Acts 14

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Paul and Barnabas in Iconium

14 <1> Paul and Barnabas went to the city of Iconium and entered the Jewish synagogue.[252] (This is what they did in every city.) They spoke to the people there. They spoke so well that many Jews and Greeks believed what they said. <2> But some of the Jews did not believe. They said things that caused the non-Jewish people to be angry and turn against the Lord's followers.

<3> So Paul and Barnabas stayed in Iconium a long time, and they spoke bravely for the Lord. They told the people about God's grace.[253] The Lord proved that what they said was true by causing miraculous signs[254] and wonders[255] to be done through them. <4> But some of the people in the city agreed with the Jews who did not believe Paul and Barnabas. Others followed the apostles. So the city was divided.

<5> Some of the Jews there, as well as their leaders and some of the non-Jewish people, were determined to hurt Paul and Barnabas. They wanted to stone them to death. <6> When Paul and Barnabas learned about this, they left the city. They went to Lystra and Derbe, cities in Lycaonia, and to the surrounding areas. <7> They told the Good News[256] there too.

Paul in Lystra and Derbe

<8> In Lystra there was a man who had something wrong with his feet. He had been born crippled and had never walked. <9> He was sitting and listening to Paul speak. Paul looked straight at him and saw that the man believed God could heal him. <10> So Paul shouted, "Stand up on your feet!" The man jumped up and began walking around.

<11> When the people saw what Paul did, they shouted in their own Lycaonian language. They said, "The gods have come down to us in the form of humans!" <12> The people began to call Barnabas "Zeus,[257]" and they called Paul "Hermes,[258]" because he was the main speaker. <13> The temple of Zeus was near the city. The priest of this temple brought some bulls and flowers to the city gates. The priest and the people wanted to offer a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas.

<14> But when the apostles,[259] Barnabas and Paul, understood what the people were doing, they tore their own clothes.[260] Then they ran in among the people and shouted to them: <15> "Men, why are you doing this? We are not gods. We are human just like you. We came to tell you the Good News.[261] We are telling you to turn away from these worthless things. Turn to the true living God, the one who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them.

<16> "In the past God let all the nations do what they wanted. <17> But God was always there doing the good things that prove he is real. He gives you rain from heaven and good harvests at the right times. He gives you plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."

<18> Even after saying all this, Paul and Barnabas still could hardly stop the people from offering sacrifices to them.

<19> Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded the people to turn against Paul. So they threw stones at him and dragged him out of the town. They thought they had killed him. <20> But when the followers of Jesus gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he and Barnabas left and went to the city of Derbe.

The Return to Antioch in Syria

<21> They also told the Good News[262] in the city of Derbe, and many people became followers of Jesus. Then Paul and Barnabas returned to the cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. <22> In those cities they strengthened the commitment of the followers and encouraged them to continue in the faith. They told them, "We must suffer many things on our way into God's kingdom.[263]" <23> They also chose elders[264] for each church[265] and stopped eating for a period of time to pray for them. These elders were men who had put their trust in the Lord Jesus, so Paul and Barnabas put them in his care.

<24> Paul and Barnabas went through the country of Pisidia. Then they came to the country of Pamphylia. <25> They told people the message[266] of God in the city of Perga, and then they went down to the city of Attalia. <26> And from there they sailed away to Antioch in Syria. This is the city where the believers had put them into God's care and sent them to do this work. Now they had finished it.

<27> When they arrived, they gathered the church together and told them about all that God had done with them. They said, "God opened a door so that the non-Jewish people could also believe!" <28> And they stayed there a long time with the Lord's followers.