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Acts 13
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| 13:1
Now 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. |
 Son of Jesus
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| 13:2
As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted,
the Holy Ghost said,
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
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 (Jehovah's Witnesses)
"The Holy Ghost said ... I have called them."
JWs deny that the Holy Spirit is a person. Why then
does he talk and refer to himself in the first person in this verse?
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| 13:3
And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they
sent them away.
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| 13:4
So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and
from thence they sailed to Cyprus. |
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| 13:5
And 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. |
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| 13:6
And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain
sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: |
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| 13:7
Which 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. |
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| 13:8
But Elymas the sorcerer
(for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy
from the faith. |
 (13:8-11)
"The hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind."
Paul and the Holy Ghost conspire together to make Elymas (the sorcerer) blind.
"Thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness"
(13:10) "Pervert the right ways of the Lord"
BOM: 1 Nephi 13:27,
22:14; 2 Nephi 28:15;
Alma 31:11
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| 13:9
Then Saul, (who also is
called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him.
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| 13:10
And 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?
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| 13:11
And 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. |
What the Bible says about blind people
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| 13:12
Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at
the doctrine of the Lord. |
"Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed."
When the deputy saw that God could (through Paul) make people blind, he believed. (Who else
shows off their power by blinding people?)
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| 13:13
Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in
Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
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| 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. |
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| 13:15
And 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. |
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| 13:16
Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and
ye that fear God, give audience. |
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| 13:17
The 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. |
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| 13:18
And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the
wilderness. |
"... forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness"
It took the Israelites 40 years to travel from Egypt to Canaan, yet such a journey, even at that time,
would have taken no more than ten days.
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| 13:19
And when he had
destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to
them by lot. |
The author of Acts brags about God
destroying "seven nations of the land of Canaan" and dividing their land by lot.
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| 13:20
And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred
and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. |
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| 13:21
And 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. |
Gen.49:10
says that all of Israel's kings will be from the tribe of Judah, yet we see in
this verse that Israel's first king was from the tribe of Benjamin.
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| 13:22
And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their
king; to whom also he gave their testimony, and said, I have found David the
son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my
will. |
"A man after mine own heart"
Paul quotes God as saying, "I have found David the
son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my
will." But no such quote can be found in the Old Testament. (Although
1 Sam.13:14 does refer to
David as "a man after his [God's] own heart." And it makes some sense, too, since David was
nearly as cruel as the biblical God.)
David, a man after God's own
heart (WWDD?)
 (13:23) "Of this man's seed"
Was Joseph the father of Jesus?
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| 13:23
Of this man's seed
hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus:
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| 13:24
When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance
to all the people of Israel.
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| 13:25
And 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. |
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| 13:26
Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among
you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. |
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| 13:27
For 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. |
(13:27-30)
"They that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers ... laid him in a sepulchre."
Who buried Jesus?
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| 13:28
And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate
that he should be slain. |
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| 13:29
And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him
down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. |
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| 13:30 But God raised him from the dead: |
"But God raised him from the dead."
Who raised Jesus from the dead?
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| 13:31
And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to
Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. |
"And he was seen many days."
When did Jesus ascend into heaven?
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| 13:32
And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made
unto the fathers, |
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| 13:33
God 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. |
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| 13:34
And 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. |
"The sure mercies of David."
David was anything but merciful. For an
example of his behavior see 2 Sam.12:31 and 1 Chr.20:3, where he saws, hacks, and burns to
death the inhabitants of several cities.
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| 13:35
Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy
One to see corruption. |
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| 13:36
For 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: |
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| 13:37
But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. |
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| 13:38
Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is
preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: |
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| 13:39
And by him all that
believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be
justified by the law of Moses. |
"All that believe [the right things]
are justified from all things," contrary
to what Jesus said in Matthew (12:31-32) and
Luke (12:10).
Is there an unforgivable sin?
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| 13:40
Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the
prophets; |
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| 13:41
Behold, 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. |
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| 13:42
And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought
that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. |
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| 13:43
Now 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. |
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| 13:44
And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the
word of God. |
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| 13:45
But when the Jews saw
the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things
which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. |
(13:45-46)
"The Jews ... were filled with envy ... contradicting and blaspheming."
The Jews of Antioch, after seeing Paul's
success in preaching, were envious and blasphemed God. Paul then declares them
to be "unworthy of everlasting life."
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13:46
Then 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.
| 13:47
For 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. |
| | 13:48
And 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. |
"As many as were ordained to eternal life believed."
God chooses those who will believe [the
right things], and only they will go to heaven.
Do humans have free will?
What the Bible says about
determinism and
free will
| | 13:49
And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.
| | 13:50
But 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. |
"The Jews ... raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas."
"The Jews stirred up" trouble and "raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled
them out of their coasts."
| | 13:51
But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto
Iconium.
| | 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.
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