¹¹ That night the Lord stood near him and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.”^(A)

The Riot in Ephesus

²¹ Now after these things had been accomplished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to go on to Jerusalem. He said, “After I have gone there, I must also see Rome.”^(A)

⁹ One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent,^(A)

¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.^(A)

²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”^(A)

¹³ so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard^[a] and to everyone else that my imprisonment is for Christ,

¹⁵ hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Power of the Gospel

¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is God’s saving power for everyone who believes,^[a] for the Jew first and also for the Greek.^(A)

Paul Preaches in Rome

²³ After they had set a day to meet with him, they came to him at his lodgings in great numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. ²⁴ Some were convinced by what he had said, while others refused to believe. ²⁵ So they disagreed with each other, and as they were leaving Paul made one further statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah,