Acts 21

¹When we had finally torn ourselves away from them and set sail, we ran a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. ²Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and put out to sea. ³After sighting Cyprus and leaving it off to our left, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, for the ship was to unload its cargo there. ⁴We sought out the disciples and stayed there seven days. Through the Spirit, they kept telling Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem. ⁵When our time there was over, we left and continued our journey. All of them, with wives and children, escorted us until we were outside the city. After kneeling on the beach and praying, ⁶we said our goodbyes to one another. Then we went aboard the ship, and they returned to their own homes.

⁷When we had completed the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for one day. ⁸On the next day we left and came to Caesarea. We went into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him. ⁹This man had four virgin daughters who had the gift of prophecy. ¹⁰While we were staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹He came to us, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands, saying, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and hand him over to the nations.’” ¹²When we heard this, both we and the local people urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and crushing my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴Since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, saying only, “Let the Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵After these days, we got our gear ready and started up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to stay. ¹⁷When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us gladly. ¹⁸The following day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹After greeting them, he related one by one the things God had done among the nations through his ministry. ²⁰When they heard it, they glorified God and said to him, “You see, brother, how many tens of thousands there are among the Jews who have believed, and they are all zealots for the Law. ²¹They have been told about you—that you teach all the Jews living among the nations to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to live according to our customs. ²²What then should be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. ²⁴Take these men, join in their purification rites, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with the Law. ²⁵But as for the believers among the nations, we have sent a letter with our decision that they should keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶Then Paul took the men, and the next day, after purifying himself with them, he entered the temple to give notice of when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering would be presented for each one of them. ²⁷When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia saw him in the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, ²⁸shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our Law, and this place! What is more, he even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place!” ²⁹(For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.) ³⁰The whole city was provoked, and the people came running together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the gates were shut.

³¹While they were trying to kill him, a report went up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³²He immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd. When they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³Then the commander came up, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He began to inquire who he was and what he had done. ³⁴Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. Since he could not get the facts straight because of the confusion, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. ³⁵When Paul reached the steps, he actually had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob, ³⁶for the mass of people kept following and screaming, “Away with him!”

³⁷Just as he was about to be led into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” The commander replied, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸Then you aren’t the Egyptian who started a rebellion some time ago and led four thousand men of the Sicarii out into the wilderness?” ³⁹Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰When the commander had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When a great silence fell over them, he addressed them in the Hebrew dialect, saying: