NKJV Bible in 365 Days
First Missionary Journey and Gentile Faith — October 19
Acts 13-14
Acts 13
1 Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 365N 292.1
2 As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 365N 292.2
3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. 365N 292.3
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 365N 292.4
5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. 365N 292.5
6 Now when they had gone through [a] the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 365N 292.6
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. 365N 292.7
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) [b] withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 365N 292.8
9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 365N 292.9
10 and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? 365N 292.10
11 And now, indeed, 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. 365N 292.11
12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. 365N 292.12
13 Now when Paul and his party set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem. 365N 292.13
14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. 365N 292.14
15 And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, “Men and brethren, if you have any word of [c] exhortation for the people, say on.” 365N 292.15
16 Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: 365N 292.16
17 The God of this people [d] Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with [e] an uplifted arm He brought them out of it. 365N 292.17
18 Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness. 365N 292.18
19 And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment. 365N 292.19
20 “After that He gave them judges for about four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. 365N 292.20
21 And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 365N 292.21
22 And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ 365N 292.22
23 From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a [f] Savior—Jesus— 365N 292.23
24 after John had first preached, before His coming, the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 365N 292.24
25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not He. But behold, there comes One after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to loose.’ 365N 292.25
26 “Men and brethren, sons of the [g] family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the [h] word of this salvation has been sent. 365N 292.26
27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him. 365N 292.27
28 And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death. 365N 292.28
29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 365N 292.29
30 But God raised Him from the dead. 365N 292.30
31 He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people. 365N 292.31
32 And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. 365N 292.32
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: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’ 365N 292.33
34 And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to [i] corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure [j] mercies of David.’ 365N 292.34
35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’ 365N 292.35
36 “For David, after he had served [k] his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and [l] saw corruption; 365N 292.36
37 but He whom God raised up [m] saw no corruption. 365N 292.37
38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; 365N 292.38
39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. 365N 292.39
40 Beware therefore, lest what has been spoken in the prophets come upon you: 365N 292.40
41 ‘Behold, 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.’ ” 365N 292.41
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. 365N 292.42
43 Now when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. 365N 292.43
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. 365N 292.44
45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. 365N 292.45
46 Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 365N 292.46
47 For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” 365N 292.47
48 Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. 365N 292.48
49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region. 365N 292.49
50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 365N 292.50
51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium. 365N 292.51
52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. 365N 292.52
Acts 14
1 Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. 365N 292.53
2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and [a] poisoned their [b] minds against the brethren. 365N 292.54
3 Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 365N 292.55
4 But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles. 365N 292.56
5 And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them, 365N 292.57
6 they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region. 365N 292.58
7 And they were preaching the gospel there. 365N 292.59
8 And in Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 365N 292.60
9 This man heard Paul speaking. [c] Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 365N 292.61
10 said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. 365N 292.62
11 Now when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 365N 292.63
12 And Barnabas they called [d] Zeus, and Paul, [e] Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 365N 292.64
13 Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes. 365N 292.65
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out 365N 292.66
15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, 365N 292.67
16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. 365N 292.68
17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” 365N 292.69
18 And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them. 365N 292.70
19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. 365N 292.71
20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 365N 292.72
21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 365N 292.73
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” 365N 292.74
23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 365N 292.75
24 And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 365N 292.76
25 Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 365N 292.77
26 From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed. 365N 292.78
27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 365N 292.79
28 So they stayed there a long time with the disciples. 365N 292.80