Last leg of Paul’s voyage home
1After we said goodbye to the Ephesus church leaders, we put out to sea. We set sail on a straight course to the island of Cos. The next day we went to the island of Rhodes. And from there we went on to the coastal city of Patara. [1] 2There we found a ship headed for Phoenicia. [2] So we went aboard and sailed away once again. 3As we sailed southeast we came close enough to the island of Cyprus to see it on our port (left) side. Leaving it behind, we sailed on to Syria. We dropped anchor in the harbor at the city of Tyre. That’s where the ship’s cargo got unloaded. 4We found some believers in the city and stayed there for seven days. The believers had a message for Paul that they said came from the Spirit. The message was that Paul shouldn’t go to Jerusalem. 5At the end of the week, we went back to the ship to continue our voyage. We didn’t go alone. The believers escorted us to the ship. They brought their wives and children too. They followed us out of the town and all the way to the beach. We knelt there and prayed and said our goodbyes. 6They stayed with us until we had to board the ship. Then they went home.7From Tyre we sailed to the coastal city of Ptolemais. Believers greeted us, and we stayed with them for one day. 8We left the next day and sailed to Caesarea. [3] There we went to the home of Philip, known as the evangelist. He was one of seven men the apostles chose to distribute food to the hungry people of Jerusalem. [4] 9Philip had four daughters. None were married, but all prophesied.
10While we were staying with Philip, a prophet named Agabus [5] came down from the Judean hills. 11He came to see us. He took Paul’s belt. He used it to tie up his own hands and feet. He said, “What I just did to myself is what the Holy Spirit says the Jerusalem Jews are going to do to the man who owns this belt. The Jews are going to tie him up and turn him over to people who aren’t Jews.”
12When we heard this, we all pleaded with Paul to stay out of Jerusalem, for heaven’s sake. 13Paul said, “People, what’s up with all this crying? You’re breaking my heart. I’m ready for what’s coming. If they want to tie me up because I’ve been spreading the name of Jesus around, fine with me. I’ll die for Jesus if I have to.”
14When Paul made it clear that we couldn’t talk him out of going to Jerusalem, the room fell silent. When we finally spoke, we simply said, “Whatever the Lord wants.”
Paul arrives in Jerusalem
15When Paul was ready, we left for Jerusalem. 16A group of the Caesarea believers traveled with us. They led us to one of our overnight stops along the way: the home of Mnason, one of the very first converts. He came from the island of Cyprus.17When we finally got to Jerusalem, all the believers there gave us a warm welcome. 18The next day, Paul went with us to visit James. [6] All the Jerusalem church leaders were there. 19Paul greeted them. Then he started telling them stories—one story after another. It was his way of reporting what he saw God doing among non-Jews all over the Roman world.
20By the time Paul stopped talking, the leaders were cheering God. Then they spoke to Paul. “Dear brother, you know that thousands of Jews now believe in Jesus. At the same time, though, they devoutly follow the laws of Moses, like other observant Jews do. 21But some people are telling these local Jewish believers that you’re teaching Jewish believers abroad to forget the laws of Moses, skip circumcision, and retire our traditions. They say you’re telling the Jews they don’t have to be Jews anymore—that they can follow Jesus the same way non-Jews do. 22We have to figure out what to do about this. No doubt they’ll hear about you coming to town. 23Here’s what we’d like you to do. And we’d ask you to please do it. We have four men who have taken a vow. [7] 24Go with them. All of you need to purify yourselves for worship. Paul, we want you to pay for yourself and for each of the men to get your heads shaved as part of the ritual. If you do this, Paul, everyone will see that you respect Jewish traditions and obey the laws. Then they’ll know that the rumors they heard about you are nothing but lies. 25As far as the non-Jewish believers are concerned, we put our position in writing for them. We said they shouldn’t eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols. In addition, they shouldn’t eat or drink blood, or eat the meat of animals that have been strangled. And they should not commit sex sins.”
26The next day, Paul did what the church leaders asked. He purified himself and arranged for the other four men to do the same. They all went into the Temple. Paul alerted the Temple priests about the vows the men had taken and when their commitment would end. At that point, each man would offer a sacrifice.
Jews mob Paul in the Temple
27Paul had almost finished the seven days of purification rituals [8] when Jews from the province of Asia [9] spotted him at the Temple. They worked the crowd into a nasty mob that snatched Paul. 28These Jews from abroad stirred up the crowd by screaming, “Hey, everyone who’s Jewish, help us! This is the man everyone is talking about. He’s the one hurting our people with his teachings. Everywhere he goes he defames us. He defames our sacred law. He even defames this holy place where we worship. And just so you know, he has brought non-Jews into these courts that are reserved for Jews only. [10] By doing that, he has spiritually contaminated our holy Temple.”29Earlier in the city, these Jews from Asia [11] had seen Paul with Trophimus, a man from Ephesus. They assumed Paul had brought him into the Temple. 30It seemed the whole city erupted into a mob. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the Temple courtyard and then shut the Temple gate. [12]
Romans rescue Paul and arrest him
31While the mob was setting up to kill Paul, someone rushed to the Roman officer who commanded the soldiers in Jerusalem. The report was that the city had gone wild. 32Immediately, the commander rushed out to the mob. He took along a unit of soldiers, including some fellow officers. [13] When the mob saw the Roman officer and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.33The commander arrested Paul and ordered him constrained with two chains. [14] Then he asked who Paul was and what he had done. 34The crowd shouted a bunch of different things, but it wasn’t any help to the officer. Since he couldn’t figure out what was going on, he ordered his soldiers to take Paul back to the barracks. 35When Paul got to the stairs, soldiers had to carry him because the crowd was trying to tear him apart.
36The mob started chanting, “Death! Get rid of him!”
37Soldiers were just about to lead Paul into the barracks when he asked the commanding officer, “May I have a word with you?”
The commander answered, “You speak Greek? What’s up with that? 38Aren’t you the Egyptian terrorist who started a revolt—the insurgent who formed that desert army of 4,000 men known as Assassins?” [15]
39Paul said, “I’m a Jew. I’m from the city of Tarsus in the territory of Cilicia. I’m a Roman citizen of no Podunk of a town. So would you please let me say something to these people?”
40The commander gave him permission. Paul stood on the steps above the crowd. He raised his hands to quiet them. There was a great hush. Then Paul began to speak. He addressed the people in their native Jewish language: Hebrew.
