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ACTS 15
page 995
and declared, “It was necessary that we first
preach the word of God to you Jews. But since
you have rejected it and judged yourselves
unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the
Gentiles. 47 For the Lord gave us this command
when he said,
‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles,
to bring salvation to the farthest corners
of the earth.’*”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were
very glad and thanked the Lord for his message;
and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers. 49 So the Lord’s message spread
throughout that region.
50 Then the Jews stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and
they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas
and ran them out of town. 51 So they shook the
dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and
went to the town of Iconium. 52 And the believers* were filled with joy and with the Holy
Spirit.
Paul and Barnabas in Iconium
The same thing happened in Iconium.*
Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish
synagogue and preached with such power that
a great number of both Jews and Greeks became
believers. 2 Some of the Jews, however, spurned
God’s message and poisoned the minds of the
Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas. 3 But the
apostles stayed there a long time, preaching
boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the
Lord proved their message was true by giving
them power to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4 But the people of the town were divided
in their opinion about them. Some sided with
the Jews, and some with the apostles.
5 Then a mob of Gentiles and Jews, along with
their leaders, decided to attack and stone them.
6 When the apostles learned of it, they fled to the
region of Lycaonia—to the towns of Lystra and
Derbe and the surrounding area. 7 And there
they preached the Good News.
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Paul and Barnabas in Lystra and Derbe
8 While they were at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet. He
had been that way from birth, so he had never
walked. He was sitting 9 and listening as Paul
preached. Looking straight at him, Paul realized
he had faith to be healed. 10 So Paul called to
him in a loud voice, “Stand up!” And the man
jumped to his feet and started walking.
11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done,
they shouted in their local dialect, “These men
are gods in human form!” 12 They decided that
13:47 Isa 49:6. 13:52 Greek the disciples. 14:1 Iconium,
as well as Lystra and Derbe (14:6), were towns in what is now
Turkey. 14:15 Greek Men. 14:20 Greek disciples; also in
14:22, 28. 15:1 Greek brothers; also in 15:3, 23, 32, 33, 36, 40.
Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul
was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker.
13 Now the temple of Zeus was located just outside the town. So the priest of the temple and
the crowd brought bulls and wreaths of flowers
to the town gates, and they prepared to offer
sacrifices to the apostles.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul
heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people,
shouting, 15 “Friends,* why are you doing this?
We are merely human beings—just like you! We
have come to bring you the Good News that you
should turn from these worthless things and
turn to the living God, who made heaven and
earth, the sea, and everything in them. 16 In the
past he permitted all the nations to go their own
ways, 17 but he never left them without evidence
of himself and his goodness. For instance, he
sends you rain and good crops and gives you
food and joyful hearts.” 18 But even with these
words, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.
19 Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and
Iconium and won the crowds to their side.
They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town,
thinking he was dead. 20 But as the believers*
gathered around him, he got up and went back
into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch
of Syria
21 After preaching the Good News in Derbe and
making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas
returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, 22 where they strengthened the believers.
They encouraged them to continue in the faith,
reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. 23 Paul and
Barnabas also appointed elders in every church.
With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders
over to the care of the Lord, in whom they
had put their trust. 24 Then they traveled back
through Pisidia to Pamphylia. 25 They preached
the word in Perga, then went down to Attalia.
26 Finally, they returned by ship to Antioch of
Syria, where their journey had begun. The believers there had entrusted them to the grace of
God to do the work they had now completed.
27 Upon arriving in Antioch, they called the
church together and reported everything God
had done through them and how he had opened
the door of faith to the Gentiles, too. 28 And they
stayed there with the believers for a long time.
The Council at Jerusalem
While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the believers*: “Unless
you are circumcised as required by the law of
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