The Lystrians rushed upon the apostles with great rage and fury. They hurled stones violently; and Paul, bruised, battered, and fainting, felt that his end had come. The martyrdom of Stephen was brought vividly to his mind, and the cruel part he had acted on that occasion. He fell to the ground apparently dead, and the infuriated mob dragged his insensible body through the gates of the city, and threw it beneath the walls. The apostle mentions this occurrence in the subsequent enumeration of his sufferings for the truth’s sake: “Thrice was I beaten with rods; once was I stoned; thrice I suffered shipwreck; a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often; in perils of waters; in perils of robbers; in perils by mine own countrymen; in perils by the heathen; in perils in the city; in perils in the wilderness; in perils in the sea; in perils among false brethren.” {3SP 366.2}

Lystras folk fór på apostlene med stor hæftighed og raseri. De slyngede voldsomt med stene; og Paulus følte forslået mishandlet og forsulten at enden var kommet. Stefanus martyrium kom livagtigt frem for ham, og den grusomme del han gjorde ved den anledning. Han faldt tilsyneladende død til jorden, og den rasende hob slæbte hans ufølsomme krop igennem byens gader, og kastede den under murerne. Apostlene nævner denne begivenhed i en opremsning af hans lidelser for sandhedens skyld: "Tre gange er jeg blevet pisket, én gang stenet, tre gange har jeg lidt skibbrud, et døgn har jeg tilbragt på dybet; ofte på (367) rejser, i farer på floder, i farer blandt røvere, i farer fra landsmænd, i farer fra hedninger, i farer i by, i farer i ørken, i farer på havet, i farer blandt falske brødre."