Acts 20:5–28:16

⁵These men went on ahead. They waited for us at Troas. ⁶But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Five days later we joined the others at Troas. We stayed there for seven days.

Eutychus Is Raised From the Dead

⁷On the first day of the week we met to break bread and eat together. Paul spoke to the people. He kept on talking until midnight because he planned to leave the next day. ⁸There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were meeting. ⁹A young man named Eutychus was sitting in a window. He sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. Sound asleep, Eutychus fell from the third floor. When they picked him up from the ground, he was dead.

¹⁰Paul went down and threw himself on the young man. He put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “He’s alive!” ¹¹Then Paul went upstairs again. He broke bread and ate with them. He kept on talking until daylight. Then he left. ¹²The people took the young man home. They were greatly comforted because he was alive.

Paul Says Good-by to the Ephesian Elders

¹³We went on ahead to the ship. We sailed for Assos. There we were going to take Paul on board. He had planned it this way because he wanted to go there by land. ¹⁴So he met us at Assos. We took him on board and went on to Mitylene.

¹⁵The next day we sailed from there. We arrived near Kios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos. We arrived at Miletus the next day. ¹⁶Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus. He didn’t want to spend time in Asia Minor. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem. If he could, he wanted to be there by the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷From Miletus, Paul sent for the elders of the church at Ephesus. ¹⁸When they arrived, he spoke to them. “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you,” he said. “From the first day I came into Asia Minor, ¹⁹I was free of pride. I served the Lord with tears. I served him even though I was greatly tested by the evil plans of the Jews. ²⁰You know I haven’t let anyone keep me from preaching anything that would be helpful to you. I have taught you in public and from house to house. ²¹I have told both Jews and Greeks that they must turn away from their sins to God. They must have faith in our Lord Jesus.

²²“Now I am going to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit compels me. I don’t know what will happen to me there. ²³I only know that in every city the Spirit warns me. He tells me that I will face prison and suffering. ²⁴But my life means nothing to me. I only want to finish the race. I want to complete the work the Lord Jesus has given me. He wants me to give witness to others about the good news of God’s grace.

²⁵“I have spent time with you preaching about the kingdom. I know that none of you will ever see me again. ²⁶So I tell you today that I am not guilty if anyone has not believed. ²⁷I haven’t let anyone keep me from telling you everything God wants you to do.

²⁸“Keep watch over yourselves. Keep watch over all the believers. The Holy Spirit has made you leaders over them. Be shepherds of God’s church. He bought it with his own blood.

²⁹“I know that after I leave, wild wolves will come in among you. They won’t spare any of the sheep. ³⁰Even men from your own people will rise up and twist the truth. They want to get the believers to follow them. ³¹So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning you. Night and day I warned each of you with tears.

³²“Now I commit you to God’s care. I commit you to the word of his grace. It can build you up. Then you will share in what God plans to give all his people. ³³I haven’t longed for anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴You yourselves know that I have used my own hands to meet my needs. I have also met the needs of my companions. ³⁵In everything I did, I showed you that we must work hard and help the weak. We must remember the words of the Lord Jesus. He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶When Paul had said this, he got down on his knees with all of them and prayed. ³⁷They all cried as they hugged and kissed him. ³⁸What hurt them the most was that he had said they would never see his face again. Then they went with him to the ship.

Paul Continues His Journey

21After we had torn ourselves away from the Ephesian elders, we headed out to sea. We sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes. From there we continued on to Patara. ²We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia. So we went on board and headed out to sea. ³We came near Cyprus and passed to the south of it. Then we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre. There our ship was supposed to unload. ⁴We found the believers there and stayed with them for seven days. Led by the Holy Spirit, they tried to get Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. ⁵But when it was time to leave, we continued on our way. All the believers and their families went with us out of the city. There on the beach we got down on our knees to pray. ⁶We said good-by to each other. Then we went on board the ship. And they returned home.

⁷Continuing on from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais. There we greeted the brothers and sisters. We stayed with them for a day. ⁸The next day we left and arrived at Caesarea. We stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist. He was one of the seven deacons. ⁹He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰We stayed there several days. Then a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹He came over to us. Then he took Paul’s belt and tied his own hands and feet with it. He said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘This is how the Jews of Jerusalem will tie up the owner of this belt. They will hand him over to people who are not Jews.’ ”

¹²When we heard this, we all begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³He asked, “Why are you crying? Why are you breaking my heart? I’m ready to be put in prison. In fact, I’m ready to die in Jerusalem for the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴We couldn’t change his mind. So we gave up. We said, “May what the Lord wants to happen be done.”

¹⁵After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶Some of the believers from Caesarea went with us. They brought us to Mnason’s home. We were supposed to stay there. Mnason was from Cyprus. He was one of the first believers.

Paul Arrives in Jerusalem

¹⁷When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters gave us a warm welcome. ¹⁸The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James. All the elders were there. ¹⁹Paul greeted them. Then he reported everything God had done among the non-Jews through his work.

²⁰When they heard this, they praised God. Then they spoke to Paul. “Brother,” they said, “you see that thousands of Jews have become believers. All of them try very hard to obey the law. ²¹They have been told that you teach all the Jews who live among the non-Jews to turn away from Moses. They think that you teach them not to circumcise their children. They think that you teach them to give up our Jewish ways.

²²“What should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³So do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a promise to God. ²⁴Take them with you. Join them in the Jewish practice that makes people pure and clean. Pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know that these reports about you are not true in any way. They will know that you yourself obey the law.

²⁵“We have already given written directions to the believers who are not Jews. They must not eat food that has been offered to statues of gods. They must not drink blood. They must not eat the meat of animals that have been choked to death. And they must not commit sexual sins.”

²⁶The next day Paul took the men with him. They all made themselves pure and clean in the usual way. Then Paul went to the temple. There he reported the date when the days of cleansing would end. At that time the proper offering would be made for each of them.

Paul Is Arrested

²⁷The seven days of cleansing were almost over. Some Jews from Asia Minor saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd. They arrested Paul. ²⁸“Men of Israel, help us!” they shouted. “This is the man who teaches everyone in all places against our people. He speaks against our law and against this holy place. Besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area. He has made this holy place unclean.” ²⁹They said this because they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul. They thought Paul had brought him into the temple area.

³⁰The whole city was stirred up. People came running from all directions. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the temple. Right away the temple gates were shut. ³¹The people were trying to kill Paul. But news reached the commander of the Roman troops. He heard that people were making trouble in the whole city of Jerusalem. ³²At once he took some officers and soldiers with him. They ran down to the crowd. The people causing the trouble saw the commander and his soldiers. So they stopped beating Paul.

³³The commander came up and arrested Paul. He ordered him to be held with two chains. Then he asked who Paul was and what he had done. ³⁴Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another. But the commander couldn’t get the facts because of all the noise. So he ordered that Paul be taken into the fort. ³⁵Paul reached the steps. But then the mob became so wild that he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Kill him!”

Paul Speaks to the Crowd

³⁷The soldiers were about to take Paul into the fort. Then he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”

“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. ³⁸“Aren’t you the Egyptian who turned some of our people against their leaders? Didn’t you lead 4,000 terrorists out into the desert some time ago?”

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

⁴⁰The commander told him he could. So Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When all of them were quiet, he spoke to them in the Aramaic language.…