Acts
Similarly, in Iconium Paul and Barnabas spoke in the Jewish synagogue in such a
way that large numbers of both Jews and Greeks believed.
But the Jews
who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and embittered their minds
against the brothers.
So Paul and Barnabas stayed there a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who testified to the Gospel-word of His grace by granting
miraculous signs and wonders to be done through them.
But the people of the city were
split, with some siding with the Jews and some with the Apostles.
When
some of the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, made an attempt to mistreat and stone them,
Paul and Barnabas became aware of it and fled to the cities of
Lystra and Derbe in Lycaonia and the surrounding region,
where they
continued to proclaim the Gospel.
At Lystra there was a man who had no use of his feet. He had been
lame from birth and had never walked.
He sat there listening to Paul speak,
and Paul fixed his eyes on him and saw that he had faith to be healed.
Paul said loudly, “Stand up on your feet!” The man leaped up and began to
walk.
When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the
language of Lycaonia, “The gods have taken on human form and come down
to us!”
They began calling Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker.
The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just
outside the city, brought oxen and flower wreaths to the city gates; he and the
crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
But when the Apostles Barnabas
and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,
“Men, why are you doing these things? We are human beings like you.
We preach the Gospel to you, so that you turn from these futile things to the
living God who made the sky, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them.
In generations gone by He allowed all the nations to follow their own ways,
yet He never left Himself without witness, by doing what is good, giving you
rain from the sky and harvest seasons, satisfying you with food and your
hearts with gladness.”
Even by saying this they barely managed to persuade
the crowds not to offer a sacrifice to them.
But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won over the
crowds, who then stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking
that he was dead.
But as the disciples stood around him, he got up and
entered the city. The next day he went with Barnabas to Derbe.
After they
had preached the Gospel
to that city and made many disciples, they
returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch.
They strengthened the disciples
and encouraged them to continue in the faith. They said, “It is through many
trials that we must enter the Kingdom of God.”
When they had appointed
elders for them in every church, they prayed and fasted and entrusted
them to the lord in whom they had believed.
They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.
When they had
spoken the Gospel-Word
in Perga, they went to Attalia.
Then they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the
work which they had now completed.
When they arrived and gathered the
church together, they reported all the things that God had done with them,
and that He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
They stayed there
with the disciples for a long time.
Acts