The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 After we had torn ourselves away from the Ephesian elders, we set sail and made a straight run to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
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And after parting from them, we put out to sea and came straight to Cos, and the day after to Rhodes, and from there to Patara:
2 On finding a ship that was crossing over to Phoenicia, we embarked and set sail.
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And as there was a ship going to Phoenicia, we went in it.
3 After sighting Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria and landed at Tzor, because that was where the ship was unloading its cargo.
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And when we had come in view of Cyprus, going past it on our left, we went on to Syria, and came to land at Tyre: for there the goods which were in the ship had to be taken out.
4 Having searched out the talmidim there, we remained for a week. Guided by the Spirit, they told Sha'ul not to go up to Yerushalayim;
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And meeting the disciples we were there for seven days: and they gave Paul orders through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.
5 but when the week was over, we left to continue our journey. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the town. Kneeling on the beach and praying,
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And when these days came to an end, we went on our journey; and they all, with their wives and children, came with us on our way till we were out of the town: and after going on our knees in prayer by the sea,
6 we said good-bye to each other. Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.
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We said our last words to one another, and got into the ship, and they went back to their houses.
7 When the voyage from Tzor was over, we arrived at Ptolemais. There we greeted the brothers and stayed with them overnight.
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And journeying by ship from Tyre we came to Ptolemais; and there we had talk with the brothers and were with them for one day.
8 The following day, we left and came to Caesarea, where we went to the home of Philip the proclaimer of the Good News, one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
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And on the day after, we went away and came to Caesarea, where we were guests in the house of Philip, the preacher, who was one of the seven.
9 He had four unmarried daughters with the gift of prophecy.
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And he had four daughters, virgins, who were prophets.
10 While we were staying there, a prophet named Agav came down from Y'hudah
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And while we were waiting there for some days, a certain prophet, named Agabus, came down from Judaea.
11 to visit us. He took Sha'ul's belt, tied up his own hands and feet and said, "Here is what the Ruach HaKodesh says: the man who owns this belt - the Judeans in Yerushalayim will tie him up just like this and hand him over to the Goyim."
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And he came to us, and took the band of Paul's clothing, and putting it round his feet and hands, said, The Holy Spirit says these words, So will the Jews do to the man who is the owner of this band, and they will give him up into the hands of the Gentiles.
12 When we heard this, both we and the people there begged him not to go up to Yerushalayim;
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And hearing these things, we and those who were living in that place made request to him not to go to Jerusalem.
13 but Sha'ul answered, "What are you doing, crying and trying to weaken my resolve? I am prepared not only to be tied up, but even to die in Yerushalayim for the name of the Lord Yeshua."
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Then Paul said, What are you doing, weeping and wounding my heart? for I am ready, not only to be a prisoner, but to be put to death at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
14 And when he would not be convinced, we said, "May the Lord's will be done," and kept quiet.
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And as he might not be moved we did no more, saying, Let the purpose of God be done.
15 So at the end of our stay, we packed and went up to Yerushalayim;
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And after these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.
16 and with us went some of the talmidim from Caesarea. They brought us to the home of the man with whom we were to stay, Mnason from Cyprus, who had been a talmid since the early days.
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And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, taking a certain Mnason of Cyprus, one of the early disciples, in whose house we were to be living.
17 In Yerushalayim, the brothers received us warmly.
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And when we came to Jerusalem, the brothers were pleased to see us.
18 The next day Sha'ul and the rest of us went in to Ya'akov, and all the elders were present.
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And on the day after, Paul went with us to James, and all the rulers of the church were present.
19 After greeting them, Sha'ul described in detail each of the things God had done among the Gentiles through his efforts.
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And when he had said how glad he was to see them, he gave them a detailed account of the things which God had done through his work among the Gentiles.
20 On hearing it, they praised God; but they also said to him, "You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Judeans, and they are all zealots for the Torah.
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And hearing it, they gave praise to God; and they said to him, You see, brother, what thousands there are among the Jews, who have the faith; and they all have a great respect for the law:
21 Now what they have been told about you is that you are teaching all the Jews living among the Goyim to apostatize from Moshe, telling them not to have a b'rit-milah for their sons and not to follow the traditions.
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And they have had news of you, how you have been teaching all the Jews among the Gentiles to give up the law of Moses, and not to give circumcision to their children, and not to keep the old rules.
22 "What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.
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What then is the position? They will certainly get news that you have come.
23 So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow.
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Do this, then, which we say to you: We have four men who have taken an oath;
24 Take them with you, be purified with them, and pay the expenses connected with having their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is nothing to these rumors which they have heard about you; but that, on the contrary, you yourself stay in line and keep the Torah.
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Go with these, and make yourself clean with them, and make the necessary payments for them, so that they may be free from their oath: and everyone will see that the statements made about you are not true, but that you put yourself under rule, and keep the law.
25 "However, in regard to the Goyim who have come to trust in Yeshua, we all joined in writing them a letter with our decision that they should abstain from what had been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what is strangled and from fornication."
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But as to the Gentiles who have the faith, we sent a letter, giving our decision that they were to keep themselves from offerings made to false gods, and from blood, and from the flesh of animals put to death in ways against the law, and from the evil desires of the body.
26 The next day Sha'ul took the men, purified himself along with them and entered the Temple to give notice of when the period of purification would be finished and the offering would have to be made for each of them.
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Then Paul took the men, and on the day after, making himself clean with them, he went into the Temple, giving out the statement that the days necessary for making them clean were complete, till the offering was made for every one of them.
27 The seven days were almost up when some unbelieving Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the Temple, stirred up all the crowd and grabbed him.
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And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the Temple, got the people together and put their hands on him,
28 "Men of Isra'el, help!" they shouted. "This is the man who goes everywhere teaching everyone things against the people, against the Torah and against this place! And now he has even brought some Goyim into the Temple and defiled this holy place!"
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Crying out, Men of Israel, come to our help: this is the man who is teaching all men everywhere against the people and the law and this place: and in addition, he has taken Greeks into the Temple, and made this holy place unclean.
29 (They had previously seen Trophimus from Ephesus in the city with him and assumed that Sha'ul had brought him into the Temple.)
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For they had seen him before in the town with Trophimus of Ephesus, and had the idea that Paul had taken him with him into the Temple.
30 The whole city was aroused, and people came running from all over. They seized Sha'ul and dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the gates were shut.
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And all the town was moved, and the people came running together and put their hands on Paul, pulling him out of the Temple: and then the doors were shut.
31 But while they were attempting to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman battalion that all Yerushalayim was in turmoil.
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And while they were attempting to put him to death, news came to the chief captain of the band that all Jerusalem was out of control.
32 Immediately he took officers and soldiers and charged down upon them. As soon as they saw the commander, they quit beating Sha'ul.
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And straight away he took some armed men and went quickly down to them: and the Jews, seeing them, gave no more blows to Paul.
33 Then the commander came up, arrested him and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done.
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Then the chief captain came near and took him, and gave orders for him to be put in chains, questioning them as to who he was and what he had done.
34 Everyone in the crowd shouted something different; so, since he couldn't find out what had happened because of the uproar, he ordered him brought to the barracks.
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And some said one thing and some another, among the people: and as he was not able to get a knowledge of the facts because of the noise, he gave orders for Paul to be taken into the army building.
35 When Sha'ul got to the steps, he actually had to be carried by the soldiers, because the mob was so wild -
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And when he came on to the steps, he was lifted up by the armed men, because of the force of the people;
36 the crowd kept following and screaming, "Kill him!"
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For a great mass of people came after them, crying out, Away with him!
37 As Sha'ul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, "Is it all right if I say something to you?" The commander said, "You know Greek!
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And when Paul was about to be taken into the building, he said to the chief captain, May I say something to you? And he said, Have you a knowledge of Greek?
38 Say, aren't you that Egyptian who tried to start a revolution a while back, and led four thousand armed terrorists out into the desert?"
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Are you by chance the Egyptian who, before this, got the people worked up against the government and took four thousand men of the Assassins out into the waste land?
39 Sha'ul said, "I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city; and I ask your permission to let me speak to the people."
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But Paul said, I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is not an unimportant town: I make a request to you to let me say a word to the people.
40 Having received permission, Sha'ul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When they finally became still, he addressed them in Hebrew:
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And when he let him do so, Paul, from the steps, made a sign with his hand to the people, and when they were all quiet, he said to them in the Hebrew language,
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.