Bible Strands
Acts 14:15
“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul and Barnabas interrupt a pagan sacrifice at Lystra, addressing the crowd that has mistaken them for the gods Hermes and Zeus.
The words — τι (ti), the blunt interrogative "why," halts the ritual mid-act; it is not a question seeking an answer but a command to stop.
The thread — The call to turn from "worthless things" to the living God echoes 1 Samuel 12:21; the "we are men like you" mirrors Peter's "I am only a man myself" in Acts 10:26.
Why it lands — It forces the reader to name what they are currently sacrificing to—object, person, or ritual—and measure it against the God who made heaven and earth.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 12:21 Do not turn aside after worthless things that cannot profit you or deliver you, for they are empty.
- Psalms 146:5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
- Acts 10:26 But Peter helped him up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
- 1 Corinthians 8:4 So about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world, and that there is no God but one.
- James 5:17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.
- Revelation 14:7 And he said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and the springs of waters.”
- Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- Jeremiah 14:22 Can the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies alone send showers? Is this not by You, O LORD our God? So we put our hope in You, for You have done all these things.
- Deuteronomy 32:21 They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.
- Jonah 2:8 Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.