I know how stubborn and rebellious you and the rest of the Israelites are. You have rebelled against the LORD while I have been alive, and it will only get worse after I am gone.
but they still rebelled against me. They refused to listen and kept on worshipping their idols and foreign gods. In my anger, I decided to punish the Israelites in Egypt.
When Barnabas got there and saw what God had been kind enough to do for them, he was very glad. So he begged them to remain faithful to the Lord with all their hearts.
but he did not destroy the local shrines. So the people still worshipped foreign gods, instead of faithfully serving the God their ancestors had worshipped.
But not everything about you is bad. You destroyed the sacred poles used in worshipping the goddess Asherah—that shows you have tried to obey the LORD.
He prayed, “LORD, if you really are pleased with me, I pray that you will go with us. It is true that these people are sinful and rebellious, but forgive our sin and let us be your people.”