³¹ that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my ministry^[a] to Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints,

² and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not all have faith.

⁴ begging us earnestly for the favor^[a] of partnering in this ministry to the saints,^(A)

The Collection for Christians at Jerusalem

9 Now it is not necessary for me to write you about the ministry to the saints,

²⁵ At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem in a ministry to the saints,^(A)

Paul Visits James at Jerusalem

¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us warmly.^{(A) 18} The next day Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present.^{(B) 19} After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the gentiles through his ministry.^{(C) 20} When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and they are all zealous for the law.^{(D) 21} They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews living among the gentiles to forsake Moses and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. ²² What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.^{(E) 24} Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you but that you yourself observe and guard the law.^{(F) 25} But as for the gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled^[a] and from sexual immorality.”^{(G) 26} Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having purified himself, he entered the temple with them, making public the completion of the days of purification when the sacrifice would be made for each of them.^(H)

Paul Arrested in the Temple

²⁷ When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, who had seen him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd. They seized him,^{(I) 28} shouting, “Fellow Israelites,^[b] help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”^{(J) 29} For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.^{(K) 30} Then all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.^{(L) 31} While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

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)

¹¹ my persecutions, and my sufferings, the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.^(A)

¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets^[a] and drove us out; they displease God and oppose everyone^(A)