Book of Common Prayer

²⁷ The seven days were almost over. The Jewish leaders from Asia Minor saw Paul in the temple. They got all the people there excited. They caught hold of him.

²⁸ They shouted, `All you men of Israel, come and help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere not to respect our people. He says we need not obey the law or respect this temple. And what is more, he has brought Greek people into the temple. He has made this holy place unclean.'

²⁹ They said this because they had seen a man from Ephesus named Trophimus. He was in the city with Paul. And they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰ So all the people in the city were excited. They came running. They caught Paul and took him out of the temple by force. Then the doors were shut behind them.

³¹ They were trying to kill him. The officer in charge of the soldiers heard that all the people of Jerusalem were making trouble.

³² Right away he took some soldiers and officers with him and ran down to the people. When the people saw them they stopped beating Paul.

³³ Then the officer came up and took Paul. He had him tied with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.

³⁴ Some of the crowd shouted one thing and some of them shouted something else. The captain could not find out what was true. The people were shouting too much. So he told his soldiers to take Paul into their army house.

³⁵ When Paul came to the steps, the soldiers carried him because the people were fighting to get him.

³⁶ They were all following, shouting, `Kill him!'

6 Jesus was walking through the grain fields on a Sabbath day. His disciples picked some of the grain as they went along. They cleaned it by rubbing it in their hands, and ate it.

² Some of the Pharisees said, `Why do your disciples do what is not right on the Sabbath day?"

³ Jesus answered them, `Have you not read what David did? He and his men were hungry.

⁴ He went into God's house. Some bread was there for God. But David took the bread and ate it. He also gave some of it to the men who were with him. Only the priests have the right to eat that bread.'

⁵ Jesus said to them, `The Son of Man rules over the Sabbath day.'

⁶ On another Sabbath day, Jesus went into the meeting house and taught. A man was there whose right hand was thin and weak.

⁷ The scribes and Pharisees watched Jesus to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day. They wanted to find something wrong about Jesus.

⁸ But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He spoke to the man whose hand was thin and weak. He said, `Come and stand here in front' The man stood up.

⁹ Jesus said to them, `I ask you, is it right to do good things on the Sabbath day, or to do wrong things? Is it right to heal people so that they will live, or to let them die?'

¹⁰ He looked around at them all. Then he said to the man, `Hold out your hand.' The man did so and it was made well like the other hand.

¹¹ The Pharisees were very angry and they talked together about what they could do to Jesus.