²⁷ When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul^[a] in the Temple, stirred up a large crowd. They grabbed Paul,^{[b] 28} yelling, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere to turn against our people, the Law, and this place. More than that, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this Holy Place.” ²⁹ For they had earlier seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and assumed that Paul had taken him into the Temple. ³⁰ The whole city was in chaos. The people rushed together, grabbed Paul, dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the doors were sealed shut.

³¹ The crowd^[c] was trying to kill Paul^[d] when a report reached the tribune of the cohort^[e] that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² Immediately the tribune^[f] took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the crowd.^[g] When the people^[h] saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the tribune came up, grabbed Paul,^[i] and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He then asked who Paul^[j] was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some of the crowd shouted this and some that. Since the tribune^[k] couldn’t learn the facts due to the confusion, he ordered Paul^[l] to be taken into the barracks. ³⁵ When Paul^[m] got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because the mob had become so violent. ³⁶ The crowd of people kept following him and shouting, “Kill him!”