Jesus Teaches in Parables

13 On that day Jesus had gone out of ^(A)the house and was sitting ^(B)by the sea. ² And large crowds gathered to Him, so ^(C)He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

³ And He told them many things in ^(D)parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; ⁴ and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵ Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil. ⁶ But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. ⁷ Others fell ^[a]among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. ⁸ But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a ^(E)hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much. ^9 (F)The one who has ears, ^[b]let him hear.”

An Explanation for Parables

¹⁰ And the disciples came up and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And ^[c]Jesus answered them, “^(G)To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. ^12 (H)For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while ^(I)seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ And ^[d]in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

^16 (L)But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. ¹⁷ For truly I say to you that ^(M)many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

The Sower Explained

¹⁸ “^(N)Listen then to the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears ^(O)the ^[i]word of the kingdom and does not understand it, ^(P)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one sown with seed beside the road. ²⁰ The one sown with seed on the rocky places, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution occurs because of the ^[j]word, immediately he ^[k](Q)falls away. ²² And the one sown with seed among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the anxiety of ^(R)the ^[l]world and the ^(S)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it ^[m]becomes unfruitful. ²³ But the one sown with seed on the good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces, some ^(T)a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much.”

Weeds among Wheat

²⁴ Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “^(U)The kingdom of heaven ^[n]is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed ^[o]weeds among the wheat, and left. ²⁶ And when the ^[p]wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also became evident. ²⁷ And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? ^[q]How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ And he said to them, ‘^[r]An enemy has done this!’ The slaves *said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ ²⁹ But he *said, ‘No; while you are gathering up the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the weeds and bind them in bundles to burn them; but ^(V)gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The Mustard Seed

³¹ He presented another parable to them, saying, “^(W)The kingdom of heaven is like ^(X)a mustard seed, which a person took and sowed in his field; ³² and this is smaller than all the other seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that ^(Y)the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.”

The Leaven

³³ He spoke another parable to them: “^(Z)The kingdom of heaven is like ^[s]leaven, which a woman took and hid in ^(AA)three ^[t]sata of flour until it was all leavened.”

³⁴ All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak anything to them ^(AB)without a parable. ³⁵ This was so that what was spoken through the prophet would be ^[u]fulfilled:

The Weeds Explained

³⁶ Then He left the crowds and went into ^(AD)the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “^(AE)Explain to us the parable of the ^[v]weeds of the field.” ³⁷ And He said, “The one who sows the good seed is ^(AF)the Son of Man, ³⁸ and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are ^(AG)the sons of the kingdom; and the weeds are ^(AH)the sons of ^(AI)the evil one; ³⁹ and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is ^(AJ)the ^[w]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. ⁴⁰ So just as the weeds are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at ^(AK)the ^[x]end of the age. ^41 (AL)The Son of Man ^(AM)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom ^[y]all ^(AN)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, ⁴² and they ^(AO)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(AP)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ^43 (AQ)Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ^(AR)The one who has ears, ^[z]let him hear.

Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴ “^(AS)The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from ^[aa]joy over it he goes and ^(AT)sells everything that he has, and buys that field.

A Costly Pearl

⁴⁵ “Again, ^(AU)the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, ⁴⁶ and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold everything that he had and bought it.

A Dragnet

⁴⁷ “Again, ^(AV)the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; ⁴⁸ and when it was filled, they pulled it up on the beach; and they sat down and gathered the good fish into containers, but the bad they threw away. ⁴⁹ So it will be at ^(AW)the ^[ab]end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous, ⁵⁰ and they ^(AX)will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place ^(AY)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

⁵¹ “Have you understood all these things?” They *said to Him, “Yes.” ⁵² And ^[ac]Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure new things and old.”

Jesus Revisits Nazareth

^53 (AZ)When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. ⁵⁴ And ^(BA)He came to ^[ad]His hometown and ^(BB)began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that ^(BC)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these ^[ae]miraculous powers? ⁵⁵ Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is ^(BD)His mother not called Mary, and His ^(BE)brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶ And ^(BF)His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man acquire all these things?” ⁵⁷ And they took ^(BG)offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “^(BH)A prophet is not dishonored except in his ^[af]hometown and in his own household.” ⁵⁸ And He did not do many ^[ag]miracles there because of their unbelief.

John the Baptist Beheaded

14 ^[ah](BI)At that time ^[ai](BJ)Herod ^[aj]the tetrarch heard the news about Jesus, ² and said to his servants, “^(BK)This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ For when ^(BL)Herod had John arrested, he bound him and put him ^(BM)in prison because of ^(BN)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. ⁴ For John had been saying to him, “^(BO)It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Although Herod wanted to put him to death, he feared the crowd, because they regarded ^[ak]John as ^(BP)a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of ^(BQ)Herodias danced ^[al]before them and pleased ^(BR)Herod, ⁷ so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ And after being prompted by her mother, she *said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” ⁹ And although he was grieved, the king commanded it to be given because of his oaths and ^[am]his dinner guests. ¹⁰ He sent word and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. ^12 [an]John’s disciples came and took away the body and buried ^[ao]it; and they went and reported to Jesus.

Five Thousand Men Fed

^13 (BS)Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the ^[ap]people heard about this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. ¹⁴ When He came ^[aq]ashore, He ^(BT)saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and ^(BU)healed their sick.

¹⁵ Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is secluded and the hour is already past to eat; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” ¹⁶ But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go; you give them something to eat!” ¹⁷ They *said to Him, “We have nothing here except ^(BV)five loaves and two fish.” ¹⁸ And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” ¹⁹ And ordering the crowds to ^[ar]sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He ^(BW)blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ²⁰ And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full ^(BX)baskets. ²¹ There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^22 (BY)Immediately afterward He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. ²³ After He had sent the crowds away, ^(BZ)He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. ²⁴ But the boat was already ^[as]a long distance from the land, ^[at]battered by the waves; for the wind was ^[au](CA)contrary. ²⁵ And in ^(CB)the ^[av]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is ^(CC)a ghost!” And they cried out ^[aw]in fear. ²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “^(CD)Take courage, ^[ax]it is I; ^(CE)do not be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter responded and said to Him, “Lord, if ^[ay]it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” ²⁹ And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “^(CF)You of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. ³³ And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly ^(CG)God’s Son!”

^34 (CH)When they had crossed over, they came to land at ^(CI)Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place ^[az]recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding region and brought to Him all who were sick; ³⁶ and they pleaded with Him that they might just touch ^(CJ)the ^[ba]border of His cloak; and all who ^(CK)touched it were cured.

Paul in Ephesus

19 Now it happened that while ^(A)Apollos was in ^(B)Corinth, Paul passed through the ^(C)upper country and came to ^(D)Ephesus, and found some disciples. ² He said to them, “^(E)Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, ^(F)we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “^(G)Into John’s baptism.” ⁴ Paul said, “^(H)John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people ^(I)to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵ When they heard this, they were ^(J)baptized ^[a]in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul had ^(K)laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began ^(L)speaking with tongues and ^(M)prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

⁸ And he entered ^(N)the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them ^(O)about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But when ^(P)some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of ^[b](Q)the Way before the ^[c]people, he withdrew from them and took ^(R)the disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This took place for ^(S)two years, so that all who lived in ^[d](T)Asia heard ^(U)the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles at Ephesus

¹¹ God was performing ^(V)extraordinary ^[e]miracles by the hands of Paul, ^12 (W)so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and ^(X)the evil spirits went out. ¹³ But also some of the Jewish ^(Y)exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to ^[f]use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!” ¹⁴ Now there were seven sons of ^[g]Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶ And the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷ This became known to all who lived in ^(Z)Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. ¹⁸ Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. ¹⁹ And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of ^[h]the books and found it to be fifty thousand ^[i](AA)pieces of silver. ²⁰ So ^[j](AB)the word of the Lord ^(AC)was growing and prevailing mightily.

²¹ Now after these things were finished, Paul resolved in ^[k]the Spirit to ^(AD)go to Jerusalem ^(AE)after he had passed through ^(AF)Macedonia and ^(AG)Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, ^(AH)I must also see Rome.” ²² And after he sent into ^(AI)Macedonia two of ^(AJ)those who assisted him, ^(AK)Timothy and ^(AL)Erastus, he himself stayed in ^[l](AM)Asia for a while.

²³ About that time ^[m]a major disturbance occurred in regard to ^[n](AN)the Way. ²⁴ For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of ^[o]Artemis, ^(AO)was bringing ^[p]considerable ^[q]business to the craftsmen; ²⁵ he gathered these men together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity ^[r]depends upon this business. ²⁶ You see and hear that not only in ^(AP)Ephesus, but in almost all of ^[s](AQ)Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that ^[t](AR)gods made by hands are not gods at all. ²⁷ Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess ^[u]Artemis will be regarded as worthless, and that she whom all of ^[v](AS)Asia and ^(AT)the ^[w]world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

²⁸ When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began shouting, saying, “Great is ^[x]Artemis of the ^(AU)Ephesians!” ²⁹ The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging along ^(AV)Gaius and ^(AW)Aristarchus, Paul’s ^(AX)Macedonian traveling ^(AY)companions. ³⁰ And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, ^(AZ)the disciples would not let him. ³¹ Also some of the ^[y]Asiarchs who were friends of his sent word to him and repeatedly urged him not to ^[z]venture into the theater. ^32 (BA)So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the ^[aa]assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know ^[ab]for what reason they had come together. ³³ Some of the crowd ^[ac]concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having ^(BB)motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly. ³⁴ But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is ^[ad]Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ After quieting the crowd, the town clerk *said, “Men of ^(BC)Ephesus, what person is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great ^[ae]Artemis and of the image which fell down from ^[af]the sky? ³⁶ So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. ³⁷ For you have brought these men here who are neither ^(BD)temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸ So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and ^[ag](BE)proconsuls are available; have them bring charges against one another. ³⁹ But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the ^[ah]lawful ^[ai]assembly. ⁴⁰ For indeed, we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real reason for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.” ⁴¹ After saying this he dismissed the ^[aj]assembly.

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

20 After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for ^(BF)the disciples, and when he had ^[ak]encouraged them and taken his leave of them, he left ^(BG)to go to ^(BH)Macedonia. ² When he had gone through those regions and had given them much ^[al]encouragement, he came to Greece. ³ And there he spent three months, and when ^(BI)a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for ^(BJ)Syria, he decided to return through ^(BK)Macedonia. ⁴ And ^[am]he was accompanied by Sopater of ^(BL)Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by ^(BM)Aristarchus and Secundus of the ^(BN)Thessalonians, and ^(BO)Gaius of ^(BP)Derbe, and ^(BQ)Timothy, and ^(BR)Tychicus and ^(BS)Trophimus of ^[an](BT)Asia. ⁵ Now these had gone on ahead and were waiting for ^(BU)us at ^(BV)Troas. ^6 (BW)We sailed from ^(BX)Philippi after ^[ao](BY)the days of Unleavened Bread, and reached them at ^(BZ)Troas within five days; and we stayed there for seven days.

⁷ On ^(CA)the first day of the week, when ^(CB)we were gathered together to ^(CC)break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his ^[ap]message until midnight. ⁸ There were many ^(CD)lamps in the ^(CE)upstairs room where we were gathered together. ⁹ And there was a young man named ^[aq]Eutychus sitting ^[ar]on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ But Paul went down and ^(CF)fell upon him, and after embracing him, he ^(CG)said, “^[as]Do not be troubled, for ^[at]he is still alive.” ¹¹ When Paul had gone back up and had ^(CH)broken the bread and ^[au]eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. ¹² They took away the boy alive, and were ^[av]greatly comforted.

Troas to Miletus

¹³ But ^(CI)we went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for that was what he had arranged, intending himself to go ^[aw]by land. ¹⁴ And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. ¹⁵ Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day we came to ^(CJ)Miletus. ¹⁶ For Paul had decided to sail past ^(CK)Ephesus so that he would not have to lose time in ^[ax](CL)Asia; for he was hurrying, if it might be possible for him ^(CM)to be in Jerusalem ^(CN)the day of Pentecost.

Farewell to Ephesus

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent word to ^(CO)Ephesus and called to himself ^(CP)the elders of the church. ¹⁸ And when they came to him, he said to them,

“You yourselves know, ^(CQ)from the first day that I set foot in ^[ay]Asia, how I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came upon me ^[az]through ^(CR)the plots of the Jews; ²⁰ how I ^(CS)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was beneficial, and teaching you publicly and ^[ba]from house to house, ²¹ solemnly ^(CT)testifying to both Jews and Greeks of ^(CU)repentance toward God and ^(CV)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ²² And now, behold, bound by the ^[bb]Spirit, ^(CW)I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³ except that ^(CX)the Holy Spirit solemnly ^(CY)testifies to me in every city, saying that ^(CZ)chains and afflictions await me. ²⁴ But ^(DA)I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may ^(DB)finish my course and ^(DC)the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ^(DD)testify solemnly of the gospel of ^(DE)God’s grace.

²⁵ “And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ^(DF)preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. ²⁶ Therefore, I ^[bc]testify to you this day that ^(DG)I am ^[bd]innocent of the blood of all people. ²⁷ For I ^(DH)did not shrink from declaring to you the whole ^(DI)purpose of God. ²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all ^(DJ)the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you ^[be]overseers, to shepherd ^(DK)the church of God which ^(DL)He ^[bf]purchased ^[bg]with His own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure ^(DM)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ^(DN)the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away ^(DO)the disciples after them. ³¹ Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of ^(DP)three years I did not cease to admonish each one ^(DQ)with tears. ³² And now I ^(DR)entrust you to God and to ^(DS)the word of His grace, which is able to ^(DT)build you up and to give you ^(DU)the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ^33 (DV)I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. ³⁴ You yourselves know that ^(DW)these hands served my own needs and the ^(DX)men who were with me. ³⁵ In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ When he had said these things, he ^(DY)knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ And ^[bh]they all began to weep aloud and ^[bi](DZ)embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, ^38 [bj]grieving especially over ^(EA)the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were ^(EB)accompanying him to the ship.

Paul Sails from Miletus

21 Now when ^(EC)we had parted from them and had set sail, we ran ^(ED)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 ^(EE)Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. ³ When we came in sight of ^(EF)Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to ^(EG)Syria and landed at ^(EH)Tyre; for the ship was to unload its cargo there. ⁴ After looking up ^(EI)the disciples, we stayed there for seven days; and they kept telling Paul, ^[bk](EJ)through the Spirit, not to set foot in Jerusalem. ⁵ When ^[bl]our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, ^(EK)escorted us until we were out of the city. After ^(EL)kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. ⁶ Then we boarded the ship, and they returned ^(EM)home.

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

Paul in Jerusalem

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

¹⁷ After we arrived in Jerusalem, ^(FI)the brothers and sisters received us gladly. ¹⁸ And the following day Paul went in with us to ^[bm](FJ)James, and all ^(FK)the elders were present. ¹⁹ After he had greeted them, he ^(FL)began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ^(FM)ministry. ²⁰ And when they heard about them, they began ^(FN)glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many ^[bn]thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all ^(FO)zealous for the Law; ²¹ and they have been told about you, that you are ^(FP)teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them ^(FQ)not to circumcise their children nor to ^[bo]walk according to ^(FR)the customs. ²² So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ Therefore, do ^[bp]as we tell you: we have four men who ^(FS)have a ^[bq]vow upon themselves; ²⁴ take them along and ^(FT)purify yourself together with them, and ^[br]pay their expenses so that they may ^(FU)shave their ^[bs]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, ^(FV)having decided that they should abstain from ^[bt]meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is ^[bu]strangled, and from sexual immorality.” ²⁶ Then Paul ^[bv]took along the men, and the next day, after ^(FW)purifying himself together with them, he ^(FX)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 ^(FY)the seven days were almost over, ^(FZ)the Jews from ^[bw](GA)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! ^(GB)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 ^(GC)defiled this holy place!” ²⁹ For they had previously seen ^(GD)Trophimus the ^(GE)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 ^[bx]the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they ^(GF)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 ^(GG)Roman ^[by]cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ³² He immediately ^(GH)took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to ^[bz]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 ^(GI)bound with ^(GJ)two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ But among the crowd, ^(GK)some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the ^[ca]facts because of the uproar, he ordered that ^[cb]Paul be brought into ^(GL)the barracks. ³⁵ When Paul got to ^(GM)the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the ^[cc]mob; ³⁶ for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “^(GN)Away with him!”

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into ^(GO)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 ^(GP)the Egyptian who some ^[cd]time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^(GQ)into the wilderness?” ³⁹ But Paul said, “^(GR)I am a Jew of Tarsus in ^(GS)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 ^(GT)the stairs, ^(GU)motioned to the people with his hand; and when there ^[ce]was a great silence, he spoke to them in the ^[cf](GV)Hebrew dialect, saying,