Acts 21 (NMV)
1 After we tore ourselves away from them, we set sail and went on a straight course to Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
2 Finding a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we boarded it and set sail.
3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the 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 there and stayed with them for seven days. Through the Spirit, they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
5 When our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and we knelt on the beach and prayed.
6 After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.
7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for one day.
8 The next day we left and came to Caesarea. We went into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
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 He came to us, took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it, and said, "This is what the Holy Spirit says: 'In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles [non-Jews].'"
12 When we heard this, both we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
13 Then Paul replied, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be tied up but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."
14 Since he would not be persuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done."
15 After these days, we packed our things and went up to Jerusalem.
16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to the home of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, where we were to stay.
17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.
18 The next day Paul went with us to see James, and all the elders were present.
19 After greeting them, he told them in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard it, they praised God. Then they said to him, "Brother, you see how many thousands of Jews have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law.
21 But they have been told that you teach all the Jews living among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs.
22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.
23 So do what we tell you: There are four men with us who have made a vow.
24 Take these men, purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses so they can shave their heads. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you is false and that you yourself are living in obedience to the Law.
25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality."
26 The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he entered the temple to announce the completion of the purification days when the offering would be made for each of them.
27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and grabbed him,
28 shouting, "Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. And now he has even brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place!"
29 (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 people came running together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the gates were shut.
31 While they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
32 At once he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When the crowd saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33 Then the commander came up, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. He asked who he was and what he had done.
34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing, and some another. Since he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks.
35 When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great that he had to be carried by the soldiers.
36 For the crowd that followed kept shouting, "Away with him!"
37 As he was about to be taken into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, "May I say something to you?" He replied, "Do you know Greek?
38 Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led four thousand men of the Assassins into the wilderness?"
39 Paul answered, "I am a Jewish man from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please let me speak to the people."
40 After the commander had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great hush, he addressed them in Aramaic.