⁶ Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers^[a] instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.

⁵ We have found this man to be a troublemaker who is constantly stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the cult known as the Nazarenes.

¹⁹ Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. ²⁰ “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. ²¹ “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.”

²² But we want to hear what you believe, for the only thing we know about this movement is that it is denounced everywhere.”

⁵ Then they became insistent. “But he is causing riots by his teaching wherever he goes—all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem!”

²⁸ yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple—and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles.^[a]” ²⁹ (For earlier that day they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus,^[b] and they assumed Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

³⁰ The whole city was rocked by these accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him. ³¹ As they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

¹² But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, some Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. ¹³ They accused Paul of “persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law.”

²² The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, “Away with such a fellow! He isn’t fit to live!” ²³ They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air.

¹² This roused the people, the elders, and the teachers of religious law. So they arrested Stephen and brought him before the high council.^[a]

¹³ The lying witnesses said, “This man is always speaking against the holy Temple and against the law of Moses.

¹⁴ And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations^[a] will hear it; and then the end will come.