Acts 21–26

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

21We said goodbye to them and left. After sailing straight across, we came to Cos; the next day we reached Rhodes, and from there we went on to Patara. ²There we found a ship that was going to Phoenicia, so we went aboard and sailed away. ³We came to where we could see Cyprus, and then sailed south of it on to Syria. We went ashore at Tyre, where the ship was going to unload its cargo. ⁴There we found some believers and stayed with them a week. By the power of the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem. ⁵But when our time with them was over, we left and went on our way. All of them, together with their wives and children, went with us out of the city to the beach, where we all knelt and prayed. ⁶Then we said goodbye to one another, and we went on board the ship while they went back home.

⁷We continued our voyage, sailing from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we greeted the believers and stayed with them for a day. ^8*On the following day we left and arrived in Caesarea. There we stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen as helpers in Jerusalem. ⁹He had four unmarried daughters who proclaimed God’s message. ^10*We had been there for several days when a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. ¹¹He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied up his own feet and hands with it, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: The owner of this belt will be tied up in this way by the Jews in Jerusalem, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.”

¹²When we heard this, we and the others there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. ¹³But he answered, “What are you doing, crying like this and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be tied up in Jerusalem but even to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴We could not convince him, so we gave up and said, “May the Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After spending some time there, we got our things ready and left for Jerusalem. ¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and took us to the house of the man we were going to stay with—^h Mnason, from Cyprus, who had been a believer since the early days.

Paul Visits James

¹⁷When we arrived in Jerusalem, the believers welcomed us warmly. ¹⁸The next day Paul went with us to see James; and all the church elders were present. ¹⁹Paul greeted them and gave a complete report of everything that God had done among the Gentiles through his work. ²⁰After hearing him, they all praised God. Then they said, “Brother Paul, you can see how many thousands of Jews have become believers, and how devoted they all are to the Law. ²¹They have been told that you have been teaching all the Jews who live in Gentile countries to abandon the Law of Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or follow the Jewish customs. ²²They are sure to hear that you have arrived. What should be done, then? ^23*This is what we want you to do. There are four men here who have taken a vow. ^24*Go along with them and join them in the ceremony of purification and pay their expenses; then they will be able to shave their heads.ⁱ In this way everyone will know that there is no truth in any of the things that they have been told about you, but that you yourself live in accordance with the Law of Moses. ^25*But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent them a letter telling them we decided that they must not eat any food that has been offered to idols, or any blood, or any animal that has been strangled, and that they must keep themselves from sexual immorality.”

²⁶So Paul took the men and the next day performed the ceremony of purification with them. Then he went into the Temple and gave notice of how many days it would be until the end of the period of purification, when a sacrifice would be offered for each one of them.

Paul is Arrested in the Temple

²⁷But just when the seven days were about to come to an end, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized Paul. ²⁸“Men of Israel!” they shouted. “Help! This is the man who goes everywhere teaching everyone against the people of Israel, the Law of Moses, and this Temple. And now he has even brought some Gentiles into the Temple and defiled this holy place!” ^29*(They said this because they had seen Trophimus from Ephesus with Paul in the city, and they thought that Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

³⁰Confusion spread through the whole city, and the people all ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple. At once the Temple doors were closed. ³¹The mob was trying to kill Paul, when a report was sent up to the commander of the Roman troops that all Jerusalem was rioting. ³²At once the commander took some officers and soldiers and rushed down to the crowd. When the people saw him with the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³The commander went over to Paul, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked, “Who is this man, and what has he done?” ³⁴Some in the crowd shouted one thing, others something else. There was such confusion that the commander could not find out exactly what had happened, so he ordered his men to take Paul up into the fort. ³⁵They got as far as the steps with him, and then the soldiers had to carry him because the mob was so wild. ³⁶They were all coming after him and screaming, “Kill him!”

Paul Defends Himself

³⁷As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the fort, he spoke to the commander: “May I say something to you?”

“You speak Greek, do you?” the commander asked. ³⁸“Then you are not that Egyptian fellow who some time ago started a revolution and led four thousand armed terrorists out into the desert?”

³⁹Paul answered, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰The commander gave him permission, so Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand for the people to be silent. When they were quiet, Paul spoke to them in Hebrew:

22“My fellow-Jews, listen to me as I make my defence before you!” ²When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even quieter; and Paul went on:

^3*“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in Jerusalem as a student of Gamaliel. I received strict instruction in the Law of our ancestors and was just as dedicated to God as are all of you who are here today. ^4*I persecuted to the death the people who followed this Way. I arrested men and women and threw them into prison. ^5*The High Priest and the whole Council can prove that I am telling the truth. I received from them letters written to fellow-Jews in Damascus, so I went there to arrest these people and bring them back in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

⁶“As I was travelling and coming near Damascus, about midday a bright light from the sky flashed suddenly round me. ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ ⁸‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute,’ he said to me. ⁹The men with me saw the light, but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ and the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that God has determined for you to do.’ ¹¹I was blind because of the bright light, and so my companions took me by the hand and led me into Damascus.

¹²“In that city was a man named Ananias, a religious man who obeyed our Law and was highly respected by all the Jews living there. ¹³He came to me, stood by me, and said, ‘Brother Saul, see again!’ At that very moment I saw again and looked at him. ¹⁴He said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see his righteous Servant, and to hear him speaking with his own voice. ¹⁵For you will be a witness for him to tell everyone what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now, why wait any longer? Get up and be baptized and have your sins washed away by praying to him.’

Paul’s Call to Preach to the Gentiles

¹⁷

“I went back to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the Temple, I had a vision, ¹⁸in which I saw the Lord, as he said to me, ‘Hurry and leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your witness about me.’ ¹⁹‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that I went to the synagogues and arrested and beat those who believe in you. ^20*And when your witness Stephen was put to death, I myself was there, approving of his murder and taking care of the cloaks of his murderers.’ ²¹‘Go,’ the Lord said to me, ‘for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ” ²²The people listened to Paul until he said this; but then they started shouting at the top of their voices, “Away with him! Kill him! He’s not fit to live!” ²³They were screaming, waving their clothes, and throwing dust up in the air. ²⁴The Roman commander ordered his men to take Paul into the fort, and he told them to whip him in order to find out why the Jews were screaming like this against him. ²⁵But when they had tied him up to be whipped, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it lawful for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried for any crime?”

²⁶When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked him, “What are you doing? That man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷So the commander went to Paul and asked him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes,” answered Paul.

²⁸The commander said, “I became one by paying a large amount of money.” “But I am one by birth,” Paul answered.

²⁹At once the men who were going to question Paul drew back from him; and the commander was frightened when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had put him in chains.

Paul Before the Council

³⁰The commander wanted to find out for certain what the Jews were accusing Paul of; so the next day he had Paul’s chains taken off and ordered the chief priests and the whole Council to meet. Then he took Paul and…