Acts 12:25-Acts 13:12 - Barnabas And Saul Travel To Cyprus
25 Barnabas and Saul returned [to Antioch] from Jerusalem after they had fulfilled their mission [i.e., of taking the contribution for the famine-stricken people of Judea. See 11:27-30]. They took John Mark [back to Antioch with them].
1 Now in the church at Antioch there were [these] prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon, called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, the foster-brother of Herod the Tetrarch [i.e., governor of Galilee], and Saul.
2 As these men were ministering to the Lord [i.e., this probably means worshiping] and fasting, the Holy Spirit said [to one of them by way of inspiration]: "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for Me, [commissioning them] to do the work for which I have called them." 3 Then, as these prophets and teachers fasted and prayed [for the two men], they placed their hands on them [signifying their appointment for this ministry] and sent them away.
4 So, as they were sent out by [the direction of] the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia [a seaport], and from there they sailed on to [the island of] Cyprus. 5 After arriving at Salamis [a town on the island], they proclaimed the message of God in the Jewish synagogues [there], with John [Mark] attending [to various details of their ministry]. 6 When they had traveled across the whole island they came to Paphos [a town on the island of Cyprus]; [there] they met a certain magician named Bar-Jesus, who was a Jewish false prophet. 7 He was with a very intelligent magistrate, [a Roman official named] Sergius Paulus. This man called for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the message of God. 8 But [another] magician, named Elymas (which means "the magician") opposed them, trying to discourage the magistrate from hearing about the faith.
9 But Saul, [now] also called Paul, being filled with [the power of] the Holy Spirit, looked at him intently 10 and said, "You child of the devil; you enemy of all that is right; you are full of deceit and every kind of evil [thing]. When will you stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11 Now look, the power of the Lord is coming on you to cause [such] blindness that you will not [even] be able to see the sun for awhile." And immediately a misty darkness fell on him and he kept trying to find people to lead him [around] by the hand.
12 When the magistrate saw this miracle performed, he became a believer [in Christ] and was [continually] amazed at the teaching about the Lord.