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Acts 20-21
Acts 20
1After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia.
2And when he had passed through those areas and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece
3and stayed three months. The Jews plotted against him when he was about to set sail for Syria, and so he decided to go back through Macedonia.
4He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.
5These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas,
6but we sailed away from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread. In five days we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.
7On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread. Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he kept on talking until midnight.
8There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled,
9and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking. When he was overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead.
10But Paul went down, bent over him, embraced him, and said, “Don’t be alarmed, because he’s alive.”
11After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating, Paul talked a long time until dawn. Then he left.
12They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.
13We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul on board, because these were his instructions, since he himself was going by land.
14When he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went on to Mitylene.
15Sailing from there, the next day we arrived off Chios. The following day we crossed over to Samos, and the day after, we came to Miletus.
16For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.
17Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church.
18When they came to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,
19serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.
20You know that I did not avoid proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching you publicly and from house to house.
21I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
22“And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there,
23except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.
24But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.
25“And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again.
26Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you,
27because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God.
28Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood.
29I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
30Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.
31Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.
32“And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.
33I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
34You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.
35In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.
37There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him,
38grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.
Acts 21
1After we tore ourselves away from them, we set sail straight for Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
2Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded and set sail.
3After we sighted Cyprus, passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria and arrived at Tyre, since the ship was to unload its cargo there.
4We sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.
5When our time had come to an end, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,
6we said farewell to one another and boarded the ship, and they returned home.
7When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we reached Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.
8The next day we left and came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
9This man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
10After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
11He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him over to the Gentiles.’”
12When we heard this, both we and the local people pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.
13Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
14Since he would not be persuaded, we said no more except, “The Lord’s will be done.”
15After this we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.
16Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.
17When we reached Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.
18The following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.
19After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20When they heard it, they glorified God and said, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.
21But they have been informed about you — that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs.
22So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you’ve come.
23Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have made a vow.
24Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.
25With regard to the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter containing our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”
26So the next day, Paul took the men, having purified himself along with them, and entered the temple, announcing the completion of the purification days when the offering would be made for each of them.
27When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him,
28shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”
29For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.
30The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.
31As they were trying to kill him, word went up to the commander of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in chaos.
32Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33Then the commander approached, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done.
34Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since he was not able to get reliable information because of the uproar, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.
35When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd,
36for the mass of people followed, yelling, “Get rid of him!”
37As he was about to be brought into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “Am I allowed to say something to you?” He replied, “You know how to speak Greek?
38Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness?”
39Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Now I ask you, let me speak to the people.”
40After he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in Aramaic: