Acts 20:17-38

Farewell to Ephesus

17 From Miletus he sent to ¹Ephesus and called to him ²the elders of the church.

18 And when they had come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, ³ from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through ⁴the plots of the Jews;

20 how I ⁵did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,

21 solemnly ⁶testifying to both Jews and Greeks of ⁷repentance toward God and ⁸faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

22 "And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, ⁹I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there *,

23 except that ¹⁰the Holy Spirit solemnly ¹¹testifies to me in every city, saying that ¹²bonds and afflictions await me.

24 "But ¹³I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may ¹⁴finish my course and ¹⁵the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ¹⁶testify solemnly of the gospel of ¹⁷the grace of God.

25 "And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ¹⁸preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.

26 "Therefore, I testify to you this day that ¹⁹I am innocent of the blood of all men.

27 "For I ²⁰did not shrink from declaring to you the whole ²¹purpose of God.

28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all ²²the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd ²³the church of God which ²⁴He purchased with His own blood.

29 "I know that after my departure ²⁵savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ²⁶the flock;

30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away ²⁷the disciples after them.

31 "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of ²⁸three years I did not cease to admonish each one ²⁹with tears.

32 "And now I ³⁰commend you to God and to ³¹the word of His grace, which is able to ³²build you up and to give you ³³the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

33 "³⁴I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes.

34 "You yourselves know that ³⁵these hands ministered to my own needs and to the ³⁶men who were with me.

35 "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

36 When he had said these things, he ³⁷knelt * down * and prayed with them all.

37 And they began to weep aloud and ³⁸embraced * * Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,

38 grieving especially over ³⁹the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were ⁴⁰accompanying him to the ship.

Cross References

• 1. Acts 18:19
• 2. Acts 11:30
• 3. Acts 18:19; Acts 19:1, 10; Acts 20:4, 16
• 4. Acts 20:3
• 5. Acts 20:27
• 6. Luke 16:28; Acts 18:5; Acts 20:23, 24
• 7. Acts 2:38; Acts 11:18; Acts 26:20
• 8. Acts 24:24; Acts 26:18; Ephesians 1:15; Colossians 2:5; Philemon 5
• 9. Acts 17:16; Acts 20:16
• 10. Acts 8:29
• 11. Luke 16:28; Acts 18:5; Acts 20:21, 24
• 12. Acts 9:16; Acts 21:33
• 13. Acts 21:13
• 14. Acts 13:25; 2 Timothy 4:7
• 15. Acts 1:17
• 16. Luke 16:28; Acts 18:5; Acts 20:21
• 17. Acts 11:23; Acts 20:32
• 18. Matthew 4:23; Acts 28:31
• 19. Acts 18:6
• 20. Acts 20:20
• 21. Acts 13:36
• 22. Luke 12:32; John 21:15-17; Acts 20:29; 1 Peter 5:2
• 23. Matthew 16:18; Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 10:32
• 24. Ephesians 1:7, 14; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 1:19; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 5:9
• 25. Ezekiel 22:27; Matthew 7:15
• 26. Luke 12:32; John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:2
• 27. Acts 11:26
• 28. Acts 19:8, 10; Acts 24:17
• 29. Acts 20:19
• 30. Acts 14:23
• 31. Acts 14:3; Acts 20:24
• 32. Acts 9:31
• 33. Acts 26:18; Ephesians 1:14; Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 1:12; Colossians 3:24; Hebrews 9:15; 1 Peter 1:4
• 34. 1 Corinthians 9:4-18; 2 Corinthians 11:7-12; 2 Corinthians 12:14-18; 1 Thessalonians 2:5
• 35. Acts 18:3
• 36. Acts 19:22
• 37. Acts 9:40; Acts 21:5; Luke 22:41
• 38. Luke 15:20
• 39. Acts 20:25
• 40. Acts 15:3

Footnotes

• [a] V 16, note 1
• [b] Lit "by"
• [c] Or "in the various private homes"
• [d] Or "in spirit"
• [e] Or "call you to witness"
• [f] Lit "pure from"
• [g] Or "bishops"
• [h] Lit "acquired"
• [i] Lit "through"
• [j] Lit "a considerable weeping of all occurred"
• [k] Lit "threw themselves on Paul's neck"
• [l] Lit "suffering pain"