Acts
Chapter 14
Overview
Paul and Barnabas continue traveling through cities of the Roman world, announcing that people can trust in Jesus. Their message attracts both Jews and non-Jews, but it also divides communities and provokes violent resistance. In Lystra, a healing leads to an awkward misunderstanding: the crowd decides the visitors must be gods. The same city soon turns against Paul with frightening speed. Yet the travelers retrace their steps, encouraging new believers and appointing local leaders before returning to the community that sent them. The chapter shows how quickly applause can become hostility—and how quietly courage keeps walking.
1In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went together into the Jewish synagogue. They spoke so effectively that a large number of both Jews and Greeks came to believe.
2But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the non-Jews and turned them against the believers.
3So Paul and Barnabas stayed there for a long time, speaking boldly because they trusted the Lord Jesus. The Lord confirmed their message about his generous kindness by enabling them to perform miraculous signs and astonishing deeds.
4The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jewish opponents, while others sided with the two messengers.
5Then some non-Jews and Jews, together with their leaders, made plans to abuse Paul and Barnabas and stone them to death.
6When Paul and Barnabas learned about the plan, they escaped to Lystra and Derbe, cities in the region of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding countryside.
7There they continued announcing the good news.
8In Lystra, a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet. He had been unable to walk from birth and had never taken a step.
9The man listened as Paul spoke. Paul looked directly at him and saw that he trusted God to make him well.
10Paul called out loudly, “Stand upright on your feet!” The man sprang up and began walking.
11When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their Lycaonian language, “The gods have taken human form and come down to us!”
12They called Barnabas “Zeus,” the chief god in their religion, and Paul “Hermes,” the gods’ messenger, because Paul did most of the speaking.
13The priest of Zeus, whose temple stood just outside the city, brought bulls and ceremonial wreaths to the city gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas.
14When the two messengers, Barnabas and Paul, heard about this, they tore their clothes in distress. They rushed into the crowd, shouting,
15“People, why are you doing this? We are human beings with the same nature as you! We are bringing you good news so that you will turn away from these powerless gods and turn to the living God. He made heaven, earth, the sea, and everything in them.
16“In past generations, God allowed all nations to follow their own ways.
17“Even so, he did not leave you without evidence of who he is. He did good by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons, providing you with plenty of food and filling your hearts with joy.”
18Even after saying this, Paul and Barnabas could barely stop the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.
19Then some Jewish opponents arrived from Antioch and Iconium. They persuaded the crowds to turn against Paul, stoned him, and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.
20But when the followers of Jesus gathered around Paul, he got up and went back into the city. The next day, he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
21After announcing the good news in Derbe and helping many people become followers of Jesus, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch.
22They strengthened the followers there and urged them to remain faithful. They explained, “We must go through many hardships to enter God’s kingdom.”
23Paul and Barnabas appointed elders to lead each local community of believers. With prayer and fasting, they entrusted the believers to the Lord Jesus, in whom they had placed their trust.
24Then Paul and Barnabas traveled through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.
25After speaking God’s message in Perga, they went down to the port city of Attalia.
26From there they sailed back to Antioch. That was where they had been entrusted to God’s gracious care for the work they had now completed.
27When they arrived, they gathered the community of believers and reported everything God had done through them. They also told how God had opened the door for non-Jews to trust in him.
28Paul and Barnabas stayed there with the followers of Jesus for a considerable time.