Thematic Bible: One of two cities of lycaonia, to which paul and barnabas fled from persecutions in iconium


Thematic Bible



my persecutions, my sufferings, such as befell me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, such as I endured but the Lord delivered me out of them all.

they became aware of it and fled to the Lycaonian towns of Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding country, and there they continued to tell the good news. Now in the streets of Lystra a man used to sit who had no strength in his feet, who had been crippled from his birth, and had never walked. read more.
He continued listening to Paul as he spoke, and as Paul by looking straight at him observed that he had faith that he would be cured, he shouted aloud to him, "Get on your feet and stand erect!" Then up he leaped and began to walk. So the crowds, because they saw what Paul had done, shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods in human form have come down to us!" They called Barnabas Zeus and Paul, because he was the principal speaker, Hermes. The priest of the temple of Zeus, which stood at the entrance to the town, came with crowds of people to the gates, bringing bulls and garlands; he meant to offer sacrifices to them. But the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, when they heard it, tore their clothes and rushed into the crowd, and shouted, "Men, why are you doing this? We are merely men with natures like your own, who are telling you the good news, so that you may turn from these foolish things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and all that they contain. In ages past He let all the heathen go on in their own ways; though He did not fail to furnish evidences about Himself, in constantly showing His kindness to you, in sending you rain from heaven and fruit-producing seasons, in giving you food and happiness to your heart's content." Even by saying this it was all that they could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them. But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and won the crowds by persuasion, and they stoned Paul, and dragged him outside the town, supposing he was dead. But the disciples formed a circle about him, and he got up and went back to town. The next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. They told the good news in that town, and after winning many disciples there, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the hearts of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith, and warning them that it is through enduring many hardships that we must get into the kingdom of God. They helped them select elders in each church, and after praying and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.