58 The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is regarded as indicating means.
59 καταπαύω 2.b gives both “restrain” and “dissuade someone fr. someth.,” but “they scarcely dissuaded the crowds from offering sacrifice,” while accurate, is less common in contemporary English than saying “they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice.” Paganism is portrayed as a powerful reality that is hard to reverse.

In other versions

Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

Even though they said these things, they barely stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.

But even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.

And although they said these things, only with difficulty did they dissuade the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.

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