Acts 14:13-19

¹³Just outside the gates of the city there was a temple where the people worshipped Zeus. The priest who was there heard what Paul and Barnabas had done, so he came to the city gate, where many people had already gathered. He brought two bulls with wreaths of flowers around their necks. The priest and the other people wanted to kill the bulls as part of a ceremony to worship Paul and Barnabas.

¹⁴But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard about that, and understood that the people thought that they were gods and wanted to sacrifice the bulls to worship them, they were very distressed, so they tore their own clothes. They rushed among the people, shouting,

¹⁵“Men, ◄you must not kill those bulls to worship us(dl)!/why are you doing this?► RHQ We are not gods! We are just human beings like you! We have come to tell you some good news! We have come to tell you about the God who is all-powerful. He wants you to stop worshipping other gods, because they cannot help you. This true God made the heaven/sky and the earth and the oceans and everything in it.

¹⁶In the past, all of you non-Jewish people worshipped whatever gods that you wanted to. God let you worship them, because you did not know him.

¹⁷But he has shown us LIT that he acts kindly toward us(inc). He is the one who causes it to rain and causes crops to grow. He is the one who gives you plenty of food, and makes you very happy.”

¹⁸The people heard what Paul said, but they still thought that they should sacrifice those bulls to worship Paul and Barnabas. But finally, the people decided not to do it.

¹⁹However, after that, some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded many of the people of Lystra that the message Paul had been telling them was not true. The people who believed what those Jews said became angry with Paul. They let the Jews throw stones at him until he fell down, unconscious. They all thought that he was dead, so they dragged him outside the city and left him lying there. But some of the believers in Lystra had followed them outside the city.