However, when the Jews saw the crowds, they became extremely jealous, contradicting what Paul was saying and cursing him.
46 And speaking boldly, Paul and Barnabas said, 'To you it was necessary that first the word of God be spoken, and seeing ye do thrust it away, and do not judge yourselves worthy of the life age-during, lo, we do turn to the nations; (aiōnios g166)
So Paul and Barnabas spoke out strongly, saying “We had to speak the word of God to you first. But now that you're rejecting it—you're deciding that you're not worthy of eternal life—well now we're turning to the foreigners. (aiōnios g166)
47 for so hath the Lord commanded us: I have set thee for a light of nations — for thy being for salvation unto the end of the earth.'
That's what the Lord has told us to do: ‘I've made you a light to the foreigners, and through you salvation will go to the ends of the earth.’”
48 And the nations hearing were glad, and were glorifying the word of the Lord, and did believe — as many as were appointed to life age-during; (aiōnios g166)
When the foreigners heard this they were overjoyed, praising the Lord's word, and all those chosen for eternal life trusted in God. (aiōnios g166)
49 and the word of the Lord was spread abroad through all the region.
So God's word was spread throughout the region.
50 And the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the first men of the city, and did raise persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and did put them out from their borders;
But the Jews incited the prominent religious women and leaders of the city to persecute Paul and Barnabas, and had them expelled from their territory.
51 and they having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, came to Iconium,
So they shook the dust off their feet against them as a sign of protest, and went on to Iconium.
52 and the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
And the believers continued to be filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
