Acts 21
21
Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem
1When we had withdrawn from them and set sail, we went on a straight course to Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went aboard, and set sail. 3#Mt 4:24; Ac 4:36Having come in sight of Cyprus, we passed to the south of it and sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre, for there the ship’s cargo was to be unloaded. 4When we found the disciples, we remained there seven days. They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. 5#Ac 20:36; 9:40But when our days were over, we parted and traveled on. Everyone, with wives and children, escorted us until we were outside the city. And we knelt on the shore and prayed. 6#Jn 19:27After bidding farewell to one another, we boarded the ship, and they returned home.
7We finished the voyage from Tyre when we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for one day. 8#Ac 6:5; Eph 4:11; 2Ti 4:5The next day we who were Paul’s companions departed, and arrived at Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9#Ac 2:17; Lk 2:36He had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
10#Ac 11:28While we stayed there many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11#Ac 21:33; Jer 13:1–11; 1Sa 15:27–28When he had arrived, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own hands and feet, saying, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this manner the Jews at Jerusalem shall bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”
12#Mt 16:21–23When we heard these things, both we and the residents implored him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13#Ac 20:24; Php 2:17Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14#Mt 6:10; Lk 22:42When he would not be persuaded, we kept silent and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.”
15After those days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16Some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.
Paul Visits James
17#Ac 15:4When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 18#Ac 11:30; 15:13On the next day Paul went with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19#Ac 1:17; 14:27He greeted them and recounted one by one what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20#Ac 22:3; Ro 10:2When they heard this, they glorified the Lord. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who believe, and they are all zealous for the law. 21#Ac 21:28They have been informed concerning you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to observe the customs. 22What then shall be done? The assembly will certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. 23#Ac 18:18Therefore do what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow. 24#Ac 21:26; 24:18Take these men and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may have their heads shaved. Then all will know that what they were told concerning you is nothing, but that you yourself live in observance of the law. 25#Ac 15:29As for the Gentiles who believe, we have written and concluded that they should observe no such thing, except that they abstain from food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from strangled animals, and from blood.”
26#Ac 24:18; Nu 6:13–20Then on the next day, Paul took the men and purified himself with them. And he went into the temple, announcing when the days of purification would be complete and an offering would be given for each one of them.
Paul Arrested in the Temple
27#Ac 24:18; 26:21When the seven days were nearly concluded, the Jews from Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, 28#Ac 24:5–6; 21:21crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man teaching all men everywhere against the people and the law and this place. He even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” 29#Ac 20:4For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, whom they supposed Paul had brought into the temple.
30#Ac 26:21Then the whole city was provoked, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple. And immediately the doors were shut. 31While they were trying to kill him, news came up to the commander#Gk. chiliarch, a battalion commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel over 1,000 soldiers. of the battalion of soldiers that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32#Ac 23:27He at once took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. When they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33#Ac 12:6; 20:23Then the commander came and arrested him, and ordered that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34#Ac 19:32; 23:10Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another. As he could not learn the truth because of the uproar, he commanded that he be brought into the barracks. 35When he came onto the stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the people. 36#Lk 23:18; Jn 19:15For the mob of people followed, crying out, “Away with him!”
Paul Defends Himself
37As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I speak to you?”
He replied, “Do you know how to speak Greek? 38#Mt 24:26Are you not the Egyptian who in past days caused an uproar and led the four thousand men of the Sicarii#Or men of the Assassins. out into the wilderness?”
39#Ac 9:11; 22:3Paul said, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no common city. I beg of you, permit me to speak to the people.”
40#Ac 12:17; Jn 5:2When he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was great silence, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying,
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Acts 21: MEV
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Military Bible Association
Acts 21
21
Paul Goes to Jerusalem
1We said goodbye to them and left. After sailing straight across, we came to Cos; the next day we reached Rhodes, and from there we went on to Patara. 2There we found a ship that was going to Phoenicia, so we went aboard and sailed away. 3We came to where we could see Cyprus, and then sailed south of it on to Syria. We went ashore at Tyre, where the ship was going to unload its cargo. 4There we found some believers and stayed with them a week. By the power of the Spirit they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 5But when our time with them was over, we left and went on our way. All of them, together with their wives and children, went with us out of the city to the beach, where we all knelt and prayed. 6Then we said goodbye to one another, and we went on board the ship while they went back home.
7We continued our voyage, sailing from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we greeted the believers and stayed with them for a day. 8#Acts 6.5; 8.5On the following day we left and arrived in Caesarea. There we stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen as helpers in Jerusalem. 9He had four unmarried daughters who proclaimed God's message. 10#Acts 11.28We had been there for several days when a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. 11He came to us, took Paul's belt, tied up his own feet and hands with it, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: The owner of this belt will be tied up in this way by the Jews in Jerusalem, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.”
12When we heard this, we and the others there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 13But he answered, “What are you doing, crying like this and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be tied up in Jerusalem but even to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”
14We could not convince him, so we gave up and said, “May the Lord's will be done.”
15After spending some time there, we got our things ready and left for Jerusalem. 16Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and took us to the house of the man we were going to stay with#21.16 and took us to the house of the man we were going to stay with; or bringing with them the man at whose house we were going to stay. — Mnason, from Cyprus, who had been a believer since the early days.
Paul Visits James
17When we arrived in Jerusalem, the believers welcomed us warmly. 18The next day Paul went with us to see James; and all the church elders were present. 19Paul greeted them and gave a complete report of everything that God had done among the Gentiles through his work. 20After hearing him, they all praised God. Then they said, “Brother Paul, you can see how many thousands of Jews have become believers, and how devoted they all are to the Law. 21They have been told that you have been teaching all the Jews who live in Gentile countries to abandon the Law of Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or follow the Jewish customs. 22They are sure to hear that you have arrived. What should be done, then? 23#Num 6.13–21This is what we want you to do. There are four men here who have taken a vow. 24Go along with them and join them in the ceremony of purification and pay their expenses; then they will be able to shave their heads.#21.24 shave their heads: See 18.18. In this way everyone will know that there is no truth in any of the things that they have been told about you, but that you yourself live in accordance with the Law of Moses. 25#Acts 15.29But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent them a letter telling them we decided that they must not eat any food that has been offered to idols, or any blood, or any animal that has been strangled, and that they must keep themselves from sexual immorality.”
26So Paul took the men and the next day performed the ceremony of purification with them. Then he went into the Temple and gave notice of how many days it would be until the end of the period of purification, when a sacrifice would be offered for each one of them.
Paul is Arrested in the Temple
27But just when the seven days were about to come to an end, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized Paul. 28“Men of Israel!” they shouted. “Help! This is the man who goes everywhere teaching everyone against the people of Israel, the Law of Moses, and this Temple. And now he has even brought some Gentiles into the Temple and defiled this holy place!” 29#Acts 20.4(They said this because they had seen Trophimus from Ephesus with Paul in the city, and they thought that Paul had taken him into the Temple.)
30Confusion spread through the whole city, and the people all ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple. At once the Temple doors were closed. 31The mob was trying to kill Paul, when a report was sent up to the commander of the Roman troops that all Jerusalem was rioting. 32At once the commander took some officers and soldiers and rushed down to the crowd. When the people saw him with the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33The commander went over to Paul, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked, “Who is this man, and what has he done?” 34Some in the crowd shouted one thing, others something else. There was such confusion that the commander could not find out exactly what had happened, so he ordered his men to take Paul up into the fort. 35They got as far as the steps with him, and then the soldiers had to carry him because the mob was so wild. 36They were all coming after him and screaming, “Kill him!”
Paul Defends Himself
37As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the fort, he spoke to the commander: “May I say something to you?”
“You speak Greek, do you?” the commander asked. 38“Then you are not that Egyptian fellow who some time ago started a revolution and led 4,000 armed terrorists out into the desert?”
39Paul answered, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please let me speak to the people.”
40The commander gave him permission, so Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand for the people to be silent. When they were quiet, Paul spoke to them in Hebrew:
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.