⁴ Some men were going along with him. They were Sopater of the city of Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus of the city of Thessalonica, Gaius of the city of Derbe, and Timothy and Tychicus and Trophimus of the countries of Asia. ⁵ They went on to the city of Troas and waited there for us. ⁶ After the supper of bread without yeast we got on a ship in the city of Philippi. We met these men at Troas. It took five days to get there and we stayed one week.

Eutychus Falls from a Building While Paul Preaches

⁷ On the first day of the week we met together to eat the Lord’s supper. Paul talked to them. He thought he would leave the next day, so he kept on talking until twelve o’clock at night. ⁸ There were many lights in the room on the third floor where we had our meeting. ⁹ A young man named Eutychus sat in the window. As Paul kept on preaching, this man started to go to sleep. At last he went to sleep. He fell from the third floor to the ground and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ Paul went down and stood over him. Then he took him in his arms and said, “Do not be worried. He is alive!” ¹¹ Paul went up again to the meeting and ate with them. He talked with them until the sun came up. Then he left. ¹² They were happy they could take the young man home alive.

¹³ We went on ahead by ship to the city of Assos. There we were to pick up Paul. He had planned it that way. He wanted to walk by land that far. ¹⁴ We got to Assos and met him there. We picked him up and went on to the city of Mitylene. ¹⁵ The next day we went by ship to a place beside the island of Chios. The next day we crossed over to the island of Samos. Then the next day we came to the city of Miletus. ¹⁶ Paul planned to pass by the city of Ephesus so he would not lose more time in Asia. He wanted to be in Jerusalem if he could be on the day to remember how the Holy Spirit came on the church.

Paul Meets with the Leaders of the Church of Ephesus

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent word to Ephesus. He asked the leaders of the church to come to him. ¹⁸ When they got there, he said to them, “From the first day that I came to Asia you have seen what my life has been like. ¹⁹ I worked for the Lord without pride. Because of the trouble the Jews gave me, I have had many tears. ²⁰ I always told you everything that would be a help to you. I taught you in open meetings and from house to house. ²¹ I preached to the Jews and to the Greeks. I told them to turn from their sin to God and to put their trust in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²² “As you see, I am on my way to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit makes me go. I do not know what will happen to me there. ²³ But in every city I have been, the Holy Spirit tells me that trouble and chains will be waiting for me there. ²⁴ But I am not worried about this. I do not think of my life as worth much, but I do want to finish the work the Lord Jesus gave me to do. My work is to preach the Good News of God’s loving-favor.

²⁵ “All of you have heard me preach the Good News. I am sure that none of you will ever see my face again. ²⁶ I tell you this day that I am clean and free from the blood of all men. ²⁷ I told you all the truth about God. ²⁸ Keep a careful watch over yourselves and over the church. The Holy Spirit has made you its leaders. Feed and care for the church of God. He bought it with His own blood.

²⁹ “Yes, I know that when I am gone, hungry wolves will come in among you. They will try to destroy the church. ³⁰ Also men from your own group will begin to teach things that are not true. They will get men to follow them. ³¹ I say again, keep watching! Remember that for three years I taught everyone of you night and day, even with tears.

³² “And now, my brothers, I give you over to God and to the word of His love. It is able to make you strong and to give you what you are to have, along with all those who are set apart for God. ³³ I have not tried to get anyone’s money or clothes. ³⁴ You all know that these hands worked for what I needed and for what those with me needed. ³⁵ In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we can help those who are weak. We must remember what the Lord Jesus said, ‘We are more happy when we give than when we receive.’ ”

³⁶ As he finished talking, he got down on his knees and prayed with them all. ³⁷ They cried and put their arms around Paul and kissed him. ³⁸ What made them sad most of all was he said that they would never see his face again. Then they went with him to the ship.

Paul Goes from Miletus to Tyre

21 After we left them, we got on a ship and came straight down to the island of Cos. The next day we came to the island of Rhodes and from there to the city of Patara. ² There we found a ship that was going over to the country of Phoenicia. We got on it and went along. ³ We saw the island of Cyprus to our left but went on to the country of Syria. We came to land at the city of Tyre. The ship was to leave its load of freight there.

⁴ We looked for the Christians and stayed with them seven days. The Christians had been told by the Holy Spirit to tell Paul not to go to Jerusalem. ⁵ When our time was up, we left there and went on our way. All of them with their wives and children went with us out of town. They got down on their knees on the shore and prayed. ⁶ After we said good-bye, we got on the ship and they went back to their houses.

Paul Goes from Tyre to Jerusalem

⁷ The same ship took us from Tyre to the city of Ptolemais. We stayed with the Christians there one day. ⁸ The next day we left and came to the city of Caesarea. We went to the house of Philip and stayed with him. He was a preacher who goes from town to town and was one of the seven church leaders. ⁹ Philip had four daughters who were not married. They spoke the Word of God.

¹⁰ While we were there a few days, a man who speaks for God named Agabus came down from the country of Judea. ¹¹ He came to see us. Then he took Paul’s belt and used it to tie his own feet and hands. He said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says, ‘The Jews at Jerusalem will tie the man who owns this belt. Then they will hand him over to the people who are not Jews.’”

¹² When we heard this, we and all the people living there begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul said, “What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I am ready to be put in chains in Jerusalem. I am also ready to die for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴ Paul would not listen to us. So we stopped begging him and said, “May whatever God wants be done.”

Paul Is in Jerusalem

¹⁵ After this, we got ready and started up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the followers in Caesarea went with us. They took us to Mnason’s house. He was one of the first followers from Cyprus. We stayed with him.

¹⁷ When we got to Jerusalem, the Christians were glad to see us. ¹⁸ The next day we went with Paul to see James. All the church leaders came also. ¹⁹ After saying hello to them, Paul told of what God had done through his work for the people who were not Jews.

²⁰ When they heard this, they thanked the Lord. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Christians there are among the Jews. They all obey the Law of Moses. ²¹ They have heard about you. They have heard you teach the Jews who live among people who are not Jews. They have heard you teach them to break away from the Law of Moses. They say you are telling them not to do the religious act of becoming a Jew and not to follow old religious ways of worship. ²² What should we do about it? They will hear that you have come. ²³ You must do what we tell you. We have four men with us who have made a promise to God. ²⁴ Take these four men and go through the religious worship of washing with them. You pay to have their hair cut off. Then everybody will know what they have heard about you is not true. They will know you are careful to obey the Law of Moses. ²⁵ As for the people who are not Jews, we wrote to them. We said that they must keep away from everything that has been given to gods. They must not eat blood or meat from animals that have been killed in ways against the Law. They must keep away from sex sins.”

²⁶ The next day Paul took the men. He went through the religious worship of washing with them. They went into the house of God to tell when their religious worship of washing would be finished. Then the gift for each one of them would be given as an act of worship.

²⁷ The seven days were almost finished. Jews from the countries of Asia saw Paul in the house of God. They made the people turn against him. Then they took hold of him. ²⁸ They cried out, “You who are Jews, help us! This is the man who is teaching against our people and our Law and this house of God. Also he has brought Greek people into the house of God. This has made this holy place unclean.” ²⁹ They had seen him before in the city with Trophimus who was from the city of Ephesus. They thought Paul had brought him into the house of God also.

³⁰ All the people in the city were crying out with loud voices. The people pushed and moved together. They took Paul and dragged him out of the house of God. Then the doors were shut. ³¹ They were getting ready to kill him. The captain of the soldiers heard there was trouble over all Jerusalem. ³² At once the captain called his soldiers and they ran down to the people. When the people saw the captain and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Paul Is Tied with Chains

³³ The captain came and took hold of Paul. He told his soldiers to tie Paul with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some of the people called out one thing and some another. The captain was not able to find out what had happened. He told his men to take Paul into the soldiers’ building. ³⁵ The people cried out so loud and pushed so hard that Paul had to be carried up the steps by the soldiers. ³⁶ All the people kept pushing and calling out, “Kill him!”

³⁷ Paul was brought into the soldiers’ building. He said to the captain, “May I say something to you?” The captain said, “Can you speak the Greek language? ³⁸ Are you not the man from the country of Egypt who made trouble against our country? That man led 4,000 fighting men into the desert.” ³⁹ Paul said, “No! I am a Jew and a citizen of a large city. I am from Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. I ask you to let me speak to the people.” ⁴⁰ The captain told Paul to speak. So Paul stood on the steps and held up his hand. When there was no more noise, he spoke to them in the language of the Jews.

Paul Tells of His Past Life

22 Paul said, “Brothers and fathers, listen to what I have to say to you.” ² When they heard him speak to them in their own language, they stopped making noise. Then he said,

³ “I am a Jew. I was born in the city of Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. When I was a young man, I lived here in Jerusalem. I went to Gamaliel’s school and learned all about the Law of our early fathers. I worked hard for God as you all do today.

⁴ “I worked hard and killed men and women who believed as I believe today. I put them in chains and sent them to prison. ⁵ The head religious leader and the leaders of the people can tell you this is true. I got letters from them to take to our Jewish brothers in the city of Damascus. I was going there to put the Christians in chains and bring them to Jerusalem where they would be beaten.

The Change in Paul’s Life on the Damascus Road

⁶ “I was near Damascus. All at once, about noon, I saw a bright light from heaven shining around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground. A voice said to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you work so hard against Me?’ ⁸ I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the One you are working against.’ ⁹ Those who were with me saw the light. But they did not hear Him speaking to me. ¹⁰ I asked, ‘Lord, what should I do?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up! Go to Damascus. You will be told what to do there.’

¹¹ “I could not see because of the bright light. Those who were with me had to lead me by the hand until we came to Damascus. ¹² Ananias lived there. He obeyed the Law and was respected by all the Jews. ¹³ He came and stood near me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ At once I was able to see him. ¹⁴ Then Ananias said, ‘The God of our fathers chose you to know what He wants done. He chose you to see Jesus Christ, the One Right with God, and to hear His voice. ¹⁵ You are to tell all men what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ What are you waiting for? Get up! Be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on His name.’

Paul Is Called to Work with the People Who Are Not Jews

¹⁷ “I came back to Jerusalem. When I was praying in the house of God, I had a dream. ¹⁸ I saw Him as He said to me, ‘Get out of Jerusalem! They will not listen to you when you tell them about Me!’ ¹⁹ I said, ‘Lord, they know I took Christians out of every Jewish place of worship. I had them beaten and put in prison. ²⁰ Also when Stephen was killed, I stood there and watched them throw stones at him. Those who threw the stones had me watch their coats.’ ²¹ The Lord said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the people who are not Jews.’ ” ²² They listened to him until he said that. Then they all cried out with loud voices, “Kill him! Take such a man from the earth! He should not live!” ²³ They kept on calling out. Then they pulled off their coats and threw dust in the air.

Paul Tells Who He Is

²⁴ The captain told them to bring Paul into the soldiers’ building. He told his soldiers to find out from Paul, by beating him, why the people were crying out against him. ²⁵ As they tied him up, Paul said to the soldier, “Does the law say that you can beat a Roman citizen when no one has said he is guilty?”

²⁶ When the soldier heard this, he told it to the captain. He said, “Listen! What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷ The captain came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” Paul said, “Yes!” ²⁸ The captain said, “I had to pay a lot of money to be a citizen.” Paul said, “But I was born a Roman.” ²⁹ Those who were going to beat him left him at once. The captain was also afraid when he heard that Paul was a Roman citizen because he had him tied.

Paul Stands in Front of the Religious Leaders’ Court

³⁰ The next day they took off the chains that were holding Paul. The captain wanted to know why the Jews wanted to kill him. So the captain told the head religious leaders to gather for their court. They brought Paul and put him in front of them.

Paul Speaks to the Religious Leaders’ Court

23 Paul looked straight at the court and said, “Brother Jews, I have lived for God with a heart that has said I am not guilty to this day.” ² Then Ananias, the head religious leader, told those standing near him to hit him on the mouth. ³ Paul said, “God will hit you, you white-washed wall! Do you sit there and say I am guilty by the Law when you break the Law by having me hit?”

⁴ Those standing near said, “Do you talk like that to God’s head religious leader?” ⁵ Paul said, “Brother Jews, I did not know that he was God’s head religious leader. I know the Holy Writings say, ‘You must not speak against the leader of your people.’” ^(A)

⁶ Paul saw that part of the court was made up of the religious group who believe no one is raised from the dead. The other part were proud religious law-keepers. Then he cried out, “Brother Jews, I am a proud religious law-keeper and from a family of proud religious law-keepers. I have been brought in front of this court because of the hope of being raised from the dead.”

⁷ When they heard this, both religious groups started to argue and the people of the court were divided in what they thought. ⁸ The one religious group believes that no one is raised from the dead. Also, they do not believe in angels or spirits. But the other religious group, the proud religious law-keepers, believe that people are raised from the dead and that there are angels and spirits. ⁹ The courtroom was filled with noise. Some of the teachers of the Law working with the proud religious law-keepers stood up and said, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if an angel or spirit has spoken to him?”

¹⁰ They argued all the more. Then the captain was afraid they would pull Paul to pieces. He told his men to get Paul out of there and take him back to the soldiers’ building. ¹¹ The next night the Lord came to Paul and said, “Paul, do not be afraid! You will tell about Me in the city of Rome the same as you have told about Me in Jerusalem.”

The Plan to Kill Paul

¹² In the morning some of the Jews gathered together and made a plan to kill Paul. They promised each other that they would not eat or drink until they had killed him. ¹³ There were more than forty of them who had made this promise. ¹⁴ These people came to the head religious leader and to the leaders of the people and said, “We have made a promise not to eat any food until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ We ask you and the court to have the captain bring Paul down to you tomorrow. It will look as if you want to ask him some things. Before he gets near you, we will be waiting to kill him.”

¹⁶ Paul’s nephew heard about the plan. He went to the soldiers’ building and told Paul. ¹⁷ Paul called one of the soldiers and said, “Take this young man to the captain. He has something to tell him.” ¹⁸ The soldiers brought the young man to the captain and said, “Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.” ¹⁹ The captain took him by the hand and they walked over where they could be alone. He said, “What is it that you have to tell me?” ²⁰ The young man said, “The Jews have made a plan to ask you to bring Paul to the courtroom tomorrow. It would look as if they were going to ask him some things. ²¹ Do not let them talk you into it. More than forty men are waiting in secret to kill him. They have promised each other not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are all waiting for you to say the word.” ²² The captain told the young man to go. He said, “Do not tell anyone you have told me this.”

Paul Is Sent to Felix in Caesarea

²³ Then the captain called two soldiers and said, “Get 200 men ready to go to the city of Caesarea by nine o’clock tonight. Also have seventy men ride on horses and 200 men carry spears. ²⁴ Get horses ready for Paul to ride. Take him to Felix, the leader of the people.”

²⁵ He wrote a letter which said, ²⁶ “Claudius Lysias greets Felix, the best leader of the people. ²⁷ This man Paul was taken by the Jews. He was about to be killed by them. But I came along with my soldiers and kept him from being killed. I did this when I learned that he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸ I wanted to know what they had against him. So I took him to the religious leaders’ court. ²⁹ I learned they were holding him because of something about their Law. There was no reason for him to be killed or to be put in prison. ³⁰ I was told that the Jews had a plan to kill this man. At once I sent him to you. I told the Jews who wanted to kill him to tell you what they have against him. Good-bye.”

³¹ The soldiers took Paul as they were told. They brought him during the night to Antipatris. ³² The next day they went back to their building in Jerusalem. The men riding horses went on with Paul. ³³ When they came to Caesarea, they gave the letter to the leader of the people. They also handed Paul over to him. ³⁴ After he read the letter, he asked what part of the country Paul was from. He was told that Paul was from the city of Cilicia. ³⁵ He said, “I will listen to all of this when the men come who want to kill you.” He had Paul kept in King Herod’s building.