Acts 21:17-36

Acts 21

¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers gave us a warm welcome. ¹⁸ The next day, Paul went with us to see James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹ After greeting them, he reported in detail each of the things God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. ²⁰ When they heard this, they praised God. ^[1]

Then they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed, and all of them are zealous observers of the law. ²¹ They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, since you are telling them not to circumcise their children or follow our customs. ²² So what is to be done? ^[2] They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ So do what we are going to tell you.

“We have four men who have taken a vow. ²⁴ Take them with you, go through the ceremony of purification with them, and pay their expenses so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is nothing to the reports that have been made about you, but that you yourself are carefully following the law. ²⁵ As for the Gentiles who believe, we have sent them a letter about the resolution ^[3] that they should avoid food sacrificed to idols, blood, the meat of strangled animals, and sexual immorality.”

²⁶ The next day, Paul took the men and went through the ceremony of purification with them. He entered the temple to announce the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.

Paul Is Arrested

²⁷ When the seven days were almost over, Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, ²⁸ shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law, and against this place. And now he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” ²⁹ (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)

³⁰ The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together as a mob. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. ³¹ While they were looking for a way to kill him, a report went up to the commander of the cohort ^[4] that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² He immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³ Then the commander approached Paul, arrested him, and gave an order that he should be bound with two chains. He asked who Paul was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since the commander could not find out the truth because of the uproar, he ordered his men to take Paul away to the barracks. ³⁵ When he came to the steps, Paul had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. ³⁶ The large number of people that was following kept shouting, “Away with him!”