Acts 14
1 Now it came to pass in Iconia they went together into the synagogue of the Jews, and spoke thus so that [a] great multitude of Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the disobedient Jews rose up and did evil to the psyche-lives1 of the nations against the brothers. 3 Indeed therefore they stayed some time, openly speaking upon the Lord, witnessing upon the word of his grace, giving signs and wonders to come to pass through their hands. 4 So the multitude of the city was divided, and [some] were with the Jews, but [some] with the apostles. 5 Now as an assault, from the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, came to pass to outrage and stone them, 6 having understood, they fled to the cities of Lucaonia and Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding region. 7 There also were they good-newsing. 8 And in Lystra a certain unable man sat on his feet, lame from his mother's belly, who had never walked. 9 This [one] heard Paul speaking, who looked intently on him, and having known that he has belief to be saved, 10 he said with [a] great voice: Arise upon your feet straight. And he leaped and was walking. 11 The crowds, having seen what Paul did, raised their voices to Lycaonis saying: Gods like men have come down to us. 12 And they were calling Barnabbas "Dia,"2 and Paul "Hermes," since he was the leader of the word3. 13 So the priest of Dios whose [temple] was before the city, having brought bulls and wreaths to the gates, he wanted to sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But having heard, the apostles Barnabbas and Paul—having torn their garments—rushed out into the crowd, crying out 15 and saying: Men, why do you do these [things]? We also are of like nature to you men, good-newsing you to turn from these futile [things] to the zoe-living4 God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 16 who in past generations permitted all the nations to go their own ways; 17 and yet doing good, he did not leave them without witness, giving to you rain from heaven and bearing fruit at the opportune-time5 , filling your hearts with food and gladness. 18 And saying these [things], the crowds barely ceased to be sacrificing to them. 19 Now Jews of Iconia also came from Antioch, and having persuaded the crowds, and having stoned Paul, they were dragging him out of the city, thinking him to have died. 20 But the disciples having surrounded him, he having arisen went into the city. And on the morrow he went out with Barnabbas to Derbe. 21 And good-newsing that city and having made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconia and Antioch, 22 strengthening the psyche-lives1 of the disciples, calling upon them to abide in the faith, and that: Through many distresses you must enter into the kingdom of God. 23 So having appointed to them elders [church] by assembly6 , having prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they have believed. 24 And having gone through the Pisidian, they came to Pamphylia, 25 and having spoken to Perga the word, they went down to Attalia, 26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, whence they had been delivered up by the grace of God to the work which they fulfilled. 27 So having arrived and having gathered the assembly6, they reported as many [things] as the Lord did with them, and that he opened to the nations7 [the] door of faith. 28 So they stayed not [a] little time with the disciples.1from PSYCHE (ψυχη): an individual manifestation of life/consciousness. Animals have PSYCHEs as well as humans. Contrast ZOE (ζωη)—Life 'collectively', interdependent, interconnected.
2"Zeus"
3that is, Paul did the talking
4from ZOE "ZOH-ay" (ζωη)—Life 'collectively', interdependent, interconnected. Although it means 'life' in the conventional sense (for example: Matt.9:18, Matt.27:63, Luke.2:36, Acts.25:24, Rom.7:2, 2Cor.1:8, 1Thes.4:17, 1Tim.5:10, Rev.19:20), Jesus uses ZOE exclusively of 'life eternal' (with the possible exceptions of Luke.15:13, Luke.16:25). The other N.T. writers use ZOE in both senses—temporal and eternal, generally clear from the context. The Father is the 'zoe-living God' (see Matt.16:16). The Septuagint (LXX) in Gen.2:7 has "...[God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of zoe-life, and the man became a zoe-living psyche-life" (and see 1Cor.15:45); and Gen.3:20 (LXX) "And Adam called his wife's name ZOE, because she was the mother of all zoe-living." Contrast PSYCHE (ψυχη): an individual manifestation of life/consciousness. See John.12:25 where both ZOE and PSYCHE occur. Greek also has the word BIOS (βιoς ) for 'life' in the sense of biological processes.
5KAIROS (καιρoς ) `opportune time', `proper time', `season'
6EKKLESIA (εκκλησια) from "called out". Appears 114 times in the N.T., but only in two places in the Gospels ( Matt.16:18 (twice) and Matt.18:17 (twice)). It's worth noting that when Jesus uses the term EKKLESIA, Christian community as we know it didn't yet exist—there were only the disciples. EKKLESIA is apparently different from 'synagogue' (SYNAGOGE (συναγωγη) which occurs 56 times in the N.T.) EKKLESIA is used in secular Greek literature of a popular assembly 'called to assemble', and also of those 'called' to a cult. EKKLESIA is used frequently in the N.T. outside of the Gospels to refer to Christian communities, but in Acts.7:38 it is used of the people of Israel led through the desert by Moses, and in Acts.19:32 ff. of a secular assembly. Thus, all told, the common translation of EKKLESIA as 'church' doesn't really reflect 1st century usage—it seems to mean more like 'a group of people assembled for some specific purpose'.
7i.e. the Gentiles