Day 52: Acts 21 - 23

New Testament in 90 days reading for day 52.

Acts 21

3 After sighting Cyprus and passing south of it, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo.
4 We sought out the disciples in Tyre and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they kept telling Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
5 But when our time there had ended, we set out on our journey. All the disciples, with their wives and children, accompanied us out of the city and knelt down on the beach to pray with us.
6 And after we had said our farewells, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.
7 When we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day.
8 Leaving the next day, we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven.
9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
10 After we had been there several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands, and said, “The Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’”
12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
14 When he would not be dissuaded, we fell silent and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
15 After these days, we packed up and went on to Jerusalem.
16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to stay at the home of Mnason the Cypriot, an early disciple.
17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers welcomed us joyfully.
18 The next day Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present.
19 Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.
21 But they are under the impression that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or observe our customs.
22 What then should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come.
23 Therefore do what we advise you. There are four men with us who have taken a vow.
24 Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that there is no truth to these rumors about you, but that you also live in obedience to the law.
25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality.”
26 So the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he entered the temple to give notice of the date when their purification would be complete and the offering would be made for each of them.
27 When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,
28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches everywhere against our people and against our law and against this place. Furthermore, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”
29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.
30 The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.
31 While they were trying to kill him, the commander of the Roman regiment received a report that all Jerusalem was in turmoil.
32 Immediately he took some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33 The commander came up and arrested Paul, ordering that he be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.
34 Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, and some another. And since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks.
35 When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob.
36 For the crowd that followed him kept shouting, “Away with him!”
37 As they were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied.
38 “Aren’t you the Egyptian who incited a rebellion some time ago and led four thousand members of the ‘Assassins’ into the wilderness?”
39 But Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Now I beg you to allow me to speak to the people.”
40 Having received permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. A great hush came over the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew:

Acts 22

1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”
2 When they heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more silent. Then Paul declared,
3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just as zealous for God as any of you here today.
4 I persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison,
5 as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 About noon as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.
7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’
8 ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied.
9 My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me.
10 Then I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ He told me. ‘There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’
11 Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
12 There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,
13 came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him.
14 Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear His voice.
15 You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard.
16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’
17 Later, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance
18 and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your testimony about Me.’
19 ‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You.
20 And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’
21 Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22 The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”
23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,
24 the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.
25 But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”
26 On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”
27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he answered.
28 “I paid a high price for my citizenship,” said the commander. “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29 Then those who were about to interrogate Paul stepped back, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.
30 The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

Acts 23

1 Paul looked directly at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have conducted myself before God in all good conscience to this day.”
2 At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.
3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.”
4 But those standing nearby said, “How dare you insult the high priest of God!”
5 “Brothers,” Paul replied, “I was not aware that he was the high priest, for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’”
6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.”
7 As soon as he had said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.
8 For the Sadducees say that there is neither a resurrection, nor angels, nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
9 A great clamor arose, and some scribes from the party of the Pharisees got up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”
10 The dispute grew so violent that the commander was afraid they would tear Paul to pieces. He ordered the soldiers to go down and remove him by force and bring him into the barracks.
11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so also you must testify in Rome.”
12 When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
13 More than forty of them were involved in this plot.
14 They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.
15 Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him down to you on the pretext of examining his case more carefully. We are ready to kill him on the way.”
16 But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about the plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.
17 Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.”
18 So the centurion took him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner sent and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”
19 The commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside, and asked, “What do you need to tell me?”
20 He answered, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul to the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of acquiring more information about him.

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