Acts 21
21
Paul Continues His Journey to Jerusalem
1After we had torn ourselves away from the Ephesian elders, we headed out to sea. We sailed straight to Kos. 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 looked for the believers there and stayed with them for seven days. The believers tried to keep Paul from going on to Jerusalem. They were led by the Holy Spirit to do this. 5When it was time to leave, we continued on our way. All the believers, including their whole families, went with us out of the city. There on the beach we got down on our knees to pray. 6We said goodbye 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 Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the owner of this belt. They will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ”
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 started on our way 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 Gentiles 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 Jews to turn away from the Law of Moses. You teach this to the Jews who live among the Gentiles. They think that you teach those Jews not to circumcise their children. They think that you teach them to give up our Jewish ways. 22What 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 everyone will know that these reports about you are not true in any way. They will know that you yourself obey the law. 25We 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 and grabbed Paul. 28“Fellow Israelites, 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. 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.
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. 32Right away 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, “Get rid of 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.
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Acts 21: NIrV
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Acts 21
21
Arrival at Tyre. 1#The third “we-section” of Acts (see note on Acts 16:10–17). When we had taken leave of them we set sail, made a straight run for Cos, and on the next day for Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2Finding a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went on board and put out to sea. 3We caught sight of Cyprus but passed by it on our left and sailed on toward Syria and put in at Tyre where the ship was to unload cargo. 4There we sought out the disciples and stayed for a week. They kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to embark for Jerusalem. 5At the end of our stay we left and resumed our journey. All of them, women and children included, escorted us out of the city, and after kneeling on the beach to pray, 6we bade farewell to one another. Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.
Arrival at Ptolemais and Caesarea. 7We continued the voyage and came from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed a day with them. 8On the next day we resumed the trip and came to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven,#One of the Seven: see note on Acts 6:2–4. and stayed with him.#6:5; 8:5–6. 9He had four virgin daughters gifted with prophecy. 10We had been there several days when a prophet named Agabus#Agabus: mentioned in Acts 11:28 as the prophet who predicted the famine that occurred when Claudius was emperor. came down from Judea. 11#11:28; 20:23. He came up to us, took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the holy Spirit: This is the way the Jews will bind the owner of this belt in Jerusalem, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.”#The symbolic act of Agabus recalls those of Old Testament prophets. Compare Is 20:2; Ez 4:1; Jer 13:1. 12When we heard this, we and the local residents begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? I am prepared not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14#19:15–16. Since he would not be dissuaded we let the matter rest, saying,#Mt 6:10; 26:39; Mk 14:36; Lk 22:42. “The Lord’s will be done.”#The Christian disciples’ attitude reflects that of Jesus (see Lk 22:42).
Paul and James in Jerusalem. 15After these days we made preparations for our journey, then went up to Jerusalem. 16Some of the disciples from Caesarea came along to lead us to the house of Mnason, a Cypriot, a disciple of long standing, with whom we were to stay. 17#The leaders of the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem inform Paul that the Jews there believe he has encouraged the Jews of the diaspora to abandon the Mosaic law. According to Acts, Paul had no objection to the retention of the law by the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem and left the Jews of the diaspora who accepted Christianity free to follow the same practice. When we reached Jerusalem the brothers welcomed us warmly. 18The next day, Paul accompanied us on a visit to James, and all the presbyters were present. 19He greeted them, then proceeded to tell them in detail what God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20They praised God when they heard it but said to him, “Brother, you see how many thousands of believers there are from among the Jews, and they are all zealous observers of the law. 21They have been informed that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to abandon Moses and that you are telling them not to circumcise their children or to observe their customary practices. 22What is to be done? They will surely hear that you have arrived. 23#The leaders of the community suggest that Paul, on behalf of four members of the Jerusalem community, make the customary payment for the sacrifices offered at the termination of the Nazirite vow (see Nm 6:1–24) in order to impress favorably the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem with his high regard for the Mosaic law. Since Paul himself had once made this vow (Acts 18:18), his respect for the law would be on public record. So do what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow.#18:18; Nm 6:1–21. 24Take these men and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses#Pay their expenses: according to Nm 6:14–15 the Nazirite had to present a yearling lamb for a holocaust, a yearling ewe lamb for a sin offering, and a ram for a peace offering, along with food and drink offerings, upon completion of the period of the vow. that they may have their heads shaved. In this way everyone will know that there is nothing to the reports they have been given about you but that you yourself live in observance of the law. 25#15:19–20, 28–29. As for the Gentiles who have come to believe, we sent them our decision that they abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage.”#Paul is informed about the apostolic decree, seemingly for the first time (see note on Acts 15:13–35). The allusion to the decree was probably introduced here by Luke to remind his readers that the Gentile Christians themselves were asked to respect certain Jewish practices deriving from the law. 26So Paul took the men, and on the next day after purifying himself together with them entered the temple to give notice of the day when the purification would be completed and the offering made for each of them.#1 Cor 9:20.
Paul’s Arrest. 27When the seven days were nearly completed, the Jews from the province of Asia noticed him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and laid hands on him, 28#Rom 15:31. shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us. This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place, and what is more, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this sacred place.”#The charges against Paul by the diaspora Jews are identical to the charges brought against Stephen by diaspora Jews in Acts 6:13. Brought Greeks into the temple: non-Jews were forbidden, under penalty of death, to go beyond the Court of the Gentiles. Inscriptions in Greek and Latin on a stone balustrade marked off the prohibited area. 29For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30The whole city was in turmoil with people rushing together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the gates were closed. 31While they were trying to kill him, a report reached the cohort commander#Cohort commander: literally, “the leader of a thousand in a cohort.” At this period the Roman cohort commander usually led six hundred soldiers, a tenth of a legion; but the number in a cohort varied. that all Jerusalem was rioting. 32He immediately took soldiers and centurions and charged down on them. When they saw the commander and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul. 33The cohort commander came forward, arrested him, and ordered him to be secured with two chains; he tried to find out who he might be and what he had done. 34Some in the mob shouted one thing, others something else; so, since he was unable to ascertain the truth because of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be brought into the compound. 35When he reached the steps, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob, 36#“Away with him!”: at the trial of Jesus before Pilate in Lk 23:18, the people similarly shout, “Away with this man.” #22:22; Lk 23:18; Jn 19:15. for a crowd of people followed and shouted, “Away with him!”
37Just as Paul was about to be taken into the compound, he said to the cohort commander, “May I say something to you?” He replied, “Do you speak Greek? 38So then you are not the Egyptian#The Egyptian: according to the Jewish historian Josephus, an Egyptian gathered a large crowd on the Mount of Olives to witness the destruction of the walls of Jerusalem that would fall at the Egyptian “prophet’s” word. The commotion was put down by the Roman authorities and the Egyptian escaped, but only after thousands had been killed. Four thousand assassins: literally, sicarii. According to Josephus, these were political nationalists who removed their opponents by assassination with a short dagger, called in Latin a sica. who started a revolt some time ago and led the four thousand assassins into the desert?”#5:36–37. 39Paul answered, “I am a Jew, of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; I request you to permit me to speak to the people.” 40When he had given his permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people; and when all was quiet he addressed them in Hebrew.#In Hebrew: meaning, perhaps, in Aramaic, which at this time was the Semitic tongue in common use.
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