Paul and Barnabas at Iconium

¹At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.

²But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

³So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who affirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.

⁴The people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and others with the apostles.

⁵But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,

⁶they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region,

⁷where they continued to preach the gospel.

The Visit to Lystra and Derbe

⁸In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.

⁹This man was listening to the words of Paul, who looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed.

¹⁰In a loud voice Paul called out, “Stand up on your feet!” And the man jumped up and began to walk.

¹¹When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices in the Lycaonian language: “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, hoping to offer a sacrifice along with the crowds.

¹⁴But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul found out about this, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, shouting,

¹⁵“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.

¹⁶In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.

¹⁷Yet He has not left Himself without testimony to His goodness: He gives you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

¹⁸Even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could hardly stop the crowds from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.

²⁰But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. And the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

Strengthening the Disciples

²¹They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,

²²strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith. “We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.

²³Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church, praying and fasting as they entrusted them to the Lord, in whom they had believed.

²⁴After passing through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.

²⁵And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.

²⁶From Attalia they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had just completed.

²⁷When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.

²⁸And they spent a long time there with the disciples.

A Lame Man Walks

¹One afternoon Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.

²And a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those entering the temple courts.

³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.

⁴Peter looked directly at him, as did John. “Look at us!” said Peter.

⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them.

⁶But Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!”

⁷Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him up, and at once the man’s feet and ankles were made strong.

⁸He sprang to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and leaping and praising God.

⁹When all the people saw him walking and praising God,

¹⁰they recognized him as the man who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter Speaks in Solomon’s Colonnade

¹¹While the man clung to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and ran to them in the walkway called Solomon’s Colonnade.

¹²And when Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you surprised by this? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

¹³The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servantJesus. You handed Him over and rejected Him before Pilate, even though he had decided to release Him.

¹⁴You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.

¹⁵You killed the Author of life, but God raised Him from the dead, and we are witnesses of this fact.

¹⁶By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know has been made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given him this complete healing in your presence.

¹⁷And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.

¹⁸But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.

¹⁹Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

²⁰that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you.

²¹Heaven must take Him in until the time comes for the restoration of all things, which God announced long ago through His holy prophets.

²²For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He tells you.

²³Everyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from among his people.’

²⁴Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days.

²⁵And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’

²⁶When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

The Pilgrimage of the Magi

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem,

²asking, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the eastand have come to worship Him.”

³When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.

⁴And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

⁵“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,for out of you will come a rulerwho will be the shepherd of My people Israel.’”

⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared.

⁸And sending them to Bethlehem, he said: “Go and search carefully for the Child, and when you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him.”

⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was.

¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight.

¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.

¹²And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route.

The Flight to Egypt

¹³When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”

¹⁴So he got up, took the Child and His mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt,

¹⁵where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Weeping and Great Mourning

¹⁶When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.

¹⁷Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸“A voice is heard in Ramah,weeping and great mourning,Rachel weeping for her childrenand refusing to be comforted,because they are no more.”

The Return to Nazareth

¹⁹After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.

²⁰“Get up!” he said. “Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the Child’s life are now dead.”

²¹So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and went to the land of Israel.

²²But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee,

²³and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

Tell of His Wonders

¹Give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;make known His deeds among the nations.

²Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;tell of all His wonders.

³Glory in His holy name;let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

⁴Seek out the LORD and His strength;seek His face always.

⁵Remember the wonders He has done,His marvels, and the judgments He has pronounced,

⁶O offspring of His servant Abraham,O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.

⁷He is the LORD our God;His judgments carry throughout the earth.

⁸He remembers His covenant forever,the word He ordained for a thousand generations—

⁹the covenant He made with Abraham,and the oath He swore to Isaac.

¹⁰He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

¹¹“I will give you the land of Canaanas the portion of your inheritance.”

¹²When they were few in number,few indeed, and strangers in the land,

¹³they wandered from nation to nation,from one kingdom to another.

¹⁴He let no man oppress them;He rebuked kings on their behalf:

¹⁵“Do not touch My anointed ones!Do no harm to My prophets!”

¹⁶He called down famine on the landand cut off all their suppliesof food.

¹⁷He sent a man before them—Joseph, sold as a slave.

¹⁸They bruised his feet with shacklesand placed his neck in irons,

¹⁹until his prediction came trueand the word of the LORD proved him right.

²⁰The king sent and released him;the ruler of peoples set him free.

²¹He made him master of his household,ruler over all his substance,

²²to instructhis princes as he pleasedand teach his elders wisdom.

²³Then Israel entered Egypt;Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.

²⁴And the LORD made His people very fruitful,more numerous than their foes,

²⁵whose hearts He turned to hate His people,to conspire against His servants.

²⁶He sent Moses His servant,and Aaron, whom He had chosen.

²⁷They performed His miraculous signs among them,and wonders in the land of Ham.

²⁸He sent darkness, and it became dark—yet they defied His words.

²⁹He turned their waters to bloodand caused their fish to die.

³⁰Their land teemed with frogs,even in their royal chambers.

³¹He spoke, and insects swarmed—gnats throughout their country.

³²He gave them hail for rain,with lightning throughout their land.

³³He struck their vines and fig treesand shattered the trees of their country.

³⁴He spoke, and the locusts came—young locusts without number.

³⁵They devoured every plant in their landand consumed the produce of their soil.

³⁶Then He struck all the firstborn in their land,the firstfruits of all their vigor.

³⁷He brought Israel out with silver and gold,and none among His tribes stumbled.

³⁸Egypt was glad when they departed,for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.

³⁹He spread a cloud as a coveringand a fire to light up the night.

⁴⁰They asked, and He brought quailand satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

⁴¹He opened a rock, and water gushed out;it flowed like a river in the desert.

⁴²For He remembered His holy promiseto Abraham His servant.

⁴³He brought forth His people with rejoicing,His chosen with shouts of joy.

⁴⁴He gave them the lands of the nations,that they might inherit the fruit of others’ labor,

⁴⁵that they might keep His statutesand obey His laws.Hallelujah!