Acts 21–26

CHAPTER 21

Paul Sets Out for Jerusalem

¹Now when ^awe had parted from them and had set sail, we came by ^ba straight course to Cos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara;

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

³And 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.

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

⁵And 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.

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

⁷And when we had finished the voyage from ^aTyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting ^bthe brothers, we stayed with them for a day.

⁸And on the next day we left and came to ^aCaesarea, and entering the house of ^bPhilip the ^cevangelist, who was ^done of the seven, we stayed with him.

⁹Now this man had four virgin daughters who ^aprophesied.

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

¹¹And 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.’”

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

¹³Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, crying 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.”

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

¹⁵Now after these days we got ready and ^astarted on our way up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶And some of ^athe disciples from ^bCaesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of ^cCyprus, an ^dearly disciple with whom we were to lodge.

In Jerusalem

¹⁷And after we arrived in Jerusalem, ^athe brothers welcomed us gladly.

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

¹⁹And after he had greeted them, he ^abegan to relate one by one the things which God did among the Gentiles through his ^bministry.

²⁰And 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;

²¹and 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;

²⁴take them and ^apurify yourself along with them, and ¹pay their expenses so that they may ^bshave their ²heads. Then 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 keep from ¹meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶Then 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 Is Arrested

²⁷Now when ^athe seven days were almost over, ^bthe Jews from ^1cAsia, upon noticing him in the temple, began to throw all the crowd into confusion and laid hands on him,

²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! ^aThis is the man who teaches to everyone 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.”

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

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

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

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

³³Then the commander 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.

³⁴But 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.

³⁵And when he got to ^athe stairs, he actually was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd;

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

Paul’s Defense Before the Jews

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

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

³⁹But 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.”

⁴⁰And 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 ^cHebrew language, saying,

CHAPTER 22

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

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in the ^aHebrew language, they became even quieter; and he ^*said,

³“^aI am ^ba Jew, born in ^cTarsus of ^dCilicia, but having been brought up in this city, having been instructed at the feet of ^eGamaliel according to the ^fstrictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as ^gyou all are today,

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

⁵as also ^athe high priest and all ^bthe Council of the elders ¹can testify. From them I also ^creceived letters to ^dthe brothers, and started off for ^eDamascus 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,

⁷and 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 ^abeheld the light, to be sure, but ^bdid not ¹understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.

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

¹¹“But since I ^acould not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹²“Now 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,

¹³came to me, and standing near, said to me, ‘^aBrother Saul, regain your sight!’ And ^1bat that very hour I regained my sight and saw 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 a ¹voice 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? ^aRise up and be baptized, and ^bwash away your sins, ^ccalling on His name.’

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

¹⁸and I saw Him saying to me, ‘^aHurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness 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 guarding the garments of those who were slaying him.’

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

Paul, a Citizen of Rome

²²And they were listening 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!”

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

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

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

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

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

²⁸And the commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I have been born a citizen.”

²⁹Therefore those who were about to ^aexamine him immediately withdrew from him; and the commander also ^bwas afraid when he learned that he was a Roman, and because he had ^cbound him.

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

³⁰But on the next day, ^awishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he ^breleased him…