Book of Common Prayer
Iconium
14 What happened in Iconium was much the same. They went into the Jewish synagogue and spoke, with the result that a large crowd, of both Jews and Greeks, came to faith. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the brothers. 3 They stayed there a long time, speaking boldly on behalf of the Lord, who bore them witness to the word of his grace by giving signs and wonders which were done at their hands.
4 But the inhabitants of the city were divided. Some were with the Jews, and some with the apostles. 5 But then the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, made an attempt to ill-treat them and stone them. 6 They got wind of it, however, and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding countryside. 7 There they went on announcing the good news.
Confusion in Lystra
8 There was a man sitting in Lystra who was unable to use his feet. He had been lame from his mother’s womb, and had never walked. 9 He heard Paul speaking. When Paul looked hard at him, and saw that he had faith to be made well, 10 he said with a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!”
Up he jumped, and walked about.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted loudly in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
12 They called Barnabas “Zeus,” and Paul, because he was the main speaker, “Hermes.” 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the city gates. There was a crowd with him, and he was all ready to offer sacrifice.
14 But when the apostles, Paul and Barnabas, heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd.
15 “Men, men,” they shouted, “what on earth are you doing? We are just ordinary humans, with the same nature as you, and we are bringing you the wonderful message that you should turn away from these foolish things to the living God, the one who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In earlier generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways, 17 but even then he didn’t leave himself without witness. He has done you good, giving you rain from heaven and times of fruitfulness, filling your bodies with food and your hearts with gladness.”
18 Even by saying this, they only just restrained the crowds from offering them sacrifice.
A lamp on its stand
21 Jesus said to them, “When you bring a lamp into a room, do you put it under a bucket, or under a bed? Of course not! It goes on a lampstand. 22 No: nothing is secret except what’s meant to be revealed, and nothing is covered up except what’s meant to be uncovered. 23 If you have ears, then listen!
24 “Be careful with what you hear,” he went on. “The scales you use will be used for you, and more so. 25 If you have something, you’ll be given more; but if you have nothing, even what you have will be taken away.”
More seed parables
26 “This is what God’s kingdom is like,” said Jesus. “Once upon a time a man sowed seed on the ground. 27 Every night he went to bed; every day he got up; and the seed sprouted and grew without him knowing how it did it. 28 The ground produces crops by itself: first the stalk, then the ear, then the complete corn in the ear. 29 But when the crop is ready, in goes the sickle at once, because harvest has arrived.
30 “What shall we say God’s kingdom is like?” he said. “What picture shall we give of it? 31 It’s like a grain of mustard seed. When it’s sown on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 32 But when it’s sown, it springs up and becomes the biggest of all shrubs. It grows large branches, so that ‘the birds of the air make their nests’ within its shade.”
33 He used to tell them a lot of parables like this, speaking the word as much as they were able to hear. 34 He never spoke except in parables. But he explained everything to his own disciples in private.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.