Acts 21
21
Paul's Journey to Jerusalem
1And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Co´os, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Pat´ara: 2and finding a ship sailing over unto Phoeni´cia, we went aboard, and set forth. 3Now when we had discovered#21.3 discovered or came in sight of. Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden. 4And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem. 5And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed. 6And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they returned home again.
7And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolema´is, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day. 8#Acts 6.5; 8.5. And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesare´a; and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. 9And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. 10#Acts 11.28. And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet, named Ag´abus. 11And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. 12And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. 14And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.
15And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem. 16There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesare´a, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.
Paul Arrested in the Temple
17And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. 19And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. 20And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: 21and they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. 22What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come. 23#Num 6.13-21. Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; 24them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. 25#Acts 15.29. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication. 26Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.
27And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, 28crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. 29#Acts 20.4. (For they had seen before with him in the city Troph´imus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) 30And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut. 31And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar: 32who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. 33Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done. 34And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle. 35And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. 36For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.
Paul's Defense before the People
37And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek? 38Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers? 39But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cili´cia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. 40And when he had given him license, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Acts 21
21
Paul Goes to Jerusalem
1After we said goodbye to the elders, we sailed away straight to Cos island. The next day we went to the island of Rhodes, and from there we went to Patara. 2There we found a ship that was going to the area of Phoenicia. We got on the ship and sailed away.
3We sailed near the island of Cyprus. We could see it on the north side, but we did not stop. We sailed to the country of Syria. We stopped at Tyre because the ship needed to unload its cargo there. 4We found the Lord’s followers there and stayed with them for seven days. They warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem because of what the Spirit had told them. 5But when our time there was up, we returned to the ship to continue our trip. All the followers, even the women and children, came with us to the seashore. We all knelt down on the beach, prayed, 6and said goodbye. Then we got on the ship, and the followers went home.
7We continued our trip from Tyre and went to the city of Ptolemais. We greeted the believers there and stayed with them one day. 8The next day we left Ptolemais and went to the city of Caesarea. We went into the home of Philip and stayed with him. He had the work of telling the Good News. He was one of the seven helpers.#21:8 seven helpers Men chosen for a special work. See Acts 6:1-6. 9He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophesying.
10After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came from Judea. 11He came to us and borrowed Paul’s belt. He used it to tie his own hands and feet. He said, “The Holy Spirit tells me, ‘This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who wears this belt.#21:11 belt Paul’s belt; so Agabus means that the Jews in Jerusalem will tie Paul up (arrest him). Then they will hand him over to people who don’t know God.’”
12When we heard this, we and the other followers there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 13But he said, “Why are you crying and making me feel so sad? I am willing to be put in jail in Jerusalem. I am even ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus!”
14We could not persuade him to stay away from Jerusalem. So we stopped begging him and said, “We pray that what the Lord wants will be done.”
15After this, we got ready and left for Jerusalem. 16Some of the followers of Jesus from Caesarea went with us. These followers took us to the home of Mnason, a man from Cyprus, who was one of the first people to be a follower of Jesus. They took us to his home so that we could stay with him.
Paul Visits James
17The brothers and sisters in Jerusalem were very happy to see us. 18The next day Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were there. 19After greeting them, Paul told them point by point all that God had used him to do among the non-Jewish people.
20When the leaders heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul, “Brother, you can see that thousands of Jews have become believers, but they think it is very important to obey the Law of Moses. 21They have been told that you teach the Jews who live in non-Jewish regions to stop following the Law of Moses. They have heard that you tell them not to circumcise their sons or follow our other customs.
22“What should we do? The Jewish believers here will learn that you have come. 23So we will tell you what to do: Four of our men have made a vow#21:23 vow Probably a Nazirite vow, a time of special dedication and service promised to God. See “Nazirite” in the Word List. to God. 24Take these men with you and share in their cleansing ceremony.#21:24 cleansing ceremony The special things Jews did to end the Nazirite vow. Also in verse 26. Pay their expenses so that they can shave their heads.#21:24 shave their heads To show that their vow was finished. This will prove to everyone that the things they have heard about you are not true. They will see that you obey the Law of Moses in your own life.
25“In regard to the non-Jewish believers, we have already sent a letter to them saying what we think they should do:
‘Don’t eat food that has been given to idols.
Don’t eat meat from animals that have been strangled or any meat that still has the blood in it.
Don’t be involved in sexual sin.’”
Paul Is Arrested
26So Paul took the four men with him. The next day he shared in their cleansing ceremony. Then he went to the Temple area and announced the time when the days of the cleansing ceremony would be finished. On the last day an offering would be given for each of the men.
27When the seven-day period was almost finished, some Jews from Asia saw Paul in the Temple area. They stirred up everyone into an angry mob. They grabbed Paul 28and shouted, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who is teaching things that are against the Law of Moses, against our people, and against this Temple of ours. This is what he teaches people everywhere. And now he has brought some Greeks into the Temple area and has made this holy place unclean!” 29(The Jews said this because they had seen Trophimus with Paul in Jerusalem. Trophimus was a man from Ephesus. The Jews thought that Paul had taken him into the holy area of the Temple.)
30An angry reaction spread throughout the city, and everyone came running to the Temple. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the holy area, and the gates were closed immediately. 31While they were trying to kill Paul, the commander of the Roman army in Jerusalem got word that the whole city was in a state of riot. 32Immediately the commander ran to where the crowd had gathered, taking with him some army officers and soldiers. When the people saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33The commander went over to Paul and arrested him. He told his soldiers to tie him up with two chains. Then he asked, “Who is this man? What has he done wrong?” 34Some people there were shouting one thing, and others were shouting something else. Because of all this confusion and shouting, the commander could not learn the truth about what had happened. So he told the soldiers to take Paul to the army building. 35-36The whole crowd was following them. When the soldiers came to the steps, they had to carry Paul. They did this to protect him, because the people were ready to hurt him. The people were shouting, “Kill him!”
37When the soldiers were ready to take Paul into the army building, he asked the commander, “Can I say something to you?”
The commander said, “Oh, you speak Greek? 38Then you are not the man I thought you were. I thought you were the Egyptian who started some trouble against the government not long ago and led four thousand terrorists out to the desert.”
39Paul said, “No, I am a Jew from Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. I am a citizen of that important city. Please, let me speak to the people.”
40The commander told Paul he could speak. So he stood on the steps and waved his hand so that the people would be quiet. The people became quiet and Paul spoke to them in Aramaic.
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