Acts 14:12-28

12They called Barnabas ‘Zeus’. They called Paul ‘Hermes’, because he was the one who spoke the message to the people.

13The temple of Zeus was very near to the town. The priest who worked there brought bulls and flowers to the town gate. Many people had come together in that place. The priest and the crowd wanted to kill the animals as sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas.

14Paul and Barnabas heard what the people wanted to do. So they tore their own clothes to show that they were very upset. They ran into the middle of the crowd,

15and they shouted, ‘Stop! You people should not do this. We are only men like you. We are not gods. We came here to tell you some good news about the great God. You must stop worshipping these gods who are really nothing. Instead worship the God who lives. He made the sky, the earth and the sea. He also made everything that is in them.

16In past times, God let people everywhere do what they wanted to do.

17But God has showed everybody very clearly what he is like. He has showed you that he is kind. He causes the rain to fall from the sky. He causes the plants to give you food at the right time each year. He gives you plenty of food to eat. In these ways he makes you very happy.’

18Even when Paul had said all this, the people still wanted to offer sacrifices to him and Barnabas. Finally Paul and Barnabas were able to stop them.

19Then some Jews arrived there in Lystra. They had travelled from Antioch and from Iconium. They talked to the people, so that they turned against Paul. Then these Jews threw stones at Paul to kill him. They pulled his body to outside the town. They thought that he was dead.

20But some believers came out from the town and they stood around Paul. Then Paul stood up! He went back with them into the town. The next day, Paul and Barnabas left Lystra and they went to Derbe.

21While they were there, they told people the good news about Jesus. Many people in Derbe became believers. After that, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra. From there they went back to Iconium. Then they returned to Antioch in the region of Pisidia.

22In all these towns, they taught the believers to be strong. They said to them, ‘Continue to trust in the Lord Jesus! All believers will have trouble at different times. That will continue to happen in our lives. But one day we will go into the kingdom of God where he rules.’

23Paul and Barnabas chose leaders for each group of believers in these places. They fasted and they prayed to God for some time about this. They asked the Lord Jesus to help these leaders who trusted in him.

24Then Paul and Barnabas travelled through Pisidia. They arrived in Pamphylia.

25They spoke God's message to the people in Perga. Then they went down to the coast, to the town of Attalia.

26From there they went in a ship back to Antioch. That was the place where the believers had chosen them to do God's work. They had asked God to help Paul and Barnabas in this work. Now Paul and Barnabas had finished this work and they had returned home.

27When they arrived, they sent a message to the group of believers in Antioch. When all the believers had come together, Paul and Barnabas told them about their journey. They told the believers about everything that God had helped them to do. They said, ‘God has made it possible now for Gentiles to believe in Jesus.’

28Paul and Barnabas stayed there with the believers in Antioch for a long time.