Acts 21:23–40

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,