Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Saul.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus.
When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John to assist them.
When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.
He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who called for Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word of God.
But Elymas the magician (for that is what his name means) opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of all that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?”
And now, listen—the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind for a time, unable to see the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he went about seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
When the proconsul saw what had happened, he became a believer, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John left them and returned to Jerusalem,
but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. On the sabbath they went into the synagogue and sat down.
After the reading from the law and the prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have a word of exhortation for the people, please speak.”
So Paul stood up and with a gesture began to speak: “My brothers, you descendants of Abraham, and others who fear God, listen:
The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors and made the people great during their stay in Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he led them out of it.
For about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.
After destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance.
All this took about four hundred and fifty years.
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of the prophet Samuel.
Then they asked for a king; and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.
After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised.
Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.
“As John was completing his work, he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am? I am not the one you are looking for.
But there is one coming after me whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.’
“My brothers, children of Abraham, and you others who fear God, this message of salvation has been sent to us.
The people in Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.
Though they found no proper ground for a death sentence, they asked Pilate to have him executed.
When they had carried out all that was written about Jesus, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
But God raised him from the dead,
and for many days he appeared to those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to our people.
We bring you the good news that what God promised our ancestors
he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising Jesus.
“As for Jesus, we all are witnesses of what he did throughout Judea and in Jerusalem.
They killed him by hanging him on a tree,
but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.
He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead.
All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch in Pisidia, some Jews came to them and began to argue, contradicting and insulting them.
Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are now turning to the Gentiles.
For this is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
The Gentiles were delighted when they heard this and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
But the Jews incited the devout women of the leading city and the chief men, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.
So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
This is the Patristics text that appears when you select Patristics.
