ActsChapter 14

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¹At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue as usual. They spoke so well that a great many Jews and Greeks believed. ²But the Jews who did not believe stirred up the Gentiles. They turned their minds against the brothers. ³So Paul and Barnabas stayed there a long time. They spoke boldly for the Lord. He showed that the message of his grace was true. He let them do signs and wonders. ⁴The people of the city were split. Some took the side of the Jews. Others took the side of the apostles. ⁵Then the Gentiles and Jews and their rulers made a plan. They wanted to hurt Paul and Barnabas and stone them. ⁶But Paul and Barnabas found out about it. They ran to Lystra and Derbe, cities in Lycaonia, and to the land around them. ⁷There they kept on preaching the good news. ⁸In Lystra there sat a man whose feet were crippled. He had been lame from birth and had never walked. ⁹This man was listening to Paul speak. Paul looked closely at him. He saw that the man had faith to be healed. ¹⁰Paul called out in a loud voice, "Stand up on your feet!" And the man jumped up and began to walk. ¹¹The crowds saw what Paul had done. They shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us! They look like men!" ¹²They called Barnabas Zeus. They called Paul Hermes, because he did most of the talking. ¹³The temple of Zeus was just outside the city. Its priest brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer a sacrifice. ¹⁴But the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about this. They tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd. They shouted, ¹⁵"Men, why are you doing this? We are only men, human just like you. We are bringing you good news. You should turn away from these useless things to the living God. He made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. ¹⁶In the past, he let all nations go their own way. ¹⁷But he has always shown that he is good. He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He fills your hearts with food and joy." ¹⁸Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from offering sacrifices to them. ¹⁹Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. They won the crowds over to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city. They thought he was dead. ²⁰But the disciples gathered around him. Then he got up and went back into the city. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. ²¹They preached the good news in that city and made many disciples. Then they went back to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. ²²They made the disciples' souls stronger. They urged them to stay true to the faith. "We must go through many hard times to enter the kingdom of God," they said. ²³Paul and Barnabas chose elders for them in each church. With prayer and fasting, they placed them in the care of the Lord. The people had put their trust in him. ²⁴They went through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. ²⁵They spoke the word in Perga. Then they went down to Attalia. ²⁶From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch. That was where they had been placed in God's grace for the work they had now finished. ²⁷When they got there, they gathered the church together. They told all that God had done through them. They told how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.