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The BibleActs 21

The Bible

Acts 21

1
English · Berean Standard Bible

After we had torn ourselves away from them, we sailed directly to Cos, and the next day on to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.

2
English · Berean Standard Bible

Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded it and set sail.

3
English · Berean Standard Bible

After sighting Cyprus and passing south of it, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo.

4
English · Berean Standard Bible

We sought out the disciples in Tyre and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they kept telling Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

5
English · Berean Standard Bible

But when our time there had ended, we set out on our journey. All the disciples, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city and knelt down on the beach to pray with us.

6
English · Berean Standard Bible

And after we had said our farewells, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

7
English · Berean Standard Bible

When we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day.

8
English · Berean Standard Bible

Leaving the next day, we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven.

9
English · Berean Standard Bible

He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

10
English · Berean Standard Bible

After we had been there several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

11
English · Berean Standard Bible

Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’”

12
English · Berean Standard Bible

When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

13
English · Berean Standard Bible

Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

14
English · Berean Standard Bible

When he would not be dissuaded, we quieted down and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

15
English · Berean Standard Bible

After these days, we packed up and went on to Jerusalem.

16
English · Berean Standard Bible

Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to stay at the home of Mnason the Cypriot, an early disciple.

17
English · Berean Standard Bible

When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us joyfully.

18
English · Berean Standard Bible

The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present.

19
English · Berean Standard Bible

Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

20
English · Berean Standard Bible

When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.

21
English · Berean Standard Bible

But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs.

22
English · Berean Standard Bible

What then should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.

23
English · Berean Standard Bible

Therefore do what we advise you. There are four men with us who have taken a vow.

24
English · Berean Standard Bible

Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the law.

25
English · Berean Standard Bible

As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”

26
English · Berean Standard Bible

So the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he entered the temple to give notice of the date when their purification would be complete and the offering would be made for each of them.

27
English · Berean Standard Bible

When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,

28
English · Berean Standard Bible

crying out, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and against our law and against this place. Furthermore, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”

29
English · Berean Standard Bible

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
English · Berean Standard Bible

The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.

31
English · Berean Standard Bible

While they were trying to kill him, the commander of the Roman regiment received a report that all Jerusalem was in turmoil.

32
English · Berean Standard Bible

Immediately he took some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

33
English · Berean Standard Bible

The commander came up and arrested Paul, ordering that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.

34
English · Berean Standard Bible

Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, and some another. And since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks.

35
English · Berean Standard Bible

When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob.

36
English · Berean Standard Bible

For the crowd that followed him kept shouting, “Away with him!”

37
English · Berean Standard Bible

As they were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied.

38
English · Berean Standard Bible

“Aren’t you the Egyptian who incited a rebellion some time ago and led four thousand members of the Assassins into the wilderness?”

39
English · Berean Standard Bible

But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”

40
English · Berean Standard Bible

Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:

1
Acts 21English
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The SBL Greek New Testament, ed. Michael W. Holmes. Copyright 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software. CC BY 4.0. · Source ↗

Greek New Testament text: The SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT), edited by Michael W. Holmes. Copyright 2010 by the Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source: https://github.com/LogosBible/SBLGNT (v1.2). Changes: apparatus sigla (⸀ ⸁ ⸂ ⸃ ⸄ ⸅) removed; book titles moved to headings.

The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB. Dedicated to the public domain. · Source ↗

The Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version), standard text of 1769; electronic text courtesy of eBible.org and the CrossWire Bible Society. Public domain outside the United Kingdom. In the UK, rights in the Authorized Version are vested in the Crown under Letters Patent, administered by Cambridge University Press. · Source ↗

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