⁹ Then Yeshua spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, while holding others in contempt. ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘O God, I thank You that I am not like other people—thieving, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and tithe on all that I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, wouldn’t even lift his eyes toward heaven, but beat his chest, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ ^{[a] 14} I tell you, this man, rather than the other, went down to his home declared righteous. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

⁵³ Then everyone went to his own house.

Mercy for a Sinful Woman

8 But Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. ² At dawn, He came again into the Temple. All the people were coming to Him, and He sat down and began to teach them.

³ The Torah scholars and Pharisees bring in a woman who had been caught in adultery. After putting her in the middle, ⁴ they say to Yeshua, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of committing adultery. ⁵ In the Torah, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do You say?” ⁶ Now they were saying this to trap Him, so that they would have grounds to accuse Him.

But Yeshua knelt down and started writing in the dirt with His finger. ⁷ When they kept asking Him, He stood up and said, “The sinless one among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Then He knelt down again and continued writing on the ground.

⁹ Now when they heard, they began to leave, one by one, the oldest ones first, until Yeshua was left alone with the woman in the middle. ¹⁰ Straightening up, Yeshua said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”

¹¹ “No one, Sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Yeshua said. “Go, and sin no more.”

Advice from Jacob and the Elders

¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us gladly. ¹⁸ On the next day, Paul went in with us to Jacob; all the elders were present. ¹⁹ After greeting them, he reported to them in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his service. ²⁰ And when they heard, they began glorifying God.

They said, “You see, brother, how many myriads there are among the Jewish people who have believed—and they are all zealous for the Torah. ²¹ They have been told about you—that you teach all the Jewish people among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to walk according to the customs. ²² What’s to be done then? No doubt they will hear that you have come.

²³ “So do what we tell you. We have four men who have a vow on themselves. ^{[a] 24} Take them, and purify yourself^[b] along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. That way, all will realize there is nothing to the things they have been told about you, but that you yourself walk in an orderly manner, keeping the Torah.

²⁵ “As for Gentiles who have believed, however, we have written by letter what we decided—for them to abstain from what is offered to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from immorality.”

²⁶ The next day Paul took the men, purifying himself along with them. He went into the Temple, announcing when the days of purification would be completed and the sacrifice would be offered for each one of them.

Trouble at the Temple

²⁷ When the seven days were about to be completed, the Jewish leaders from Asia^[c] saw Paul in the Temple and began stirring up the whole crowd. They grabbed him, ²⁸ shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching all men everywhere against our people and the Torah and this place. Besides, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and defiled^[d] this holy place!”

²⁹ For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the Temple. ³⁰ The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the Temple, and the gates were shut at once.

³¹ As they were trying to kill him, news came to the commander of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in chaos. ³² Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and rushed down to them. Upon seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.