Chapter 20

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

1 After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for athe disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left bto go to cMacedonia.

2 When he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece.

3 And there he spent three months, and when aa plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for bSyria, he decided to return through cMacedonia.

4 And 1he was accompanied by Sopater of aBerea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by bAristarchus and Secundus of the cThessalonians, and bGaius of dDerbe, and eTimothy, and fTychicus and gTrophimus of 2hAsia.

5 But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for aus at bTroas.

6 aWe sailed from bPhilippi after cthe days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at dTroas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.

7 On athe first day of the week, when bwe were gathered together to cbreak bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his 1message until midnight.

8 There were many alamps in the bupper room where we were gathered together.

9 And there was a young man named 1Eutychus sitting 2on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.

10 But Paul went down and afell upon him, and after embracing him, he bsaid, “1Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.”

11 When he had gone back up and had abroken the bread and 1eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.

12 They took away the boy alive, and were 1greatly comforted.

Troas to Miletus

13 But awe, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go 1by land.

14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.

15 Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to aMiletus.

16 For Paul had decided to sail past aEphesus so that he would not have to spend time in 1bAsia; for he was hurrying cto be in Jerusalem, if possible, don the day of Pentecost.

Farewell to Ephesus

17 From Miletus he sent to aEphesus and called to him bthe elders of the church.

18 And when they had come to him, he said to them,

“You yourselves know, afrom the first day that I set foot in 1Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me 1through athe plots of the Jews;

20 how I adid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and 1from house to house,

21 solemnly atestifying to both Jews and Greeks of brepentance toward God and cfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

22 “And now, behold, bound by the 1Spirit, aI am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

23 except that athe Holy Spirit solemnly btestifies to me in every city, saying that cbonds and afflictions await me.

24 “But aI do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may bfinish my course and cthe ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to dtestify solemnly of the gospel of ethe grace of God.

25 “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about apreaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.

26 “Therefore, I 1testify to you this day that aI am 2innocent of the blood of all men.

27 “For I adid not shrink from declaring to you the whole bpurpose of God.

28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all athe flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you 1overseers, to shepherd bthe church of God which cHe 2purchased 3with His own blood.

29 “I know that after my departure asavage wolves will come in among you, not sparing bthe flock;

30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away athe disciples after them.

31 “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of athree years I did not cease to admonish each one bwith tears.

32 “And now I acommend you to God and to bthe word of His grace, which is able to cbuild you up and to give you dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

33 “aI have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes.

34 “You yourselves know that athese hands ministered to my own needs and to the bmen who were with me.

35 “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

36 When he had said these things, he aknelt down and prayed with them all.

37 And 1they began to weep aloud and 2aembraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,

38 1grieving especially over athe word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were baccompanying him to the ship.

Chapter 21

Paul Sails from Miletus

1 When awe had parted from them and had set sail, we ran ba straight course to Cos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara;

2 and having found a ship crossing over to aPhoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

3 When we came in sight of aCyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to bSyria and landed at cTyre; for there the ship was to unload its cargo.

4 After looking up athe disciples, we stayed there seven days; and they kept telling Paul 1bthrough the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.

5 When 1our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, aescorted us until we were out of the city. After bkneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another.

6 Then we went on board the ship, and they returned ahome again.

7 When we had finished the voyage from aTyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting bthe brethren, we stayed with them for a day.

8 On the next day we left and came to aCaesarea, and entering the house of bPhilip the cevangelist, who was bone of the seven, we stayed with him.

9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who were aprophetesses.

10 As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named aAgabus came down from Judea.

11 And coming to us, he atook Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This bis what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will cbind the man who owns this belt and ddeliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”

12 When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him anot to go up to Jerusalem.

13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For aI am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for bthe name of the Lord Jesus.”

14 And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, “aThe will of the Lord be done!”

Paul at Jerusalem

15 After these days we got ready and astarted on our way up to Jerusalem.

16 Some of athe disciples from bCaesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of cCyprus, a ddisciple of long standing with whom we were to lodge.

17 After we arrived in Jerusalem, athe brethren received us gladly.

18 And the following day Paul went in with us to 1aJames, and all bthe elders were present.

19 After he had greeted them, he abegan to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his bministry.

20 And when they heard it they began aglorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many 1thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all bzealous for the Law;

21 and they have been told about you, that you are ateaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them bnot to circumcise their children nor to 1walk according to cthe customs.

22 “What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

23 “Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who 1aare under a vow;

24 take them and apurify yourself along with them, and 1pay their expenses so that they may bshave their 2heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.

25 “But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, ahaving decided that they should abstain from 1meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.”

26 Then Paul 1took the men, and the next day, apurifying himself along with them, bwent into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

Paul Seized in the Temple

27 When athe seven days were almost over, bthe Jews from 1cAsia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him,

28 crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! aThis is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has bdefiled this holy place.”

29 For they had previously seen aTrophimus the bEphesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

30 Then all the city was provoked, and 1the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they adragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

31 While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the 1commander of the aRoman 2cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.

32 At once he atook along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the 1commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

33 Then the 1commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be abound with btwo chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done.

34 But among the crowd asome were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the 1facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into bthe barracks.

35 When he got to athe stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the 1mob;

36 for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, “aAway with him!”

37 As Paul was about to be brought into athe barracks, he said to the 1commander, “May I say something to you?” And he * said, “Do you know Greek?

38 “Then you are not athe Egyptian who some 1time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out binto the wilderness?”

39 But Paul said, “aI am a Jew of Tarsus in bCilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”

40 When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on athe stairs, bmotioned to the people with his hand; and when there 1was a great hush, he spoke to them in the 2cHebrew dialect, saying,

Chapter 22

Paul’s Defense before the Jews

1 “aBrethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the 1aHebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he * said,

3 “aI am ba Jew, born in cTarsus of dCilicia, but brought up in this city, educated 1under eGamaliel, 2fstrictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as gyou all are today.

4 “aI persecuted this bWay to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,

5 as also athe high priest and all bthe Council of the elders 1can testify. From them I also creceived letters to dthe brethren, and started off for cDamascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem 2as prisoners to be punished.

6 “aBut it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,

7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’

8 “And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am aJesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

9 “And those who were with me asaw the light, to be sure, but bdid not 1understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.

10 “And I said, ‘aWhat shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’

11 “But since I acould not see because of the 1brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.

12 “A certain aAnanias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and bwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

13 came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘aBrother Saul, receive your sight!’ And 1bat that very time I looked up at him.

14 “And he said, ‘aThe God of our fathers has bappointed you to know His will and to csee the dRighteous One and to hear an 1utterance from His mouth.

15 ‘For you will be aa witness for Him to all men of bwhat you have seen and heard.

16 ‘Now why do you delay? aGet up and be baptized, and bwash away your sins, ccalling on His name.’

17 “It happened when I areturned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I bfell into a trance,

18 and I saw Him saying to me, ‘aMake haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’

19 “And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another aI used to imprison and bbeat those who believed in You.

20 ‘And awhen the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’

21 “And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ato the Gentiles.’ ”

22 They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “aAway with such a fellow from the earth, for bhe should not be allowed to live!”

23 And as they were crying out and athrowing off their cloaks and btossing dust into the air,

24 the 1commander ordered him to be brought into athe barracks, stating that he should be bexamined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way.

25 But when they stretched him out 1with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it 2lawful for you to scourge aa man who is a Roman and uncondemned?”

26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the 1commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.”

27 The 1commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.”

28 The 1commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.”

29 Therefore those who were about to aexamine him immediately 1let go of him; and the 2commander also bwas afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had 3cput him in chains.

30 But on the next day, awishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he breleased him and ordered the chief priests and all cthe 1Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.