Acts of the Apostles 21

1 When we had taken leave of them we set sail, made a straight run for Cos, and on the next day for Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
2 Finding a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went on board and put out to sea.
3 We caught sight of Cyprus but passed by it on our left and sailed on toward Syria and put in at Tyre where the ship was to unload cargo.
4 There we sought out the disciples and stayed for a week. They kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to embark for Jerusalem.
5 At the end of our stay we left and resumed our journey. All of them, women and children included, escorted us out of the city, and after kneeling on the beach to pray,
6 we bade farewell to one another. Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.
7 We continued the voyage and came from Tyre to Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed a day with them.
8 On the next day we resumed the trip and came to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
9 He had four virgin daughters gifted with prophecy.
10 We had been there several days when a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
11 He came up to us, took Paul's belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, Thus says the holy Spirit: This is the way the Jews will bind the owner of this belt in Jerusalem, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.
12 When we heard this, we and the local residents begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.
13 Then Paul replied, What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? I am prepared not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
14 Since he would not be dissuaded we let the matter rest, saying, The Lord's will be done.
15 After these days we made preparations for our journey, then went up to Jerusalem.
16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea came along to lead us to the house of Mnason, a Cypriot, a disciple of long standing, with whom we were to stay.
17 When we reached Jerusalem the brothers welcomed us warmly.
18 The next day, Paul accompanied us on a visit to James, and all the presbyters were present.
19 He greeted them, then proceeded to tell them in detail what God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 They praised God when they heard it but said to him, Brother, you see how many thousands of believers there are from among the Jews, and they are all zealous observers of the law.
21 They have been informed that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to abandon Moses and that you are telling them not to circumcise their children or to observe their customary practices.
22 What is to be done? They will surely hear that you have arrived.
23 So do what we tell you. We have four men who have taken a vow.
24 Take these men and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses that they may have their heads shaved. In this way everyone will know that there is nothing to the reports they have been given about you but that you yourself live in observance of the law.
25 As for the Gentiles who have come to believe, we sent them our decision that they abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from unlawful marriage.
26 So Paul took the men, and on the next day after purifying himself together with them entered the temple to give notice of the day when the purification would be completed and the offering made for each of them.
27 When the seven days were nearly completed, the Jews from the province of Asia noticed him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and laid hands on him,
28 shouting, Fellow Israelites, help us. This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place, and what is more, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this sacred place.
29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.
30 The whole city was in turmoil with people rushing together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the gates were closed.
31 While they were trying to kill him, a report reached the cohort commander that all Jerusalem was rioting.
32 He immediately took soldiers and centurions and charged down on them. When they saw the commander and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul.
33 The cohort commander came forward, arrested him, and ordered him to be secured with two chains; he tried to find out who he might be and what he had done.
34 Some in the mob shouted one thing, others something else; so, since he was unable to ascertain the truth because of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be brought into the compound.
35 When he reached the steps, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob,
36 for a crowd of people followed and shouted, Away with him!
37 Just as Paul was about to be taken into the compound, he said to the cohort commander, May I say something to you? He replied, Do you speak Greek?
38 So then you are not the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led the four thousand assassins into the desert?
39 Paul answered, I am a Jew, of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; I request you to permit me to speak to the people.
40 When he had given his permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people; and when all was quiet he addressed them in Hebrew.

Acts of the Apostles 22

1 My brothers and fathers, listen to what I am about to say to you in my defense.
2 When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew they became all the more quiet. And he continued,
3 I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
4 I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.
5 Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there as well.
6 On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.
7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
8 I replied, 'Who are you, sir?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.'
9 My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.
10 I asked, 'What shall I do, sir?' The Lord answered me, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do.'
11 Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light, I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.
12 A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law, and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,
13 came to me and stood there and said, 'Saul, my brother, regain your sight.' And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him.
14 Then he said, 'The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice;
15 for you will be his witness before all to what you have seen and heard.
16 Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.'
17 After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance
18 and saw the Lord saying to me, 'Hurry, leave Jerusalem at once, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'
19 But I replied, 'Lord, they themselves know that from synagogue to synagogue I used to imprison and beat those who believed in you.
20 And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I myself stood by giving my approval and keeping guard over the cloaks of his murderers.'
21 Then he said to me, 'Go, I shall send you far away to the Gentiles.'
22 They listened to him until he said this, but then they raised their voices and shouted, Take such a one as this away from the earth. It is not right that he should live.
23 And as they were yelling and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,
24 the cohort commander ordered him to be brought into the compound and gave instruction that he be interrogated under the lash to determine the reason why they were making such an outcry against him.
25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion on duty, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and has not been tried?
26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the cohort commander and reported it, saying, What are you going to do? This man is a Roman citizen.
27 Then the commander came and said to him, Tell me, are you a Roman citizen? Yes, he answered.
28 The commander replied, I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money. Paul said, But I was born one.
29 At once those who were going to interrogate him backed away from him, and the commander became alarmed when he realized that he was a Roman citizen and that he had had him bound.
30 The next day, wishing to determine the truth about why he was being accused by the Jews, he freed him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene. Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them.