THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ACTS ~ Chapters 21 & 22
After we had parted from them we set sail and
came straight down to Cos, and the next day we sailed on to Rhodes, and from
there to Patara. There we found a ship that was crossing over to Phoenicia, so we
got on board and set sail. We came in sight of Cyprus, but passed it on our
left and sailed on to Syria, where we landed at Tyre, the place where the ship
was to unload its cargo. While there, we looked up the disciples and stayed
with them for 7 days. Through the Ruach, they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.
When we stayed out our time there, we left them and continued on our way. And
all of them, including the wives and children, escorted us as far as outside
the city limits. Then we all kneeled down on the beach and prayed.
Then, having said farewell, we went aboard
the ship and they returned to their homes. At the end of the voyage from Tyre
we arrived at Ptolemais. There we greeted the brethren and remained with them
one day. The next day we (Paul and his companions) departed and came to
Caesarea. We came to the home of Philip, the evangelist, who had been one of
the seven deacons, and we stayed with him. He had 4 unmarried daughters who had
the gift of prophecy.
While we were staying there a few days, a
prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He came over to us and took Paul’s
belt, with which he bound his own feet and hands and then said, “Thus says the
Ruach Ha’Kodesh: ‘Just so will the Jews in Jerusalem bind the man who owns this
belt, and they will deliver him into the hands of the heathen’.” When we heard
this, we and the people there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. This was his
reply, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not
only to be bound, but to die for the Name of Adonai Yeshua Ha’Maschiach.” Then
since he would not be persuaded, we kept silent except to say, “The Will of
Adani be done!”
After a few days we got our baggage ready and
went to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples in Caesarea went with us and brought
us to the house of Mnason, a man from Cyprus who was a disciple of long
standing. We were to stay with him.
When we reached Jerusalem the brethren there
gave us a joyful welcome. Paul went with us the next day to call on James, and
all the elders were gathered there. After having greeted them, Paul gave a
detailed account of what Elohei had done for the Gentiles through his work. On
hearing this, they praised Adonai Yeshua. But they said to him, ‘You see,
brother, how many thousands of Jews have become Believers, yet they are all
zealous supporters of the Law. They have been informed about you, that you
teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to break away from the Law of
Moshe, telling them not to circumcise their children and not to follow the old
customs. What, then, is to be done? A crowd of them will surely gather about
you when they hear that you have come. Therefore, this is what we suggest you
do: We have 4 men with us who have taken a vow. Take these men with you, go
through the purification ritual with them, and pay the expenses, so that they
may shave their heads. Then everyone will know that there is nothing to the
reports that they have heard about you, but that, on the contrary you,
yourself, are strictly keeping the Law. And as to the Gentile Believers, we
wrote to them saying that on our judgment they need not observe any such thing,
except that they must abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from
blood, and from what has been strangled, and from unchastity.’
The next day, then, Paul took the men,
purified himself with them and entered the temple, giving notice when they
should complete the days of purification and when the offering for each of them
was to be made.
As the 7 days were about ended, some Jews
from the province of Asia saw pau lint he temple. They excited the whole crowd
into an uproar and laid hands on him. They shouted, ‘Men of Israel! Help! This
is the fellow who is everywhere attacking our people, our Law and this
sanctuary. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and has made this
holy place unclean.’ For they had seen him in the city previously in company
with Trophimus, the Ephesian, and supposed that Paul had brought him with him
into the temple. The whole city was then in an uproar, and the crowd surged
back and forth. They seized Paul and
dragged him out of the temple, after which the doors were shut. While they were
getting ready to kill him, word came to the colonel of the regiment that the people
were rioting all over Jerusalem. He at once summoned his soldiers and captains;
and charged down on them. At the sight of the colonel and his soldiers, they
stopped beating Paul. The colonel then came and arrested Paul. Having given
orders that he should be bound with 2 chains, he inquired as to who he was and
what he had done. Some of the mob was shouting one thing, an others something
else, and it was impossible to find out anything certain on account of the
clamor, so he gave orders that Paul be brought to the barracks. The violence of
the mob was so great that when they reached the steps Paul had to be carried by
the soldiers. The rabble kept pressing on behind and shouting, ‘Do away with
him!’
When he was being brought to the barracks,
Paul said to the colonel, “May I be permitted to say something to you?” He
answered, ‘So you know Greek? Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago
incited a revolt and led 4000 rebels into the desert?’ “No,” said Paul, “I am a
Jew, a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia, not a bad city at all. And I beg you
therefore to let me speak to the people.” The colonel gave him permission to
speak. So Paul, standing there on the steps, made a gesture with his hands to
the people. A great hush then ensued and he spoke to them in the Hebrew
language.
CHAPTER 22
“Brethren and fathers,” he said, “listen to
the defense that I am now going to make to you.” When they heard that he spoke
to them in the Hebrew language they became still more quiet. And he continued: “I
am, without a question, a Jew. Though I was born in tarsus of Cilicia, yet I
was brought to this city. I was trained at the feet of Gamaliel (a leading
authority in the Sanhedrin in the early 1st century AD), given a thorough knowledge
of our ancestral Law, and was as zealous for Elohei as you all are this day. I
persecuted to death those who followed the new Way. I put both men and women in
chains, imprisoning them. As to this fact, both the high priest and all the
elders can bear me witness. Indeed, I received letters from them to the brethren
in Damascus, and I set out for Damascus to seize the Believes there, to bring them
back in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.”
“But as I was on my way and coming close to
Damascus, about noon, all at once a great light from heaven shone about me. I
then fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why do you
persecute me? I answered, ‘Who are you?’ He said to me, “I am Yeshua of Nazareth,
Whom you are persecuting.” And those who were with me were alarmed. They saw
the light but did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. ‘Adonai, what
should I do?’ I asked. And Adonai said to me, “Rise up and go to Damascus.
There you will be told all that you will be appointed to do.”
“Now since I could not see because of the
brightness of that light, those who were with me led me by the hand until I
came to Damascus. Ananias was there. He was a devout observer of the Law and
was well spoken of by al the Jews who lived there. He came to me and said as he
was standing near me, ‘Brother Saul, look up!’ And at that very moment I looked
up and saw him. Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know
His Will, to see the Just One and to hear His voice. And you are to be His
witness, telling all men what you have seen and heard. And now, why delay? Rise
up and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on the Name of Adonai.’”
“Then it came about that, after I had returned
to Jerusalem, I fell into a trance while I was at prayer in the temple. And I
saw Him saying to me, “Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because
they will not accept your testimony about Me.” ‘Adonai’, I said, ‘they
themselves know that in every synagogue I used to imprison and flog those who
believed in You. Also, that when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I
stood there and gave my approval while looking after the clothing of those who
murdered him.’ And he said to me, “Go, for I will send you afar off to the Gentiles.”
They had listened to him until he spoke this
word, at which they gave a mighty shout, ‘Away from the earth with such a one!
He is not fit to live!’ They kept on yelling, tearing their clothing and
throwing garments and dust into the air. Meanwhile, the colonel had ordered
that Paul be brought into the barracks; also that he be examined and flogged to
find out why they cried out against him. And as they tied him with thongs, Paul
said to the captain who was in charge, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who
is a Roman citizen, and who has not been condemned?”
When the captain heard this, he reported it
to the colonel and said to him, ‘Look here! What are you about to do? This man
is a Roman citizen.’ The colonel then came and asked Paul, ‘Are you a Roman
citizen?’ Tell me.’ And Paul answered, “Yes.” The colonel then remarked, ‘I
paid a large sum for this citizenship.’ And Paul said in reply, “But I was born
a free citizen.” Then those who were about to examine him left him at once.
Also the colonel himself was worried on discovering that Paul was a Roman
citizen, especially since he had been bound. So the next day he took off the
chains and commanded the chief priests and the whole council to meet, and then
he brought Paul down and set him before them, for he wanted to know the truth
as to why he was accused by the Jews.
**ACTS 20: http://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-gospel-according-to-acts-chapters-20.html
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