Paul Seized in the Temple

27 When (A)the seven days were almost over, (B)the Jews from [a](C)Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! (D)This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has (E)defiled this holy place!” 29 For they had previously seen (F)Trophimus the (G)Ephesian in the city with him, and they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then the whole city was provoked and [b]the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they (H)dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 31 While they were intent on killing him, a report came up to the commander of the (I)Roman [c]cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 He immediately (J)took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to [d]the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be (K)bound with (L)two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. 34 But among the crowd, (M)some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the [e]facts because of the uproar, he ordered that [f]Paul be brought into (N)the barracks. 35 When Paul got to (O)the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the [g]mob; 36 for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “(P)Away with him!”

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 21:27 I.e., west coast province of Asia Minor
  2. Acts 21:30 Lit a running together of the people occurred
  3. Acts 21:31 Normally 600 men (the number varied)
  4. Acts 21:32 Lit them
  5. Acts 21:34 Lit certainty
  6. Acts 21:34 Lit he
  7. Acts 21:35 Lit crowd

27 The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him, 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. 32 He immediately called out his soldiers and officers[c] and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul.

33 Then the commander arrested him and ordered him bound with two chains. He asked the crowd who he was and what he had done. 34 Some shouted one thing and some another. Since he couldn’t find out the truth in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered that Paul be taken to the fortress. 35 As Paul reached the stairs, the mob grew so violent the soldiers had to lift him to their shoulders to protect him. 36 And the crowd followed behind, shouting, “Kill him, kill him!”

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Footnotes

  1. 21:28 Greek Greeks.
  2. 21:29 Greek Trophimus, the Ephesian.
  3. 21:32 Greek centurions.