Acts 21:31-39

English Standard Version

^31 (A)And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of ^(B)the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ^32 (C)He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him ^(D)to be bound ^(E)with two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. ^34 (F)Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into ^(G)the barracks. ³⁵ And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, ³⁶ for the mob of the people followed, crying out, ^(H)“Away with him!”

Paul Speaks to the People

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸ Are you not ^(I)the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^(J)into the wilderness?” ³⁹ Paul replied, ^(K)“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.”