Act 18:23-21:16 | ESV | STEP | After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia , strengthening all the disciples .

23 After spending some time there, he departed and ^awent from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, ^bstrengthening all the disciples.

Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus

24 Now a Jew named ^cApollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, ^dcompetent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in ^ethe way of the Lord. And ^fbeing fervent in spirit, ^{▼▼Or in the Spirit} he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only ^hthe baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when ⁱPriscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him ^jthe way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to ^kAchaia, ^lthe brothers encouraged him and ^mwrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, ⁿhe greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures ^othat the Christ was Jesus.

Acts 19

Paul in Ephesus

1 And it happened that while ^pApollos was at Corinth, Paul passed ^qthrough the inland ^{▼▼Greek upper (that is, highland)} country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, ^s“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, ^twe have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, ^u“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into ^vJohn’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, ^w“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people ^xto believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, ^ythey were baptized in ^{▼▼Or into} the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And ^aawhen Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and ^abthey began speaking in tongues and ^acprophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

8 And ^adhe entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them ^aeabout the kingdom of God. 9 ^afBut when some became stubborn and ^agcontinued in unbelief, speaking evil of ^ahthe Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add from the fifth hour to the tenth (that is, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)} 10 This continued for ^ajtwo years, so that ^akall the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

The Sons of Sceva

11 And ^alGod was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 ^amso that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and ^anthe evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish ^aoexorcists ^apundertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ^aq“I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, ^ar“Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all ^{▼▼Or both} of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and ^atthe name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, ^auconfessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord ^avcontinued to increase and prevail mightily.

A Riot at Ephesus

21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit ^awto pass through ^axMacedonia and Achaia and ^aygo to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, ^azI must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of ^bahis helpers, ^bbTimothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia ^bcfor a while.

23 About that time ^bdthere arose no little disturbance concerning ^bethe Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, ^bfbrought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 ^bgThese he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, ^bhsaying that ^bigods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the ^bjgreat goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, ^bk“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and ^blAristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s ^bmcompanions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs, ^{▼▼That is, high-ranking officers of the province of Asia} who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 ^boNow some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, ^bpmotioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, ^bq“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from ^brthe sky? ^{▼▼The meaning of the Greek is uncertain} 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought ^btthese men here who are neither ^busacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are ^bvproconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts seek about other matters} it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

Acts 20

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and ^bxdeparted for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when ^bya plot was made against him by the Jews ^{▼▼Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time; also verse 19} as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, ^caAristarchus and Secundus; and ^cbGaius of Derbe, and ^ccTimothy; and the Asians, ^cdTychicus and ^ceTrophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for ^cfus at ^cgTroas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after ^chthe days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Eutychus Raised from the Dead

7 ^ciOn the first day of the week, when we were gathered together ^cjto break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in ^ckthe upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he ^clfell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and ^cmbent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, ^cn“Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and ^cohad broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.

13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add after remaining at Trogyllium} the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening ^cqto be at Jerusalem, if possible, ^cron the day of Pentecost.

Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders

17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called ^csthe elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them:

^ct“You yourselves know ^cuhow I lived among you the whole time ^cvfrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 ^cwserving the Lord ^cxwith all humility and with ^cytears and with trials that happened to me through ^czthe plots of the Jews; 20 how I ^dadid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and ^dbteaching you in public and from house to house, 21 ^dctestifying both to Jews and to Greeks of ^ddrepentance toward God and of ^defaith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained ^dfby ^{▼▼Or bound in} the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that ^dhthe Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that ^diimprisonment and ^djafflictions await me. 24 But ^dkI do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only ^dlI may finish my course and ^dmthe ministry ^dnthat I received from the Lord Jesus, ^doto testify to ^dpthe gospel of ^dqthe grace of God. 25 And now, behold, ^drI know that none of you among whom I have gone about ^dsproclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore ^dtI testify to you this day that ^duI am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for ^dvI did not shrink from declaring to you ^dwthe whole counsel of God. 28 ^dxPay careful attention to yourselves and to all ^dythe flock, in which ^dzthe Holy Spirit has made you ^eaoverseers, ^ebto care for ^ecthe church of God, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts of the Lord} which he ^eeobtained ^efwith his own blood. ^{▼▼Or with the blood of his Own} 29 I ^ehknow that after my departure ^eifierce wolves will come in among you, ^ejnot sparing the flock; 30 and ^ekfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore ^elbe alert, remembering that ^emfor three years I did not cease night or day ^ento admonish every one ^eowith tears. 32 And now ^epI commend you to God and to ^eqthe word of his grace, which is able to ^erbuild you up and to give you ^esthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 ^etI coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 ^euYou yourselves know that ^evthese hands ministered to my necessities and ^ewto those who were with me. 35 In all things ^exI have shown you that ^eyby working hard in this way we must ^ezhelp the weak and ^faremember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed ^fbto give than to receive.’”

36 And when he had said these things, ^fche knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And ^fdthere was much weeping on the part of all; ^fethey embraced Paul and ^ffkissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of ^fgthe word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And ^fhthey accompanied him to the ship.

Acts 21:1-16

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

1 And when ^fiwe had parted from them and set sail, we ^fjcame by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add and Myra} 2 And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 4 And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And ^flthrough the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, ^fmaccompanied us until we were outside the city. And ^fnkneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6 and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted ^fothe brothers ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters; also verse 17} and stayed with them for one day. 8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of ^fqPhilip ^frthe evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, ^fswho prophesied. 10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named ^ftAgabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he ^futook Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, ^fv“Thus says the Holy Spirit, ^fw‘This is how the Jews ^{▼▼Greek Ioudaioi probably refers here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, in that time} at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and ^fydeliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, we and the people there ^fzurged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, ^ga“What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For ^gbI am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem ^gcfor the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, ^gdwe ceased and said, ^ge“Let the will of the Lord be done.”

15 After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.