Acts 21:17-40

17 After we arrived in Jerusalem, ¹the brethren received us gladly.

18 And the following day Paul went in with us to ²James, and all ³the elders were present.

19 After he had greeted them, he ⁴began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ⁵ministry.

20 And when they heard it they began ⁶glorifying God; and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all ⁷zealous for the Law;

21 and they have been told about you, that you are ⁸teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them ⁹not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to ¹⁰the customs.

22 "What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

23 "Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who ¹¹are under * a vow;

24 take them and ¹²purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may ¹³shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.

25 "But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, ¹⁴having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication."

26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, ¹⁵purifying himself along with them, ¹⁶went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

Paul Seized in the Temple

27 When ¹⁷the seven days were almost over, ¹⁸the Jews from ¹⁹Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him,

28 crying out, "Men of Israel, come to our aid! ²⁰This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has ²¹defiled this holy place."

29 For they had previously seen ²²Trophimus the ²³Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

30 Then all the city was provoked, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they ²⁴dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

31 While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the commander of the ²⁵Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.

32 At once he ²⁶took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

33 Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be ²⁷bound with ²⁸two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done.

34 But among the crowd ²⁹some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into ³⁰the barracks.

35 When he got to ³¹the stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob;

36 for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, "³²Away with him!"

37 As Paul was about to be brought into ³³the barracks, he said to the commander, "May I say something to you?" And he said, "Do you know Greek?

38 "Then you are not ³⁴the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ³⁵into the wilderness?"

39 But Paul said, "³⁶I am a Jew of Tarsus in ³⁷Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people."

40 When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on ³⁸the stairs, ³⁹motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the ⁴⁰Hebrew dialect, saying,