Acts 13

KJV · Chapter 13/28

1Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

3And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

4So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.

5And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.

6And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar–jesus:

7Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

8But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

9Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,

10And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?

11And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

12Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

13Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.

14But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.

15And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.

16Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.

17The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.

18And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness.

19And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot.

20And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet.

21And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.

22And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.

23Of this man’s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:

24When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

25And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

26Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.

27For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him.

28And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain.

29And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

30But God raised him from the dead:

31And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people.

32And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,

33God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.

34And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.

35Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

36For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption:

37But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption.

38Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:

39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

40Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets;

41Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

42And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.

43Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

44And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.

45But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.

46Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

47For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

48And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.

49And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.

50But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.

51But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.

52And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

The church in Antioch sends Barnabas and Saul (now called Paul) on the first missionary journey. They preach in Cyprus and in Pisidian Antioch, where Jews reject the message but Gentiles receive it with joy.

Explanation

This chapter marks the official beginning of Paul's missionary journeys, commissioned by the church through fasting and prayer — a model for how important mission decisions should arise from communal spiritual seeking. The confrontation with the sorcerer Elymas shows the spiritual opposition the message would face. Paul's sermon in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch summarizes Israel's history culminating in Jesus, following the same pattern as Stephen's sermon. Paul's closing statement — that he would turn to the Gentiles in light of Jewish rejection — would become a recurring pattern throughout his journeys.

Fun facts

  • It is in this chapter that Luke begins calling 'Saul' by the name 'Paul' (Acts 13:9), possibly because he begins working predominantly in Gentile territory, where his Roman name would be more recognizable.
  • Sergius Paulus, the proconsul converted in Cyprus, is confirmed by an archaeological inscription found on the island, which mentions a Roman official with that name during the period corresponding to the account.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Acts 13:1The nickname “Niger” given to Simeon likely indicates dark skin, suggesting African origin. Together with Lucius of Cyrene, it shows how the leadership of the church in Antioch already brought together people from very different backgrounds from early on.
  2. Acts 13:2While the group of leaders in Antioch was fasting and worshiping, the Holy Spirit gives a direct and specific command: set apart Barnabas and Saul for a mission He Himself had already planned.
  3. Acts 13:3The church’s response is to confirm the calling with fasting, prayer, and the laying on of hands before sending them off, a simple ritual of missionary commissioning.
  4. Acts 13:4Barnabas and Saul first go down to the port of Seleucia, and from there sail to the island of Cyprus, Barnabas’s homeland, officially beginning the first missionary journey in the book of Acts.
  5. Acts 13:5John, mentioned here as their assistant, is John Mark, who accompanies Paul and Barnabas as a kind of helper on the journey. He abandons the group shortly afterward, which later causes a falling-out between Paul and Barnabas in chapter 15.
  6. Acts 13:6Crossing the island to Paphos, they find a Jew posing as a magician and false prophet, named Bar-jesus, an influential figure connected to the local court.
  7. Acts 13:7“Proconsul” was the title of the Roman governor of the province of Cyprus. Archaeological finds on the island confirm the existence of Roman officials with that title at the time, which lends historical support to Luke’s account.
  8. Acts 13:8Elymas — a name that also means “sorcerer” — opposes Paul and Barnabas, trying to prevent the island’s Roman governor from hearing and accepting their message.
  9. Acts 13:9This is the point in the book where the name officially changes in the narrative, from Saul to Paul. Saul was his Jewish name and Paul his Roman name, common among diaspora Jews who held a dual cultural identity — not a change tied only to his conversion.
  10. Acts 13:10Paul confronts Elymas harshly, calling him a child of the devil and an enemy of righteousness, for trying to twist the straight ways of God before the governor.
  11. Acts 13:11Paul announces an immediate punishment: temporary blindness, which takes effect right away, leaving Elymas needing to be led by the hand like a dependent.
  12. Acts 13:12Governor Sergius Paulus is converted when he sees the miracle happen before him, struck both by the event itself and by the message Paul was preaching.
  13. Acts 13:13From the port of Paphos the group sails to Perga in Pamphylia, and this is the point where John Mark abandons them and returns to Jerusalem, a decision that will cause conflict later in chapter 15.
  14. Acts 13:14Paul follows the custom of visiting the local synagogue in every new city, taking advantage of the fact that any traveling Jew had the right to be invited to speak after the reading of the law and the prophets. This is the cultural opening he uses again and again to preach.
  15. Acts 13:15Following Jewish custom, after the reading of the law and the prophets in the synagogue, the local leaders invite the visitors, Paul and Barnabas, to say a word of encouragement.
  16. Acts 13:16Paul accepts the invitation, motions for silence with his hand, and begins a lengthy speech addressed both to Jews and to Gentiles who already attended the synagogue because they feared God.
  17. Acts 13:17Paul begins by retelling the history of Israel from Egypt, recalling how God chose the people, made them grow even as foreigners there, and brought them out with great power.
  18. Acts 13:18Paul quickly moves through the forty years in the wilderness, a period in which God put up with the people’s difficult behavior before they entered the promised land.
  19. Acts 13:19After destroying seven Canaanite nations, God distributes the conquered land among the tribes of Israel by lot, as already told in the book of Joshua.
  20. Acts 13:20Paul sums up the long period of the judges, about four hundred and fifty years, which runs up to the prophet Samuel, the last figure before the monarchy.
  21. Acts 13:21The brief reference to King Saul, son of Kish, picks up the story of Israel’s first king, told in 1 Samuel, which Paul uses as historical background before reaching David and then Jesus.
  22. Acts 13:22After rejecting Saul, the first king, God chooses David, described with the famous phrase “a man after mine own heart,” willing to do His will.
  23. Acts 13:23Paul finally reaches his main point: from David’s descendants, as promised, God raised up Jesus as Savior of Israel.
  24. Acts 13:24Before Jesus’s arrival, John the Baptist had already preached a baptism of repentance to all the people, preparing the way.
  25. Acts 13:25Paul quotes John denying that he was the Messiah himself, and pointing to someone greater who would come after him, so far above him that he would not even be worthy to untie His sandals.
  26. Acts 13:26Paul addresses both the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles present, saying that the message of salvation had been sent specifically to them there.
  27. Acts 13:27Paul explains that the residents of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, and in condemning Him they unwittingly ended up fulfilling the prophecies read every sabbath in the synagogues.
  28. Acts 13:28Even without finding any real cause for death, these leaders asked Pilate to have Jesus executed anyway.
  29. Acts 13:29After everything written about Him had been fulfilled, they took Jesus down from “the tree” and laid Him in a tomb.
  30. Acts 13:30Paul states the central point of the Christian faith directly and briefly: God raised Him from the dead.
  31. Acts 13:31The resurrection was not a private event: Jesus was seen for many days by the disciples who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, and they are His official witnesses before the people.
  32. Acts 13:32Paul frames all of this as the fulfillment of an ancient promise made to the ancestors, now realized for the present generation through the resurrection of Jesus.
  33. Acts 13:33Paul quotes a psalm the Jews read as referring to the anointed king, the Messiah, applying that phrase to the resurrection of Jesus, not to His birth.
  34. Acts 13:34Paul cites a prophetic promise about the definitive resurrection, one with no return to decay, tied to “the sure mercies of David” promised by God.
  35. Acts 13:35Paul reinforces this with another psalm quotation, saying that God would not allow His “Holy One” to see decay — a verse Peter had already used earlier in chapter 2 with the same logic.
  36. Acts 13:36Paul argues that this promise cannot be about David himself, since he died, was buried with his ancestors, and his body truly decayed.
  37. Acts 13:37By contrast, the One God raised up — Jesus — saw no decay at all, showing that the prophetic promise is fulfilled only in Him.
  38. Acts 13:38Paul arrives at the practical application of his speech: it is through Jesus that forgiveness of sins is now proclaimed to the listeners gathered there.
  39. Acts 13:39Paul teaches that the law of Moses could never fully justify anyone, but whoever believes in Jesus receives the justification the law was unable to give.
  40. Acts 13:40Paul closes with a warning, urging his listeners to take care not to fall under the harsh warning the prophets themselves had already written.
  41. Acts 13:41Paul quotes the prophet Habakkuk, warning those who scoff at the message: God was doing a work so astonishing that no one would believe it even if warned beforehand.
  42. Acts 13:42As they leave the synagogue, the initial reaction is positive: people ask Paul and Barnabas to come back and speak on the same subject the following sabbath.
  43. Acts 13:43Many Jews and Gentile converts to Judaism (proselytes) follow Paul and Barnabas after the service, receiving encouragement to continue faithful to the grace of God.
  44. Acts 13:44On the following sabbath, almost the whole city gathers to hear the preaching, an enormous increase in audience compared to the first time.
  45. Acts 13:45This success stirs up envy among the local Jewish leaders, who begin publicly contradicting and insulting what Paul was saying.
  46. Acts 13:46Paul and Barnabas respond firmly: since the Jews rejected the message first offered to them, the two decide to turn their preaching specifically to the Gentiles.
  47. Acts 13:47Paul justifies this turn by quoting a prophetic command that the Messiah would be a light for the Gentiles, bringing salvation to the ends of the earth.
  48. Acts 13:48The Gentiles’ reaction is one of genuine joy, and the text records that “as many as were ordained to eternal life” believed, a theological detail much debated among scholars.
  49. Acts 13:49With this initial momentum, the Christian message begins to spread throughout that whole region of Asia Minor, not just in the city of Antioch in Pisidia.
  50. Acts 13:50The Jewish opponents manage to mobilize influential women of the city and local authorities to officially expel Paul and Barnabas from the territory.
  51. Acts 13:51As they are expelled, the two shake the dust off their feet against the city, the same symbolic gesture of protest used later in other places, and go on to Iconium.
  52. Acts 13:52Despite the expulsion, the new disciples left behind remain full of joy and of the Holy Spirit, showing that the persecution did not snuff out their newly formed faith.

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