New Testament in a Year
18 The next day, Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, Paul[a] related one by one the things that God had done among the gentiles through his ministry. 20 When they heard about it, they praised God and told him, “You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and all of them are zealous for the Law. 21 But they have been told about you—that you teach all the Jews living among the gentiles to forsake the Law of Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. 22 What 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. 24 Take these men, go through the purification ceremony with them, and pay their expenses to shave their heads. Then everyone will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you are carefully observing and keeping the Law. 25 As for the gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our decision that they should keep away from food that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood,[b] from anything strangled,[c] and from sexual immorality.”
Paul is Arrested in the Temple
26 Then Paul took those men and the next day purified himself with them. Then he went into the Temple to announce the time when their days of purification would end and when the sacrifice would be offered for each of them. 27 When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul[d] in the Temple, stirred up a large crowd. They grabbed Paul,[e] 28 yelling, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere to turn against our people, the Law, and this place. More than that, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this Holy Place.” 29 For they had earlier seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and assumed that Paul had taken him into the Temple. 30 The whole city was in chaos. The people rushed together, grabbed Paul, dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the doors were sealed shut.
31 The crowd[f] was trying to kill Paul[g] when a report reached the tribune of the cohort[h] that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 Immediately the tribune[i] took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the crowd.[j] When the people[k] saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the tribune came up, grabbed Paul,[l] and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He then asked who Paul[m] was and what he had done. 34 Some of the crowd shouted this and some that. Since the tribune[n] couldn’t learn the facts due to the confusion, he ordered Paul[o] to be taken into the barracks. 35 When Paul[p] got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because the mob had become so violent. 36 The crowd of people kept following him and shouting, “Kill him!”
Paul Speaks in His Own Defense
37 Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the tribune, “May I say something to you?”
The tribune[q] asked, “Oh, do you speak Greek? 38 You’re not the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led 4,000 assassins into the desert, are you?”
39 Paul replied, “I’m a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. Please let me speak to the people.” 40 The tribune[r] gave him permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, motioned for the people to be silent. When everyone had quieted down, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language:
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