And in Iconium they entered together  ¹into the  ²synagogue of the Jews and spoke in such a way that a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks believed.

But the Jews who were disobedient stirred up and ill-affected the  ¹minds of the Gentiles against the brothers.

Therefore they spent a considerable amount of time speaking with boldness in the Lord, who testified to the word of His  ¹grace by granting  ²signs and wonders to be done through their hands.

But the multitude of the city was divided, and some were with the Jews and some with the apostles.

And when a hostile attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to treat the apostles outrageously and to stone them,

They became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region.

And there they announced the gospel.

And in Lystra a certain man was sitting, without strength in his feet, lame from his mother's womb, who had never walked.

This man heard Paul speaking, who, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be  ¹healed,

Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on your feet. And he leaped up and began to walk.

And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in Lycaonian, The gods have become like men and have come down to us.

And they called Barnabas,  ¹Zeus, and Paul,  ²Hermes, since he was the one who took the lead in the discourse.

And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was before the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer a sacrifice with the crowds.

But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard this, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out

And saying,  ¹Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of like feeling as you, and announce the gospel to you that you should turn from these  ²vain things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and all things in them;

Who in the generations gone by allowed all the nations to go their ways.

And yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.

And saying these things, they restrained the crowds only with difficulty from offering sacrifices to them.

But Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, supposing that he was dead.

But as the disciples surrounded him, he rose up and entered into the city. And on the next day he went out with Barnabas to Derbe.

And when they had announced the gospel to that city and had made a considerable number of disciples,

they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,

Establishing the  ¹souls of the disciples, exhorting them to  ²continue in the  ³faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter into the  ⁴kingdom of God.

And when they had appointed  ¹elders for them  ²in every church and had prayed with fastings, they committed them to the Lord into whom they had believed.

And they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

And when they had spoken the  ¹word in Perga,

they came down to Attalia.

And from there they sailed away to Antioch, where they had been commended to the  ¹grace of God for the work which they fulfilled.

And when they  ¹arrived and  ²gathered the church together, they declared the things that God had done with them and that He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

And they spent no little time there with the disciples.

And when the seventh month came, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem.

Then  ¹Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up, along with his brothers the priests and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers, and they built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

And they set up the altar upon its bases, for fear was upon them because of the peoples of the lands; and they offered burnt offerings on it to Jehovah, burnt offerings of the morning and evening.

And they held the  ¹Feast of Tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the ordinance as the duty of every day required;

And afterward they offered the continual burnt offering and the offerings of the new moons and of all the appointed feasts of Jehovah that were sanctified and of everyone who offered willingly a freewill offering to Jehovah.

From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer up burnt offerings to Jehovah;

however the foundation of the temple of Jehovah had not yet been laid.

They also gave money to the stone hewers and to the carpenters, and food and drink and oil to the Sidonians and to the Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea at Joppa according to the authorization granted them by Cyrus the king of Persia.

Now in the second year after they came to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak and the rest of their brothers, the priests and the Levites, and all those who came out of captivity to Jerusalem began by appointing the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have oversight over the work of the house of Jehovah.

Then Jeshua stood with his sons and his brothers, as one man, with Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, and with the sons of Henadad and their sons and their brothers the Levites, to have oversight over the workmen in the house of God.

And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of Jehovah, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise Jehovah according to the directions of David the king of Israel.

And they sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to Jehovah, saying, For He is good, for His lovingkindness is forever upon Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised Jehovah, because the foundation of the house of Jehovah was laid.

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, the old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes; and many shouted aloud for joy,

So that the people could not discern the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people; for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away.

Now when the  ¹adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to Jehovah the God of Israel,

They drew near to Zerubbabel and to the heads of fathers' houses and said to them, Let us build with you; for we seek your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon the king of Assyria, who brought us up here.

But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers' houses of Israel said to them, You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves together will build to Jehovah the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.

Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building.

And they hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus the king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius the king of Persia.

And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of his companions wrote to Artaxerxes the king of Persia; and the script of the letter was written in Aramaic and translated into Aramaic.

 ¹Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Artaxerxes the king as follows

(Then Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions, the judges, and the officials, the Tarpelites, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is the Elamites,

And the rest of the nations, whom the great and noble Osnappar carried into exile and settled in the city of Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the River, wrote. And now

This is the copy of the letter that they sent to him): To Artaxerxes the king, from your servants the men beyond the River. And now

Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you have come to us to Jerusalem; they are rebuilding the rebellious and evil city and are finishing the walls and have repaired the foundations.

Now let it be known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, they will not pay tribute, taxes, or tolls; and in the end it will cause damage to the kings.

Now because  ¹we eat the salt of the palace, and it is not fitting for us to see the king's dishonor, we therefore have sent this letter to inform the king,

So that a search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers, and you may find in the book of the records and know that this city is a rebellious city and one that causes damage to kings and provinces and that they have stirred up sedition within it in times past; for which reason this city was laid waste.

We inform the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are finished, then you will have no portion beyond the River.

Then the king sent an answer to Rehum the chancellor and Shimshai the scribe and the rest of their companions who dwelt in Samaria and in the rest of the province beyond the River: Greetings. And now

The letter which you sent to us has been read before me in translation.

And a decree has been issued by me, and a search has been made; and it was found that this city in times past has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it,

And that there have been mighty kings over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all the lands beyond the River; and tribute, taxes and tolls were paid to them.

Now make a decree to stop these men, so that this city is not rebuilt until a decree is made by me.

And take care not to be negligent in this. Why should damage grow to the detriment of the kings?

Then when the copy of King Artaxerxes's letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their companions, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews and stopped them by force and power.

So the work of the house of God, which is in Jerusalem, ceased; and it was stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius the king of Persia.