Acts 20:17-38
Christian Standard Bible
Farewell Address to the Ephesian Elders
17 Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and summoned the elders of the church. 18 When they came to him, he said to them, “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,(A) 19 serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and during the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews.(B) 20 You know that I did not hesitate to proclaim anything to you that was profitable and to teach you publicly and from house to house. 21 I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God(C) and faith in our Lord Jesus.(D)
22 “And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, compelled by the Spirit,[a] not knowing what I will encounter there,(E) 23 except that in every town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.(F) 24 But I consider my life of no value to myself; my purpose is to finish my course[b] and the ministry(G) I received from the Lord Jesus,(H) to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.
25 “And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see me again. 26 Therefore I declare to you this day that I am innocent[c] of the blood of all of you,(I) 27 because I did not avoid declaring to you the whole plan of God.(J) 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock(K) of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers,(L) to shepherd the church of God,[d] which he purchased with his own blood.(M) 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.(N) 31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I never stopped warning each one of you with tears.(O)
32 “And now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace,(P) which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance(Q) among all who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.(R) 34 You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who are with me.(S) 35 In every way I’ve shown you that it is necessary to help the weak by laboring like this and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, because he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36 After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.(T) 37 There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.(U)
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Acts 20:17-38
Lexham English Bible
Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders
17 And from Miletus he sent word[a] to Ephesus and[b] summoned the elders of the church. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them, “You know from the first day on which I set foot in Asia[c] how I was the whole time with you— 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews— 20 how I did not shrink from proclaiming to you anything that would be profitable, and from teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks with respect to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 “And now behold, bound by the Spirit I am traveling to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there,[d] 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in town after town, saying that bonds and persecutions await me. 24 But I consider my[e] life as worth nothing[f] to myself, in order to finish my mission and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 “And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about proclaiming the kingdom, will see my face no more. 26 Therefore I testify to you on this very day that I am guiltless of the blood of all of you,[g] 27 for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the whole purpose of God. 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he obtained through the blood of his own Son.[h] 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 And from among you yourselves men will arise, speaking perversions of the truth[i] in order to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you[j] with tears.
32 “And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you[k] up and to give you[l] the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have desired no one’s silver or gold or clothing! 34 You yourselves know that these hands served to meet[m] my needs and the needs of[n] those who were with me. 35 I have shown you with respect to all things that by[o] working hard in this way it is necessary to help those who are in need, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”[p]
36 And when he[q] had said these things, he fell to his knees and[r] prayed with them all. 37 And there was considerable weeping by all, and hugging[s] Paul, they kissed him, 38 especially distressed at the statement that he had said, that they were going to see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Acts 20:17 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 20:17 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“sent”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 20:18 A reference to the Roman province of Asia (modern Asia Minor)
- Acts 20:22 Literally “in it”
- Acts 20:24 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
- Acts 20:24 Or “not a single word”; literally “not any thing”
- Acts 20:26 *The words “of you” are not in the Greek text but are implied
- Acts 20:28 Or “through his own blood”; the Greek construction can be taken either way, with “Son” implied if the meaning is “through the blood of his own”
- Acts 20:30 Literally “crooked things”
- Acts 20:31 The words “of you” are not in the Greek text but are implied
- Acts 20:32 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 20:32 Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation
- Acts 20:34 The words “to meet” are not in the Greek text but are supplied for clarity
- Acts 20:34 The words “the needs of” are supplied in keeping with English style to maintain the parallelism with the earlier phrase “my needs”
- Acts 20:35 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“working hard”) which is understood as means
- Acts 20:35 Perhaps an allusion to Matt 10:8; these exact words are not found in the NT gospels
- Acts 20:36 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had said”) which is understood as temporal
- Acts 20:36 Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“fell to”) has been translated as a finite verb
- Acts 20:37 Literally “falling on the neck of”
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