New Testament Plan

¹After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.

²When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.

³There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus.

⁵These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas,

⁶but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered.

⁹And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”

¹¹And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.

¹²And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.

¹³But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.

¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene.

¹⁵And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.

¹⁸And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews;

²⁰how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,

²¹testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²²And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

²⁴But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

²⁵And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again.

²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all,

²⁷for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

²⁸Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

²⁹I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

³⁰and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

³¹Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.

³²And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

³³I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel.

³⁴You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.

³⁵In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

³⁷And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him,

³⁸being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

¹And when we had parted from them and set sail, we came by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

²And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

³When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo.

⁴And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

⁵When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed

⁶and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day.

⁸On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.

⁹He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied.

¹⁰While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”

¹²When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”

¹⁵After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.

¹⁷When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly.

¹⁸On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

¹⁹After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law,

²¹and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.

²²What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

²³Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow;

²⁴take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.

²⁵But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.

²⁷When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him,

²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”

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

³⁰Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

³¹And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.

³²He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done.

³⁴Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.

³⁵And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd,

³⁶for the mob of the people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”

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

³⁸Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹Paul replied, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying:

¹“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet. And he said:

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women,

⁵as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me.

⁷And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

¹⁰And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’

¹¹And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

¹²“And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

¹³came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him.

¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth;

¹⁵for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

¹⁷“When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance

¹⁸and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.

²⁰And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’

²¹And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

²²Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”

²³And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,

²⁴the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, saying that he should be examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this.

²⁵But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

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

²⁸The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.”

²⁹So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

³⁰But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.