Acts 14

Chapter 14

Acceptance and Opposition

¹In ^aIconium ^bthey entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a manner ^cthat a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of ^dGreeks.

²But ^athe Jews who ^1bdisbelieved stirred up the ²minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against ^cthe brethren.

³Therefore they spent a long time there ^aspeaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that ^1bsigns and wonders be done by their hands.

^4aBut the ¹people of the city were divided; and some ²sided with ^bthe Jews, and some with ^cthe apostles.

⁵And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and ^athe Jews with their rulers, to mistreat and to ^bstone them,

⁶they became aware of it and fled to the cities of ^aLycaonia, ^bLystra and ^cDerbe, and the surrounding region;

⁷and there they continued to ^apreach the gospel.

⁸At ^aLystra ^ba man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.

⁹This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, ^awhen he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had ^bfaith to be ¹made well,

¹⁰said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” ^aAnd he leaped up and began to walk.

¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the ^aLycaonian language, “^bThe gods have become like men and have come down to us.”

¹²And they began calling Barnabas, ¹Zeus, and Paul, ²Hermes, because he was ³the chief speaker.

¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was ¹just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and ^awanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

¹⁴But when ^athe apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ^btore their ¹robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out

¹⁵and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also ^amen of the same nature as you, and ^bpreach the gospel to you that you should turn from these ^1cvain things to a ^dliving God, ^ewho made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

¹⁶“¹In the generations gone by He ^apermitted all the ²nations to ^bgo their own ways;

¹⁷and yet ^aHe did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and ^bgave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, ¹satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

¹⁸Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

¹⁹But ^aJews came from ^bAntioch and ^cIconium, and having won over the crowds, they ^dstoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.

²⁰But while ^athe disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to ^bDerbe.

²¹After they had ^apreached the gospel to that city and had ^bmade many disciples, they returned to ^cLystra and to ^dIconium and to ^eAntioch,

²²strengthening the souls of ^athe disciples, encouraging them to continue in ^bthe faith, and saying, “^cThrough many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”

²³When ^athey had appointed ^belders for them in every church, having ^cprayed with fasting, they ^dcommended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

²⁴They passed through ^aPisidia and came into ^bPamphylia.

²⁵When they had spoken the word in ^aPerga, they went down to Attalia.

²⁶From there they sailed to ^aAntioch, from ^bwhich they had been ^ccommended to the grace of God for the work that they had ¹accomplished.

²⁷When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to ^areport all things that God had done with them and ¹how He had opened a ^bdoor of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁸And they spent ¹a long time with ^athe disciples.