Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem 1 UDB After we said goodbye to the elders from Ephesus, we got on the ship and traveled on the water to the Island of Cos, where the ship stopped for the night. The next day we went in the ship from Cos to the Island of Rhodes, where the ship stopped again. The day after that we went to the town of Patara, where the ship stopped. BSB BSB: After we had torn ourselves away from them, we sailed directly to Cos, and the next day on to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
2 UDB At Patara we left that ship, and someone told us that there was a ship that would be going to the region of Phoenicia. So we got on that ship, and it left. BSB BSB: Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded it and set sail.
3 UDB We traveled over the sea until we could see the Island of Cyprus. We passed to the south of the island and continued sailing until we arrived at the region of Phoenicia, in the province of Syria, at the city of Tyre. The ship was going to stay there several days because its workers needed to unload the cargo. BSB BSB: After sighting Cyprus and passing south of it, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo.
4 UDB Someone told us where the believers in Tyre lived, so we went and stayed with them for seven days. Because God's Spirit revealed to them that people would cause Paul to suffer in Jerusalem, they told Paul that he should not go there. BSB BSB: We sought out the disciples in Tyre and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they kept telling Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
5 UDB But when it was time for the ship to leave again, we prepared to continue on our way to Jerusalem. When we left Tyre, all the men and their wives and children went with us to the edge of the sea. We all knelt down there on the sand and prayed. BSB BSB: But when our time there had ended, we set out on our journey. All the disciples, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city and knelt down on the beach to pray with us.
6 UDB After we all said goodbye, Paul and we his companions got on the ship, and the other believers returned to their own homes. BSB BSB: And after we had said our farewells, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.
7 UDB After we left Tyre, we continued on that ship to the city of Ptolemais. There were believers there, and we greeted them and stayed with them that night. BSB BSB: When we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day.
Paul Visits Philip the Evangelist 8 UDB The next day we left Ptolemais and sailed to the city of Caesarea, where we stayed in the home of Philip, who spent his time telling others how to become followers of Jesus. He was one of the seven men whom the believers in Jerusalem had chosen to care for the widows. BSB BSB: Leaving the next day, we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven.
9 UDB He had four daughters who were not married. Each of them frequently spoke messages that the Holy Spirit had told them. BSB BSB: He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
10 UDB After we had been in Philip's house for several days, a believer whose name was Agabus came down from the district of Judea and arrived in Caesarea. He frequently spoke messages that the Holy Spirit had told him. BSB BSB: After we had been there several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
11 UDB Coming over to where we were, he took off Paul's belt. Then he tied his own feet and hands with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the hands and feet of the owner of this belt, like this, and they will turned him over to the Gentiles as a prisoner.'" BSB BSB: Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’”
12 UDB When the rest of us heard that, we and the other believers there begged Paul, "Please do not go up to Jerusalem!" BSB BSB: When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
13 UDB But Paul replied, "Please stop crying and trying to discourage me from going! Why are you crying and trying to discourage me from going? I am willing to go to prison and also to die in Jerusalem because I serve the Lord Jesus." BSB BSB: Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
14 UDB When we realized that he would go to Jerusalem, we did not try any longer to stop him. We said, "May the Lord's will be done!" BSB BSB: When he would not be dissuaded, we quieted down and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
15 UDB After those days in Caesarea, we prepared our possessions and left to go by land up to Jerusalem. BSB BSB: After these days, we packed up and went on to Jerusalem.
16 UDB Some of the believers from Caesarea also went with us. They took us to stay in the house of a man whose name was Mnason. He was from the Island of Cyprus, and he had believed in Jesus when people were first beginning to hear the message about him. BSB BSB: Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to stay at the home of Mnason the Cypriot, an early disciple.
Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem 17 UDB When we arrived in Jerusalem, a group of the believers greeted us happily. BSB BSB: When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us joyfully.
18 UDB The next day Paul and the rest of us went to speak with James, who was the leader of the church there. All of the elders of the church in Jerusalem were also there. BSB BSB: The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present.
19 UDB Paul greeted them, and then he told them all of the things that God had enabled him to do among the Gentiles. BSB BSB: Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
21 UDB They say that you tell the Jews who live among the Gentiles they should stop obeying the laws of Moses. People say that you tell those Jewish believers not to circumcise their sons and not to practice our other customs. We do not believe that they are telling the truth about you. BSB BSB: But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs.
22 UDB What should we do? The Jews who live among the Gentiles will hear that you have come. BSB BSB: What then should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.
23 UDB So please do what we suggest to you. There are four men among us who have made a vow to God. BSB BSB: Therefore do what we advise you. There are four men with us who have taken a vow.
24 UDB Go with these men to the temple and do the ceremonies there necessary for you and them to be able to worship in the temple. Then, when it is time for them to offer the sacrifices, pay for what they offer. After that, they can shave their heads to show that they have done what they said they would do. When people see you in the courts of the temple with those men, they will know that what they have been told about you is not true. Instead, all of them will know that you obey all our Jewish laws. BSB BSB: Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the law.
25 UDB As for the Gentiles who believed, we elders have talked about which of our laws they should obey, and we wrote them a letter, telling them what we decided. We wrote that they should not eat meat that people have offered as a sacrifice to any idol, that they should not eat blood from animals, and that they should not eat meat from animals that people have killed by strangling them. We also told them that they should not sleep with someone to whom they are not married." BSB BSB: As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”
26 UDB So Paul agreed to do what they asked, and the next day he took the four men, and together they purified themselves. After that, Paul went to the temple courts and told the priest what day they would finish purifying themselves and when they would offer the animals as sacrifices for each of them. BSB BSB: So the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he entered the temple to give notice of the date when their purification would be complete and the offering would be made for each of them.
Paul Seized at the Temple 27 UDB When the seven days for purifying themselves were nearly finished, Paul returned to the temple courtyard. Some Jews from Asia saw him there, and they were very angry at him. They called out to many other Jews who were in the temple courtyard to help them take hold of Paul. BSB BSB: When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,
29 UDB They said these things because they had seen Paul walking around in Jerusalem with Trophimus, who was a Gentile. They thought that Paul had brought Trophimus into the temple courtyard that day. BSB BSB: For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.
30 UDB People all over the city heard that there was trouble at the temple courtyard, and they came running there. They caught Paul and dragged him outside of the temple area. The gates to the temple courtyard were shut, so that the people would not riot inside the temple area. BSB BSB: The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.
31 UDB While they were trying to kill Paul, someone ran to the fortress near the temple and told the Roman commander that many people in Jerusalem were rioting at the temple. BSB BSB: While they were trying to kill him, the commander of the Roman regiment received a report that all Jerusalem was in turmoil.
32 UDB The commander quickly took some officers and a large group of soldiers and ran to the temple area where the crowd was. When the crowd of people who were yelling and beating Paul saw the commander and the soldiers coming, they stopped beating him. BSB BSB: Immediately he took some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33 UDB The commander came to where Paul was and took hold of him. He commanded soldiers to fasten a chain to each of Paul's arms. Then he asked the people in the crowd, "Who is this man, and what has he done?" BSB BSB: The commander came up and arrested Paul, ordering that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.
34 UDB Some of the many people there were shouting one thing, and some were shouting something else. Because they continued shouting so loudly, the commander could not understand what they were saying. So he commanded that Paul be taken into the fortress so that he could question him there. BSB BSB: Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, and some another. And since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks.
35 UDB The soldiers led Paul to the steps of the fortress, but many people continued to follow them, trying to kill Paul. So the commander told the soldiers to carry Paul up the steps into the fortress. BSB BSB: When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob.
36 UDB The crowd that followed kept shouting, "Kill him! Kill him!" BSB BSB: For the crowd that followed him kept shouting, “Away with him!”
Paul Addresses the Crowd 37 UDB As Paul was about to be taken into the fortress, he said in Greek to the commander, "May I speak to you?" The commander said, "I am surprised that you can speak Greek! BSB BSB: As they were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied.
38 UDB I thought that you were that fellow from Egypt who wanted to rebel against the government not long ago, and who took four thousand violent men with him out into the desert, so that we could not catch him." BSB BSB: “Aren’t you the Egyptian who incited a rebellion some time ago and led four thousand members of the Assassins into the wilderness?”
39 UDB Paul answered, "No, I am not! I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus, which is an important city in the province of Cilicia. I request that you let me speak to the people." BSB BSB: But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”
40 UDB Then the commander permitted Paul to speak. So Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand for the crowd to be quiet. And after the people in the crowd became quiet, Paul spoke to them in their own Hebrew language. BSB BSB: Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.