Acts
Chapter 21
1 After we had left them and set sail, we went straight to Kos, then the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
2 We found a ship going to Phoenicia, boarded it, and set sail.
3 After we saw Cyprus, we passed it on our left, sailed to Syria, and arrived at Tyre, where the ship was supposed to unload its cargo.
4 We met followers and stayed there seven days. They told Paul by the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.
5 After we finished those days, we left and went on our journey; everyone came with us, including wives and children, until we were outside the city; then we knelt on the beach and prayed.
6 After we said goodbye, we boarded a ship and they went back home.
7 After we sailed from Tyre, we arrived in Ptolemais, greeted the believers, and stayed with them for one day.
8 The next day, we who were with Paul left and went to Caesarea. We went to the home of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.
9 The man had four daughters who were virgins and could prophesy.
10 While we stayed there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came to us from Judea.
11 When he arrived, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet, and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt and hand him over to non-Jewish people.’”
12 When we heard this, we and the local people begged him not to go to Jerusalem.
13 Paul replied, “Why are you crying and making me so sad? I am willing to be arrested and even die in Jerusalem for Jesus.”
14 When he wouldn’t change his mind, we stopped and said, “Let God’s will be done.”
15 After that time, we packed our belongings and went to Jerusalem.
16 Some disciples from Caesarea went with us, and they brought Mnason from Cyprus, an early follower, to stay with.
17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the fellow believers welcomed us happily.
18 The next day, Paul went with us to see James, and all the leaders were there.
19 After greeting them, he explained in detail what God had done among the non-Jews through his work.
20 When they heard this, they praised God and said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews believe, and they are all very devoted to the law.”
21 They have been told that you teach all the Jews living among non-Jews to abandon Moses’s teachings by saying they shouldn’t circumcise their kids or follow Jewish traditions.
22 So what should we do? A lot of people will gather because they will hear you have come.
23 Do what we tell you: We have four men who have made a promise.
24 Join them, make yourself pure with them, and help pay for their expenses, so they can cut their hair. Then everyone will know that what they heard about you is not true, and that you also live by the law and keep it.
25 Regarding the non-Jewish believers, we have decided they do not have to follow such rules, except they should avoid food given to idols, blood, animals not properly killed, and sexual immorality.
26 Paul went with the men and the following day, they all purified themselves and went into the temple. There, they showed that the days of purification were finished and waited until a sacrifice was made for each of them.
27 When the seven days were almost over, the Asian Jews saw him in the temple, they upset everyone, and grabbed him.
28 Calling out, Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, the law, and this place. He has also brought Greeks into the temple, making this holy place unclean.
29 They had earlier seen Trophimus from Ephesus with Paul in the city and thought Paul had taken him into the temple.
30 The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were closed.
31 As they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the soldiers that the whole city of Jerusalem was in chaos.
32 He quickly got some soldiers and officers and ran to them. When they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped hitting Paul.
33 The commander came close, took him, and ordered him to be tied up with two chains; then he asked who he was and what he had done.
34 Different people in the crowd were shouting different things, and because of the noise, he couldn’t understand what was happening, so he ordered the man to be taken into the fort.
35 When he reached the stairs, the soldiers carried him because of the crowd’s violence.
36 Many people followed, shouting, “Take him away!”
37 As Paul was about to be taken into the fortress, he asked the commander, “May I talk to you?” The commander replied, “You know Greek?”
38 Aren’t you the Egyptian who recently caused a commotion and led four thousand murderers into the desert?
39 But Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, and I am from an important city. Please let me speak to the people.”
40 After getting permission, Paul stood on the steps and signaled to the people with his hand. When everyone was quiet, he spoke to them in Hebrew, saying,