Time Passes; Heads of Provinces

11 Now ^(A)the leaders of the people lived in Jerusalem, but the rest of the people ^(B)cast lots to bring one out of ten to live in Jerusalem, ^(C)the holy city, while nine-tenths remained in the other cities. ² And the people blessed all the men who ^(D)volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

^3 (E)Now these are the heads of the provinces who lived in Jerusalem, but in the cities of Judah ^(F)each lived on his own property in their cities—the ^[a]Israelites, the priests, the Levites, the ^[b](G)temple servants, and the ^[c](H)descendants of Solomon’s servants. ⁴ Some of the sons of Judah and some of the sons of Benjamin lived in Jerusalem. From the sons of Judah: Athaiah the son of Uzziah, the son of Zechariah, the son of Amariah, the son of Shephatiah, the son of Mahalalel, of the sons of Perez; ⁵ and Maaseiah the son of Baruch, the son of Col-hozeh, the son of Hazaiah, the son of Adaiah, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zechariah, the son of the Shilonite. ⁶ All the sons of Perez who lived in Jerusalem were 468 able men.

⁷ Now these are the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Joed, the son of Pedaiah, the son of Kolaiah, the son of Maaseiah, the son of Ithiel, the son of Jeshaiah; ⁸ and after him Gabbai and Sallai, 928. ⁹ Joel the son of Zichri was their overseer, and Judah the son of Hassenuah was second ^[d]in command of the city.

¹⁰ From the priests: Jedaiah the son of Joiarib, Jachin, ¹¹ Seraiah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the overseer of the house of God, ¹² and their kinsmen who did the work of the ^[e]temple, 822; and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pelaliah, the son of Amzi, the son of Zechariah, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, ¹³ and his kinsmen, heads of fathers’ households, 242; and Amashsai the son of Azarel, the son of Ahzai, the son of Meshillemoth, the son of Immer, ¹⁴ and their brothers, valiant warriors, 128. And their overseer was Zabdiel, the son of ^[f]Haggedolim.

¹⁵ Now from the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Bunni; ¹⁶ and Shabbethai and Jozabad, from the ^[g]leaders of the Levites, who were ^[h]in charge of ^(I)the outside work of the house of God; ¹⁷ and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of ^[i]Zabdi, the son of Asaph, who was the ^[j]leader in beginning the thanksgiving at prayer, and Bakbukiah, the second among his kinsmen; and ^[k]Abda the son of ^[l]Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun. ¹⁸ All the Levites in ^(J)the holy city were 284.

¹⁹ Also the gatekeepers: Akkub, Talmon, and their kinsmen who kept watch at the gates, were 172.

Outside Jerusalem

²⁰ The rest of Israel, of the priests and of the Levites, were in all the cities of Judah, each ^(K)on his own inheritance. ²¹ But ^(L)the temple servants were living in Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were ^[m]in charge of the temple servants.

²² Now ^(M)the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi the son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Mica, from the sons of Asaph, who were the singers for the ^[n]service of the house of God. ^23 (N)For there was a commandment from the king concerning them and a royal command for the singers ^(O)day by day. ²⁴ And Pethahiah the son of Meshezabel, of the sons ^(P)of Zerah the son of Judah, was the ^(Q)king’s ^[o]representative for every matter concerning the people.

²⁵ Now as for the villages with their fields, some of the sons of Judah lived in ^(R)Kiriath-arba and its ^[p]towns, in ^(S)Dibon and its ^[q]towns, and in Jekabzeel and its villages, ²⁶ and in Jeshua, in Moladah, and Beth-pelet, ²⁷ and in Hazar-shual, in Beersheba and its towns, ²⁸ and in Ziklag, in Meconah and in its towns, ²⁹ and in En-rimmon, in Zorah, and in Jarmuth, ³⁰ Zanoah, Adullam, and their villages, Lachish and its fields, Azekah and its towns. So they camped from Beersheba as far as the Valley of Hinnom. ³¹ The sons of Benjamin also lived from Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, at Bethel and its towns, ³² at Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, ³³ Hazor, Ramah, Gittaim, ³⁴ Hadid, Zeboim, Neballat, ³⁵ Lod, and Ono, the Valley of Craftsmen. ³⁶ And from the Levites, some divisions in Judah belonged to Benjamin.

Paul Sails from Miletus

21 Now when ^(A)we had parted from them and had set sail, we ran ^(B)a straight course to Cos, and on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara; ² and having found a ship crossing over to ^(C)Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. ³ When we came in sight of ^(D)Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to ^(E)Syria and landed at ^(F)Tyre; for the ship was to unload its cargo there. ⁴ After looking up ^(G)the disciples, we stayed there for seven days; and they kept telling Paul, ^[a](H)through the Spirit, not to set foot in Jerusalem. ⁵ When ^[b]our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, ^(I)escorted us until we were out of the city. After ^(J)kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. ⁶ Then we boarded the ship, and they returned ^(K)home.

⁷ When we had finished the voyage from ^(L)Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting ^(M)the brothers and sisters, we stayed with them for a day. ⁸ On the next day we left and came to ^(N)Caesarea, and we entered the house of ^(O)Philip the ^(P)evangelist, who was ^(Q)one of the seven, and stayed with him. ⁹ Now this man had four virgin daughters who were ^(R)prophetesses. ¹⁰ As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named ^(S)Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ And he came to us and ^(T)took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This ^(U)is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will ^(V)bind the man who owns this belt and ^(W)hand him over to the Gentiles.’” ¹² When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him ^(X)not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For ^(Y)I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die in Jerusalem for ^(Z)the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴ And since he would not be persuaded, we became quiet, remarking, “^(AA)The will of the Lord be done!”

Paul in Jerusalem

¹⁵ After these days we got ready and ^(AB)started on our way up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of ^(AC)the disciples from ^(AD)Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of ^(AE)Cyprus, a ^(AF)disciple of long standing with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷ After we arrived in Jerusalem, ^(AG)the brothers and sisters received us gladly. ¹⁸ And the following day Paul went in with us to ^[c](AH)James, and all ^(AI)the elders were present. ¹⁹ After he had greeted them, he ^(AJ)began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ^(AK)ministry. ²⁰ And when they heard about them, they began ^(AL)glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many ^[d]thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all ^(AM)zealous for the Law; ²¹ and they have been told about you, that you are ^(AN)teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them ^(AO)not to circumcise their children nor to ^[e]walk according to ^(AP)the customs. ²² So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ Therefore, do ^[f]as we tell you: we have four men who ^(AQ)have a ^[g]vow upon themselves; ²⁴ take them along and ^(AR)purify yourself together with them, and ^[h]pay their expenses so that they may ^(AS)shave their ^[i]heads; and then everyone will know that there is nothing to what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also conform, keeping the Law. ²⁵ But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, ^(AT)having decided that they should abstain from ^[j]meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is ^[k]strangled, and from sexual immorality.” ²⁶ Then Paul ^[l]took along the men, and the next day, after ^(AU)purifying himself together with them, he ^(AV)went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

Paul Seized in the Temple

²⁷ When ^(AW)the seven days were almost over, ^(AX)the Jews from ^[m](AY)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! ^(AZ)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 ^(BA)defiled this holy place!” ²⁹ For they had previously seen ^(BB)Trophimus the ^(BC)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 ^[n]the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they ^(BD)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 ^(BE)Roman ^[o]cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ³² He immediately ^(BF)took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to ^[p]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 ^(BG)bound with ^(BH)two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ But among the crowd, ^(BI)some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the ^[q]facts because of the uproar, he ordered that ^[r]Paul be brought into ^(BJ)the barracks. ³⁵ When Paul got to ^(BK)the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the ^[s]mob; ³⁶ for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “^(BL)Away with him!”

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into ^(BM)the barracks, he *said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸ Then you are not ^(BN)the Egyptian who some ^[t]time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^(BO)into the wilderness?” ³⁹ But Paul said, “^(BP)I am a Jew of Tarsus in ^(BQ)Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰ When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on ^(BR)the stairs, ^(BS)motioned to the people with his hand; and when there ^[u]was a great silence, he spoke to them in the ^[v](BT)Hebrew dialect, saying,