Acts 21

21 ¹ After we had torn ourselves away from them, we set sail and went straight to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. ² Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. ³ After we sighted Cyprus, leaving it on our left, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, because the ship was to unload its cargo there. ⁴ Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Holy Spirit they kept urging Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem. ⁵ When our days there were ended, we left and went on our way, and they all, with their wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. Kneeling down on the beach, we prayed ⁶ and said farewell to one another. Then we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

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

⁸ On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven, and stayed with him. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. ¹⁰ While we were staying there for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ He came over to us, took Paul's belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: 'In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.'" ¹² When we heard this, both we and the people there begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, "What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." ¹⁴ And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent and said, "The Lord's will be done."

¹⁵ After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us gladly. ¹⁸ On the following day Paul went with us to see James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹ After greeting them, he related one by one the things our Father had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. ²⁰ When they heard it, they glorified our Father. Then they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law. ²¹ They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to follow our customs. ²² So what should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. ^a a v23 These men had taken a Nazirite vow — a temporary pledge of devotion that ended with shaving the head and presenting an offering at the temple. ²⁴ Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads. Then everyone will know that what they have been told about you is not true, and that you yourself keep the law. ²⁵ But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we have written our decision that they should keep away from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.

²⁶ Then Paul took the men, and the next day, after purifying himself along with them, he went into the temple to announce when the days of purification would be completed and the offering would be made for each of them.

Paul Seized at the Temple

²⁷ When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, ²⁸ shouting, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, the law, and this place. Now he has even brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place." ²⁹ For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰ The whole city was stirred up, and the people came running together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. ³¹ While they were trying to kill him, a report reached the commander of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in turmoil. ³² He immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When the crowd saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the commander came up, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since he could not learn the truth because of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be brought into the barracks. ³⁵ When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, ³⁶ for the mob kept following, shouting, "Away with him!"

Paul Speaks to the Crowd

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, "May I say something to you?" The commander replied, "Do you know Greek?

³⁸ Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?"

³⁹ Paul answered, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you, let me speak to the people."

⁴⁰ When he had given permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people with his hand. A great hush fell, and he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying: