1 After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea, and sailing a straight course, we came to the island of Cos. The next day we reached the island of Rhodes, and from there went on to the city of Patara. 2 On finding a ship about to cross over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 After coming within sight of Cyprus and passing it on the left, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo. 4 After we had found the disciples, we stayed with them seven days. As for Paul, they kept telling him through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. 5 Yet when our time there had come to an end, we left and continued on our journey. All of them, together with their wives and children, accompanied us outside the city. And after kneeling on the beach and praying, 6 we said good-bye to one another. Then we boarded the ship.

Those believers returned to their homes.7 As for us, in regard to our voyage, on proceeding from Tyre we arrived at the Phoenician seaport city of Ptolemais. After giving our greetings to the brothers and sisters, we stayed one day with them. 8 The next day, we left and came to Caesarea, where we went to the home of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven, and stayed with him. 9 (He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.) 10 After we had been there several days, there arrived from Judea a prophet named Agabus. 11 Coming over to us and taking Paul’s belt, he tied up his own feet and hands with it and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit: ‘As for the man who owns this belt, this is how he will be tied up in Jerusalem by his Jewish adversaries; they will hand him over to the Gentiles.” 12 When we heard these things, both we and the local believers began to beg Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

13 “What are ᵖyou doing, weeping and breaking my heart?” replied Paul. “I, after all, am ready while in Jerusalem not only to be tied up, but even to die, for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus.”

14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

15 After our time there, we got ready and started making our way up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea came along with us, too, taking us to the home of the man with whom we were to stay as guests—Mnason, from Cyprus, who had been a disciple since the early days.

17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters gave us a very warm welcome. 18 On the next day, Paul went with us to meet with James, and all those were present who had been appointed elders. 19 After greeting them, he gave a detailed account of everything that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 When they heard this, they began to glorify God. Then they said to Paul, “ˢYou can see, brother, how many thousands and thousands more there are among the Jews who have believed, and all of them are for Torah very zealous. 21 Now, they have heard a rumor about ˢyou, namely, that it is rebellion, against Moses, that ˢyou are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles, telling them not to circumcise their children or to conduct themselves according to the customs. 22 What, then, is to be done? They will no doubt hear that ˢyou have come. 23 So here’s what we want ˢyou to do: There are four men here who have taken upon themselves a vow. 24 These men having brought along with you, join them in the ceremony of purification and pay the expenses for them to have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that in these rumors they have heard about ˢyou there isn’t any truth at all, but that you yourself, too, observe and live in accordance with Torah. 25 As for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent them a letter with our decision that they are to keep themselves from food sacrificed to idols, and from the blood and meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.” 26 Paul, then, having taken the men along with him the next day, and having joined them in the ceremony of purification, went to the temple, giving notice of when the days of purification would be completed, at which time there would be presented on behalf of each one of them the prescribed offering.

27 Now when the seven days were about to come to an end, some unbelieving Jews from the province of Asia, on seeing Paul in the temple complex, began stirring up the whole crowd. They seized him, 28 shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches such hostile things against our people and the Torah of Moses and this sanctuary, to everyone everywhere! And now he has even brought some Gentiles into the inner courts of the temple and defiled this holy place!” 29 (They said this because they had earlier seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul, and assumed that it was the inner courts of the temple into which Paul had brought him.) 30 The whole city was thrown into turmoil, and people came running from everywhere. Grabbing hold of Paul, they dragged him outside the temple precincts, and immediately the gates were shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, news made its way up to the commanding officer of the Roman regiment that the whole entire city of Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 At once he took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the crowd. When the mob saw the commanding officer and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commanding officer went up and took hold of Paul and gave an order for him to be tied up with two chains. Then he asked, “Who in the world is this man, and what has he done?” 34 Some in the crowd were yelling out one thing and others something else. Since the commanding officer was unable to ascertain what had really happened because of the noise and commotion, he gave an order for Paul to be brought into the soldiers’ quarters.

35 When Paul got to the steps, the crowd became so violent that he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 (The throng of people was following along behind, you see, shouting, “Away with him!”) 37 As he was about to be taken into the soldiers’ quarters, Paul said to the commanding officer, “May I say something to ˢyou?”

“Do ˢyou know Greek?” the commanding officer replied.38 “Surely, then, ˢyou are not that Egyptian fellow who some time ago incited a revolt and led out into the wilderness those four thousand dagger-assassins of the Sicarii group, are you?”

39 “While I, on the one hand, am a Jewish man,” replied Paul, “from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a very distinguished city, I beg ˢyou, on the other, to please allow me to speak to the people.”

40 When the commanding officer had given him permission, Paul, standing there on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people. When they had all quieted down, he addressed them in Aramaic+: