But the Jewish leaders stirred up some important Gentile women who attended the synagogue. They also stirred up some men who were leaders in the city. They got all these people to oppose and attack Paul and Barnabas, and they threw the two men out of that area. But
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when God called you. Not many of you were considered wise by human standards. Not many of you were influential. Not many of you came from important families.
At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went into the Jewish synagogue, as they usually did. They spoke there with great power, and large numbers of Jews and Greeks became believers.
Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly. “We had to speak God’s word to you first,” they said. “But you haven’t accepted it, as if you think you don’t deserve eternal life. So we’re going to talk to the Gentiles from now on.
a man named Joseph from the town of Arimathea, who was a leading member of the Jewish Council and who was looking forward to the kingdom of God, went bravely to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.