Acts 14:12-20

¹²And those people reckoned Barnabas was their god called Zeus and they reckoned Paul was their god called Hermes, because Paul did all the talking.

¹³There was a house for Zeus just outside the town, and there was a man there that looked after the ceremonies for Zeus. That man, with all the people, got some bulls and some flowers, and took them to the gates of the town. They wanted to show respect to Paul and Barnabas, just like they always showed respect to their gods. They were going to kill those bulls for them, and they were going to give them the flowers too.

¹⁴But somebody told Paul and Barnabas what they wanted to do, and then Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes to show them they were upset, and they ran into the crowd of people. They shouted,

¹⁵“Hey, you fellows, what are you doing? Why are you doing this? We are just men, like you. We are telling you good news, and we are saying that you have to stop showing respect to things that are not the true God. You have to turn around and follow the God that is alive. He made the sky and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

¹⁶And he let the people in every country go their own way, up till now,

¹⁷but he still shows them that he is the only real God. He always did good things for them, and he does good things for you too. He gives you rain and makes your food grow so that you can be happy.”

¹⁸Paul and Barnabas kept talking to the people like that. The people still wanted to kill the bulls for them, but at last they listened to Paul and Barnabas and they didn’t kill those bulls.

¹⁹After that, some Jews came to that place from the towns called Antioch and Iconium, and they talked to the Lystra people and made them angry with Paul. Then those people threw big stones at Paul until they thought he was dead, then they dragged him outside the town and left him there.

²⁰But some Christians came and stood around Paul, and he got up and went back into the town. The next day Paul and Barnabas left that place and went to the town called Derbe.