Acts 21
New Catholic Bible
From Jerusalem to Rome[a]
Chapter 21
Last Journey to Jerusalem[b]
Arrival at Tyre. 1 When we[c] had finally torn ourselves away from them and set sail, we traveled directly to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 There, we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, so we went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus, we passed by it on our left and sailed to Syria, landing at Tyre where the ship was to unload her cargo.
4 We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them for seven days. Through the Spirit, they advised Paul to abandon his plans to move on to Jerusalem. 5 However, when our time with them was ended, we left and continued on our journey. All of them, including women and children, escorted us outside the city. Kneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6 and then bid farewell to one another. Afterward, we boarded the ship and they returned home.
Arrival at Ptolemais and Caesarea. 7 We finished our voyage from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brethren and stayed with them for one day. 8 On the next day, we left and came to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven,[d] and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who possessed the gift of prophecy.
10 After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. 11 He came up to us, took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ”
12 When we heard this, we joined with the people who lived there in begging Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 Since he would not be dissuaded, we finally gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Various Events and Paul’s Defenses at Jerusalem
15 Paul Is Welcomed by the Elders.[e] At the end of our stay, we made preparations and went up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, one of the early disciples, with whom we were to stay.
17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren gave us a warm welcome. 18 On the next day, Paul paid a visit to James. We accompanied him, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard this, they gave praise to God. Then they said to Paul, “You can see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and all of them are zealous upholders of the Law. 21 They have been informed in your regard that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or to observe their custom. 22 What then is to be done? They are sure to hear that you have arrived.
23 “This is what we suggest that you do. We have four men here who are under a vow. 24 Take these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay the expenses involved with the shaving of their heads. In this way, all will know that there is nothing in these reports they have been given about you and that you observe the Law. 25 As for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have informed them of our decision that they must abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything that has been strangled, and from unchastity.”
26 Therefore, on the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. He then entered the temple to give notice of the date when the period of purification would end and the offerings would be made for each of them.
27 Paul’s Arrest in the Temple.[f] When the seven days were nearly over, the Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple. Stirring up the whole crowd, they seized him, 28 shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, the Law, and this place. What is more, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” 29 They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.
30 Thus, the entire city was in turmoil, and people came running from all directions. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and the gates were then shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 Immediately, he took soldiers and centurions with him and charged down on them.
When the Jews saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander came forward, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Next he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another; and since the commander could not arrive at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35 When he came to the steps, the violence of the crowd was so intense that he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”
37 Just as he was about to be taken into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” The commander replied, “So you speak Greek? 38 Then you are not the Egyptian[g] who recently started a revolt and led the four thousand assassins into the desert.” 39 Paul asserted, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city. May I have your permission to speak to the people?” 40 When the permission was granted, Paul stood on the steps and raised his hand to the people for silence. As soon as quiet was restored, he started speaking to them in Aramaic.[h]
Footnotes
- Acts 21:1 The period of missionary journeys is over. The new series of events begins in Jerusalem with an address of the elders of the community to Paul (Acts 21:20-26), followed by an address of Paul to the people (Acts 22:1-21). Then follows a series of four trials, of increasing importance, in Jerusalem and in Caesarea (Acts 23:1ff; 24:1ff; 25:1ff; 26:1ff). In this suffering of Paul, which makes him, like every martyr, a sharer in the suffering of Jesus, the basic theme of the discourses, almost their very reason for being, is the resurrection. Finally, there is the journey to Rome. In the capital of the Empire, the decisive turning point comes. Paul henceforth addresses himself to the Gentiles without any longer taking account of the privilege of the Jews to be the first to receive the message (Acts 28:28).
- Acts 21:1 This is the third “we-section” (see note on Acts 16:9-15).
- Acts 21:1 Right from the beginning, the presence of the Spirit is apparent. It is he who urges Paul toward his destiny, and his presence is signified by the prophets who discuss the hour from which all want to save Paul. The assembly takes up the words of our Lord in the Garden of Olives: “The Lord’s will be done” (v. 14).
- Acts 21:8 Seven: see Acts 6:2-4.
- Acts 21:15 The elders extend a cordial but anxious welcome. Paul gives the community of Jerusalem an account of his mission, and the Church offers thanks. In this Jewish city, in a community presided over by James, a relative of Jesus deeply attached to Judaism, Paul accepts to live in the Jewish manner—in accord with his dictum: “I have become all things to all” (1 Cor 9:22). He must also give proof of his good faith: if he does not impose the practices of Judaism on Gentiles, he does not on the other hand wish to turn away those of Jewish origin from those practices.
In fact, Paul does not blame Jewish practices but those who insist on making them the condition of salvation. As a Jew himself, he loyally consents to perform a typically Jewish act of devotion: he joins a group of pilgrims who have taken a Nazirite vow (see Acts 18:18); at the appointed time he will come to be purified in the temple in accord with the prescriptions of the Law (Num 6:1-21) and will even pay the expenses. The Book of Acts does not say anything about Paul bringing the collection of the Churches to this mother community that has fallen in need. - Acts 21:27 Now the time for imprisonment and captivity has arrived, sparked by a misunderstanding. The Jews come to believe that Paul is bringing into the temple a non-Jew—someone who is forbidden under penalty of death from entering the inner courts. Hence, a cry of sacrilege rings out. In reality, hatred is about to explode. Judaism has felt the jolt of a nascent Christianity and has reacted defensively to it. This reflexive sentiment has already been at work against Stephen (see Acts 6:11-14), and the same accusations were formulated against Jesus (Mt 26:61; 27:40; Mk 14:58; 15:29).
The defensive reaction is a violent, irrational, and almost visceral one. It has to be such in order that the Christian originality may be manifest and that one may know what to hold on to. The commander of the cohort, who watches the temple from the fortress installed at the north-west corner, intervenes to prevent a riot. The soldiers believe they are arresting a nationalist extremist. Luke stresses once more that neither Paul nor Christians have ever been involved in a subversive plot against the Empire. - Acts 21:38 The Egyptian: in A.D. 54, an Egyptian agitator, Ben Stada, had stirred up the Jewish nationalists to whom reference is made here, as we know from the historian Flavius Josephus. The Roman authorities were forced to put down the riot, and thousands were killed. Assassins: literally, sicarii, violent nationalists who carried a short dagger, called sica in Latin, and did not hesitate to use it.
- Acts 21:40 Aramaic: the language spoken by Jews at this time; Hebrew was no longer spoken or understood by the people after the Babylonian exile (587 B.C.).
Acts 21
Revised Geneva Translation
21 And as we launched forth, and had left them, we set a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
2 And we found a ship that went over to Phoenicia, and went aboard, and set forth.
3 And when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left side, and sailed toward Syria, and arrived at Tyre. For there the ship unloaded its cargo.
4 And when we had found disciples, we remained there for seven days. And through the Spirit, they told Paul that he should not go up to Jerusalem.
5 But when those days had ended, we departed and went our way. And they all, with their wives and children, accompanied us until we were out of the city. And we kneeled down on the shore and prayed.
6 Then, after we had embraced one another, we boarded the ship. And they returned home.
7 And when we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and greeted the brothers, and stayed with them for one day.
8 And the next day, Paul (and we who were with him) left and came to Caesarea. And we entered into the house of Philip the Evangelist (who was one of the seven) and stayed with him.
9 Now he had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
10 And as we remained there many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came from Judea.
11 And when he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Ghost, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owns this belt, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
12 And when we had heard these things, both we and the residents there begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.
13 Then Paul answered, and said, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready, not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus.”
14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”
15 And after those days, we made ourselves ready and went up to Jerusalem.
16 Some of the disciples of Caesarea also went with us, and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple with whom we were to lodge.
17 And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly.
18 And the next day Paul went in with us to James. And all the elders were assembled there.
19 And after he had embraced them, he told in order all things that God had worked among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 So when they heard it, they glorified God, and said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousand Jews there are who believe. And they are all zealous for the Law.
21 “Now they are informed that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their sons, nor to live after the customs.
22 What then? The multitude must certainly come together. For they shall hear that you have come.
23 Therefore, do what we tell you. We have four men who have made a vow.
24 Take them. And purify yourself with them. And contribute with them, so that they may shave their heads. And all shall know that those things about which they have been informed concerning you, are nothing. And that you yourself also walk and keep the Law.
25 As for the Gentiles who believe, we have written and determined that they should observe no such thing, except that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from that which is strangled, and from fornication.
26 Then the next day Paul took the men, and having been purified with them, entered into the Temple and declared the completion of the days of the purification and that an offering would be offered for each one of them.
27 And when the seven days had almost ended, the Asian Jews (when they saw him in the Temple) incited all the people, and laid hands on him,
28 crying, “Men of Israel! Help! This is the man who teaches against the people, and the Law, and this place - to everyone, everywhere! Moreover, he has brought Greeks into the Temple, and has polluted this holy place!”
29 For they had seen Trophimus (an Ephesian) with him in the city before, whom they assumed that Paul had brought into the Temple.
30 Then all the city was moved, and the people ran together. And they took Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple, and immediately the doors were shut.
31 But as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the chief captain of the band that all Jerusalem was in an uproar;
32 who immediately took soldiers and Centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33 Then the chief captain came near and took him, and commanded that he be bound with two chains, and asked who he was and what he had done.
34 And one cried this, and another that, among the people. So, when he could not discern the veracity because of the uproar, he commanded him to be led into the castle.
35 And when he came to the stairs, it happened that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the people.
36 For the multitude of the people followed them, crying, “Away with him!”
37 And as Paul was being been led into the castle, he said to the chief captain, “May I speak to you?” Who said, “Can you speak Greek?
38 “Are you not the Egyptian who previously led a revolt, and led four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”
39 Then Paul said, “Doubtless, I am a Jew, and a citizen of Tarsus, (a famous city of Cilicia). And I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”
40 And when he had let him, Paul stood on the stairs and beckoned with the hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
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