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But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him.
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When they arrived he declared, “You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia until now
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I have done the Lord’s work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews.
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I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes.
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I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus.
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“And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me,
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except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.
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But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.
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“And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again.
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I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault,
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for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.