Paul in Ephesus

¹And it happened that while tApollos was at Corinth, Paul passed uthrough the inland1 country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. ²And he said to them, v“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, wwe have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³And he said, x“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into yJohn's baptism.” ⁴And Paul said, y“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people zto believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” ⁵On hearing this, athey were baptized in2 the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And bwhen Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and cthey began speaking in tongues and dprophesying. ⁷There were about twelve men in all.

⁸And ehe entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them fabout the kingdom of God. ⁹gBut when some became stubborn and hcontinued in unbelief, speaking evil of ithe Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.3 ¹⁰This continued for jtwo years, so that kall the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

The Sons of Sceva

¹¹And lGod was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹²lso that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and mthe evil spirits came out of them. ¹³Then some of the itinerant Jewish nexorcists oundertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, p“I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵But the evil spirit answered them, q“Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” ¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all4 of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and rthe name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. ¹⁸Also many of those who were now believers came, sconfessing and divulging their practices. ¹⁹And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰So the word of the Lord tcontinued to increase and prevail mightily.

A Riot at Ephesus

²¹Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit uto pass through vMacedonia and Achaia and wgo to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, xI must also see Rome.” ²²And having sent into Macedonia two of yhis helpers, zTimothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia afor a while.

²³About that time bthere arose no little disturbance concerning cthe Way. ²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, dbrought no little business to the craftsmen. ²⁵dThese he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. ²⁶And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, esaying that fgods made with hands are not gods. ²⁷And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the ggreat goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, g“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and hAristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's icompanions in travel. ³⁰But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. ³¹And even some of the Asiarchs,5 who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. ³²jNow some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, kmotioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. ³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, l“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from mthe sky?6 ³⁶Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. ³⁷For you have brought nthese men here who are neither osacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are pproconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹But if you seek anything further,7 it shall be settled in the regular assembly. ⁴⁰For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” ⁴¹And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

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Paul in Macedonia and Greece

¹After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and qdeparted for Macedonia. ²When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. ³There he spent three months, and when ra plot was made against him by the Jews1 as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. ⁴Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, sAristarchus and Secundus; and sGaius of Derbe, and tTimothy; and the Asians, uTychicus and vTrophimus. ⁵These went on ahead and were waiting for wus at xTroas, ⁶but we sailed away from Philippi after ythe days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Eutychus Raised from the Dead

⁷zOn the first day of the week, when we were gathered together ato break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. ⁸There were many lamps in bthe upper room where we were gathered. ⁹And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he cfell down from the third story and was taken up dead. ¹⁰But Paul went down and dbent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, e“Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” ¹¹And when Paul had gone up and fhad broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. ¹²And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.

¹³But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. ¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. ¹⁵And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and2 the day after that we went to Miletus. ¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening gto be at Jerusalem, if possible, hon the day of Pentecost.

Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders

¹⁷Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called ithe elders of the church to come to him. ¹⁸And when they came to him, he said to them:

j“You yourselves know khow I lived among you the whole time jfrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, ¹⁹lserving the Lord mwith all humility and with ntears and with trials that happened to me through othe plots of the Jews; ²⁰how I pdid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and qteaching you in public and from house to house, ²¹rtestifying both to Jews and to Greeks of srepentance toward God and of tfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ.3 ²²And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained uby4 the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³except that vthe Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that wimprisonment and xafflictions await me. ²⁴But yI do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only zI may finish my course and athe ministry bthat I received from the Lord Jesus, cto testify to dthe gospel of ethe grace of God. ²⁵And now, behold, fI know that none of you among whom I have gone about gproclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. ²⁶Therefore hI testify to you this day that iI am innocent of the blood of all, ²⁷for jI did not shrink from declaring to you kthe whole counsel of God. ²⁸lPay careful attention to yourselves and to all mthe flock, in which nthe Holy Spirit has made you ooverseers, pto care for qthe church of God,5 which he robtained swith his own blood.6 ²⁹I rknow that after my departure tfierce wolves will come in among you, unot sparing the flock; ³⁰and vfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹Therefore wbe alert, remembering that xfor three years I did not cease night or day yto admonish every one zwith tears. ³²And now aI commend you to God and to bthe word of his grace, which is able to cbuild you up and to give you dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³eI coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. ³⁴fYou yourselves know that gthese hands ministered to my necessities and hto those who were with me. ³⁵In all things iI have shown you that jby working hard in this way we must khelp the weak and lremember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed mto give than to receive.’”

³⁶And when he had said these things, nhe knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷And othere was much weeping on the part of all; pthey embraced Paul and pkissed him, ³⁸being sorrowful most of all because of qthe word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And rthey accompanied him to the ship.

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Paul Goes to Jerusalem

¹And when swe had parted from them and set sail, we tcame by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.1 ²And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. ³When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And uthrough the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. ⁵When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, vaccompanied us until we were outside the city. And wkneeling down on the beach, we prayed ⁶and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted xthe brothers2 and stayed with them for one day. ⁸On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of yPhilip zthe evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. ⁹He had four unmarried daughters, awho prophesied. ¹⁰While we were staying for many days, a prophet named bAgabus came down from Judea. ¹¹And coming to us, he ctook Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, d“Thus says the Holy Spirit, e‘This is how the Jews3 at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and fdeliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” ¹²When we heard this, we and the people there gurged him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³Then Paul answered, g“What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For hI am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem ifor the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴And since he would not be persuaded, jwe ceased and said, k“Let the will of the Lord be done.”

¹⁵After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.

Paul Visits James

¹⁷When we had come to Jerusalem, lthe brothers received us gladly. ¹⁸On the following day Paul went in with us to mJames, and all nthe elders were present. ¹⁹After greeting them, ohe related one by one pthe things that God had done among the Gentiles through his qministry. ²⁰And when they heard it, they rglorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all szealous for the law, ²¹and they have been told about you that you teach all tthe Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, utelling them vnot to circumcise their children or wwalk according to xour customs. ²²What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men ywho are under a vow; ²⁴take these men and zpurify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, yso that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. ²⁵But as for the Gentiles who have believed, awe have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled,4 and from sexual immorality.” ²⁶Then Paul took the men, and the next day zhe purified himself along with them and bwent into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and cthe offering presented for each one of them.

Paul Arrested in the Temple

²⁷When cthe seven days were almost completed, dthe Jews from Asia, eseeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, ²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who fis teaching everyone everywhere against the people and gthe law and gthis place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and hhas defiled gthis holy place.” ²⁹For they had previously seen iTrophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. ³⁰Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and jdragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. ³¹jAnd as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of kthe cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ³²lHe at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him mto be bound nwith two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. ³⁴oSome in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into pthe barracks. ³⁵And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, ³⁶for the mob of the people followed, crying out, q“Away with him!”

Paul Speaks to the People

³⁷As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸Are you not rthe Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out sinto the wilderness?” ³⁹Paul replied, t“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, umotioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in vthe Hebrew language,5 saying:

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¹w“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in xthe Hebrew language,1 they became even more quiet. And he said:

³y“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated zat the feet of aGamaliel2 baccording to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, cbeing zealous for God das all of you are this day. ⁴eI persecuted fthis Way gto the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, ⁵as hthe high priest and ithe whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to jthe brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶k“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. ⁷And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am lJesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹mNow those who were with me saw the light but did not understand3 the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰And I said, n‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

¹²“And oone Ananias, a devout man paccording to the law, qwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³rcame to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And sat that very hour I received my sight and saw him. ¹⁴And he said, t‘The God of our fathers uappointed you to know his will, vto see wthe Righteous One and xto hear a voice from his mouth; ¹⁵for yyou will be a witness for him to everyone of what zyou have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now why do you wait? aRise and be baptized and bwash away your sins, ccalling on his name.’

¹⁷d“When I had returned to Jerusalem and ewas praying in the temple, I fell into fa trance ¹⁸and saw him saying to me, g‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another hI imprisoned and ibeat those who believed in you. ²⁰And when the blood of Stephen jyour witness was being shed, kI myself was standing by and lapproving and kwatching over the garments of those who killed him.’ ²¹And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you mfar away to the Gentiles.’”

Paul and the Roman Tribune

²²Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, n“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For ohe should not be allowed to live.” ²³And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴the tribune ordered him to be brought into pthe barracks, saying that he should be qexamined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. ²⁵But when they had stretched him out for the whips,4 Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog ra man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” ²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” ²⁹So those who were about sto examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also twas afraid, ufor he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that vhe had bound him.

Paul Before the Council

³⁰But on the next day, wdesiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.

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¹And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, xI have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” ²And the high priest yAnanias commanded those who stood by him zto strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you awhitewashed bwall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet ccontrary to the law you corder me to be struck?” ⁴Those who stood by said, “Would you revile dGod's high priest?” ⁵And Paul said, e“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, f‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

⁶Now when Paul perceived that one part were gSadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, hI am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is iwith respect to the jhope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” ⁷And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸For the Sadducees ksay that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. ⁹Then a great clamor arose, and some of lthe scribes of the Pharisees' party stood up and contended sharply, m“We find nothing wrong in this man. What nif a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” ¹⁰And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into othe barracks.

¹¹pThe following night qthe Lord stood by him and said, r“Take courage, for sas you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must ttestify also in Rome.”

A Plot to Kill Paul

¹²When it was day, uthe Jews made a plot and vbound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. ¹³There were more than forty who made this conspiracy. ¹⁴They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul. ¹⁵Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly. And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

¹⁶Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered wthe barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸So he took him and brought him to the tribune and said, “Paul xthe prisoner called me and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you.” ¹⁹The tribune took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” ²⁰And he said, y“The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more closely about him. ²¹But do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him, who zhave bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for your consent.” ²²So the tribune dismissed the young man, charging him, “Tell no one that you have informed me of these things.”

Paul Sent to Felix the Governor

²³Then he called two of the centurions and said, “Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.1 ²⁴Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to aFelix bthe governor.” ²⁵And he wrote a letter to this effect:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias, to chis Excellency the governor Felix, dgreetings. ²⁷eThis man was seized by the Jews and fwas about to be killed by them fwhen I came upon them with the soldiers and rescued him, ghaving learned that he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸And hdesiring to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their council. ²⁹I found that he was being accused iabout questions of their law, but jcharged with nothing deserving death or imprisonment. ³⁰kAnd when it was disclosed to me lthat there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, mordering his accusers also to state before you what they have against him.”

³¹So the soldiers, according to their instructions, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³²And on the next day they returned to nthe barracks, letting the horsemen go on with him. ³³When they had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also before him. ³⁴On reading the letter, he asked what oprovince he was from. And when he learned pthat he was from Cilicia, ³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing qwhen your accusers arrive.” And he commanded him to be guarded in Herod's rpraetorium.

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