Parashat Nitzavim

You Are Standing Before the Lord

⁹ “You are standing today, all of you, before Adonai your God—the heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, all the men of Israel, ¹⁰ your children, your wives, and the outsider within your camp (from your woodchopper to your water carrier). ¹¹ Each of you is to cross over into the covenant of Adonai your God that He is cutting with you today, and into His oath.

¹² “This is in order to confirm you today as His people. So He will be your God, just as He promised you and just as He swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. ¹³ Not with you alone am I cutting this covenant and this oath, ¹⁴ but with whomever is standing here with us today before Adonai our God and with whomever is not here with us today.

¹⁵ “Indeed you know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations that we passed through. ¹⁶ You saw their detestable things and their idols^[a]—wood and stone, silver and gold—that were with them. ¹⁷ Beware in case there is among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from Adonai our God to go serve the gods of those nations. Beware in case there is among you a root producing poison and bitter fruit.^[b]

¹⁸ “Now when someone hears the words of this oath and in his heart considers himself blessed, thinking, ‘Shalom will be mine, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart’—thus sweeping away the moist with the dry— ^{[c] 19} Adonai will be unwilling to forgive him. For then the anger of Adonai and His jealousy will smoke against that person. So all the oath that is written in this scroll will settle on him, and Adonai will blot out his name from under the heavens. ²⁰ Adonai will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, according to all the oaths of the covenant written in this scroll of the Torah.

²¹ “The following generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a distant land will say, when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses Adonai afflicted on it: ²² ‘Sulfur and salt, the whole land burnt! It cannot be planted, it cannot sprout, no grass can grow up on it—like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Adonai overturned in His anger and in His wrath!’

²³ “All the nations will say, ‘Why has Adonai done this to this land? Why this great burning anger?’

²⁴ “Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of Adonai, the God of their fathers, which He cut with them when He brought them out from the land of Egypt. ²⁵ They went and served other gods and bowed down to them—gods they never knew, that He had not allotted to them. ²⁶ So Adonai’s anger burned against that land, bringing on it every curse written in this scroll. ²⁷ Adonai has uprooted them from their soil, in anger and wrath and great fury, and hurled them into another land, as is the case this day.’

²⁸ “The secret things belong to Adonai our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever—in order to do all the words of this Torah.

30 “Now when all these things come upon you—the blessing and the curse that I have set before you—and you take them to heart in all the nations where Adonai your God has banished you, ² and you return to Adonai your God and listen to His voice according to all that I am commanding you today—you and your children—with all your heart and with all your soul, ³ then Adonai your God will bring you back from captivity and have compassion on you, and He will return and gather you from all the peoples where Adonai your God has scattered you. ⁴ Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the heavens, from there Adonai your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you. ⁵ Adonai your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, and you will possess it; and He will do you good and multiply you more than your fathers. ⁶ Also Adonai your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants—to love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.

⁷ “Adonai your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. ⁸ Then you—you will return and listen to the voice of Adonai and do all His mitzvot that I am commanding you today. ⁹ Adonai your God will make you prosper in all the work of your hand—in the fruit of your womb, and the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil—for good. For Adonai will again rejoice over you for good, as He rejoiced over your fathers— ¹⁰ when you listen to the voice of Adonai your God, to keep His mitzvot and His statutes that are written in this scroll of the Torah, when you turn to Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

¹¹ “For this mitzvah that I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far off. ¹² It is not in the heavens, that you should say, ‘Who will go up for us to the heavens and get it for us, and have us hear it so we may do it?’ ¹³ Nor is it across the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross over for us to the other side of the sea and get it for us, and have us hear it so we may do it?’ ¹⁴ No, the word is very near to you—in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.^[d]

¹⁵ “See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil. ¹⁶ What I am commanding you today is to love Adonai your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His mitzvot, statutes and ordinances. Then you will live and multiply, and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are going in to possess. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away and bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I tell you today that you will certainly perish! You will not prolong your days on the land, where you are about to cross over the Jordan to go in to possess.

¹⁹ “I call the heavens and the earth to witness about you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live, ²⁰ by loving Adonai your God, listening to His voice, and clinging to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell on the land that Adonai swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob—to give them.

Watchmen for Jerusalem

Winepress of Vengeance

Remembering His Chesed

⁷ I will remember the lovingkindnesses of Adonai, the praises of Adonai, according to all that Adonai has granted us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has granted them according to His compassion, and according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses.

Let Your Heart Take Courage

Psalm 27

Abiding in the Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He trims so that it may bear more fruit. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in Me, and I will abide in you. The branch cannot itself produce fruit, unless it abides on the vine. Likewise, you cannot produce fruit unless you abide in Me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for apart from Me, you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and is dried up. Such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned.

⁷ “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.”

⁹ “Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love! ¹⁰ If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. ¹¹ These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be full.

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Synagogue Responses Vary

17 After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ² As was his custom, Paul went to the Jewish people; and for three Shabbatot, he debated the Scriptures with them. ³ He opened them and gave evidence that Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, saying, “This Yeshua, whom I declare to you, is the Messiah.” ⁴ Some of them were convinced and became attached to Paul and Silas, as were a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and no small number of the leading women.

⁵ But some of the Jewish people became jealous. Taking some wicked fellows of the marketplace and gathering a crowd, they stirred the city into an uproar. They attacked Jason’s house, trying to bring Paul and Silas out to the mob. ⁶ When they did not find them, they instead began dragging Jason and some of the brethren before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here too, ⁷ and Jason has welcomed them! They are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, Yeshua.” ⁸ Hearing these things, the crowd and the city officials were confused. ⁹ But after receiving bail from Jason and the rest, they released them.

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. Upon arrival, they made their way to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, because they received the message with goodwill, searching the Scriptures each day to see whether these things were true. ¹² Therefore many of them believed, as well as quite a few prominent Greek women and men.

¹³ But when the Jewish people of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea, they came there too, agitating and inciting the people. ¹⁴ Then the brothers immediately sent Paul away to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. ¹⁵ Those escorting Paul brought him as far as Athens. After receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.

An Unknown God in Athens

¹⁶ Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was aroused within him when he saw that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he was debating in the synagogue with the Jewish people and the God-fearers, as well as in the marketplace every day with all who happened to be there. ¹⁸ Also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What’s this babbler trying to say?” while others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities”—because he was proclaiming the Good News of Yeshua and the resurrection. ¹⁹ So they took Paul to the Aereopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are talking about? ²⁰ For you are bringing some strange things to our ears, so we want to know what these things mean.” ²¹ Now all the Athenians and foreigners visiting there used to pass their time doing nothing but telling or hearing something new.

²² So Paul stood in the middle of the Aereopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in all ways you are very religious. ²³ For while I was passing through and observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an Unknown God.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth,^[a] does not live in temples made by hands. ^{[b] 25} Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything,^[c] since He Himself gives to everyone life and breath and all things. ^{[d] 26} From one He made every nation of men to live on the face of the earth, having set appointed times and the boundaries of their territory. ^{[e] 27} They were to search for Him, and perhaps grope around for Him and find Him. Yet He is not far from each one of us, ^{[f] 28} for ‘In Him we live and move and have our being.’

As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His offspring.’ ^{[g] 29} Since we are His offspring, we ought not to suppose the Deity is like gold or silver or stone, an engraved image of human art and imagination. ^{[h] 30} Although God overlooked the periods of ignorance, now He commands everyone everywhere to repent. ³¹ For He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness, through a Man whom He has appointed.^[i] He has brought forth evidence of this to all men, by raising Him from the dead.” ³² Now when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began scoffing. But others said, “We will hear from you again about this.” ³³ So Paul left from their midst. ³⁴ But some men joined with him and believed—among them Dionysius (a member of the council of the Aereopagus), a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Many Respond in Corinth

18 After these things, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There he found a Jewish man named Aquila—a native of Pontus having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all Jewish people to leave Rome. Paul went to see them; ³ and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and began working, for by trade they were tent-makers. ⁴ And he was debating every Shabbat in the synagogue, trying to persuade both Jewish and Greek people.

⁵ Now when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul became occupied with the message, urgently testifying to the Jewish people that Yeshua is the Messiah. ⁶ But when they resisted and reviled him, he shook out his garments^[j] and said, “Your blood be upon your own heads—I am clean!^[k] From now on, I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷ After leaving there, Paul went into the house of a man named Titius Justus, a God-fearer whose house was next door to the synagogue. ⁸ Crispus, the synagogue leader, put his faith in the Lord, along with his whole household. And many of the Corinthians, upon hearing, were believing and being immersed.

⁹ Now the Lord said to Paul through a vision in the night, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent! ¹⁰ For I am with you and no one shall attack you to harm you—many people in this city are for Me.” ¹¹ So he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jewish leaders made a united attack against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, ¹³ saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the Torah.”

¹⁴ But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jewish people, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or a vicious crime, there would be a reason to put up with you, O Jews. ¹⁵ But since it is issues about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of these.” ¹⁶ And he drove them from the judgment seat. ¹⁷ Then they all grabbed Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio paid no attention to these things.

Sailing East to Revisit Communities

¹⁸ Paul, having stayed many more days, said farewell to the brothers and set sail to Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchrea Paul had his hair cut off, for he was keeping a vow. ¹⁹ When they arrived at Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila there. But he himself went into the synagogue and debated with the Jewish people. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay longer, he declined, ²¹ instead taking leave of them while saying, “God willing, I’ll return to you again.”

He set sail from Ephesus. ²² After landing at Caesarea, he went up and greeted Messiah’s community; then he went down to Antioch. ²³ After spending some time there, he departed and went one place after another throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Discipling New Leaders

²⁴ Now a Jewish man named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, well versed in the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. With a fervent spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the facts about Yeshua—while only being acquainted with the immersion of John. ²⁶ This man began speaking out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately.

²⁷ When Apollos wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. Upon arrival, he greatly helped those who by grace had believed. ²⁸ For he powerfully refuted the Jewish people in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that the Messiah was Yeshua.

19 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul traveled through the upper region and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples ² and said to them, “Did you receive the Ruach ha-Kodesh when you believed?”

They replied to him, “No, we’ve never even heard that there is a Ruach ha-Kodesh.

³ He said, “Into what were you immersed?”

They said, “Into John’s immersion.”

⁴ Paul said, “John immersed with an immersion of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One coming after him—that is, in Yeshua.”

⁵ When they heard this, they were immersed in the name of the Lord Yeshua. ⁶ And when Paul laid hands upon them, the Ruach ha-Kodesh came upon them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. ⁷ In all, there were about twelve men.

God’s Power Displayed in Ephesus

⁸ Paul went into the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, debating and persuading them about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But when they were hardening and refusing to believe, speaking evil of the Way before the whole group, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples with him, debating daily in the hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia^[l] heard the word of the Lord—Jewish as well as Greek people.

¹¹ God was doing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

¹³ But some traveling Jewish exorcists also tried to invoke the name of the Lord Yeshua, saying, “I charge you by the Yeshua whom Paul preaches.” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish ruling kohen named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit answered them, “I know Yeshua and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit sprang at them, subduing and overpowering all of them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷ This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jewish and Greek people. Fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Yeshua was being magnified.

¹⁸ Many also of those who had believed came confessing and recounting their practices. ¹⁹ And many of those who practiced magic arts brought their books together in a heap, burning them before everyone. They totaled the value of the books and found it to be about fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰ So the word of the Lord was growing in power and prevailing.

Idol-Makers Start a Riot

²¹ Now after these things were accomplished, Paul resolved in the Ruach to go to Jerusalem after passing through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” ²² So after sending two who were assisting him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³ Around that time, there arose no small uproar concerning the Way. ²⁴ For a man named Demetrius—a silversmith, a maker of silver shrines of Artemis—was providing no small amount of business to the craftsmen. ²⁵ He gathered these together, along with those of related occupations, and he said, “Men, you know that our wealth is from this business. ²⁶ You see and hear that not only in Ephesus but also throughout all Asia, Paul has persuaded and perverted a considerable crowd, saying that handmade gods are not gods at all. ^{[m] 27} Not only is there a danger that this trade of ours might come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis might be considered as nothing. She whom all Asia and the world worships might even be thrown down from her majesty.”

²⁸ When they heard, they were filled with fury and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ The city was filled with confusion. They rushed into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were travel companions of Paul. ³⁰ Paul was wishing to enter among the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. ³¹ Some of the chiefs of Asia,^[n] being his friends, sent to him and begged him not to surrender himself in the theater.

³² Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion. Most did not know why they had come together. ³³ Some of the crowd solicited Alexander, whom the Jewish people put forward. Alexander motioned with his hand. He wished to offer a defense to the crowd. ³⁴ But recognizing that he was Jewish, for about two hours they all with one voice cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ After the town clerk quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis and of her image fallen from heaven? ³⁶ Since these things are undeniable, you must be calm and do nothing reckless. ³⁷ For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor revilers of our goddess. ³⁸ If Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them accuse them. ³⁹ But if you seek anything further, it will be settled in the lawful assembly. ⁴⁰ For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, there being no reason which we are able to give to justify this mob.” Upon saying this, he dismissed the assembly.

Parashat Vayelech

Chazak! Be Courageous!

31 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. ² He said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. Adonai has said to me, ‘You are not to cross over this Jordan.’ ³ Adonai your God—He will cross over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua will cross over before you, just as Adonai has promised.

⁴ “Adonai will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. ⁵ Adonai will give them over to you, and you are to do to them according to all the mitzvot that I commanded you. ⁶ Chazak! Be courageous! Do not be afraid or tremble before them. For Adonai your God—He is the One who goes with you. He will not fail you or abandon you.”

⁷ Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong! Be courageous! For you are to go with this people into the land Adonai has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you are to enable them to inherit it. ⁸ Adonai—He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be discouraged.”

Public Torah Readings

⁹ Moses wrote down this Torah and gave it to the kohanim, the sons of Levi who carry the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai, and to all the elders of Israel.

¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of cancelling debts, during the feast of Sukkot, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to appear before Adonai your God in the place He chooses, you are to read this Torah before them in their hearing. ¹² Gather the people—the men and women and little ones, and the outsider within your town gates—so they may hear and so they may learn, and they will fear Adonai your God and take care to do all the words of this Torah. ¹³ So their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear Adonai your God—all the days you live on the land you are about to cross over the Jordan to possess.”

¹⁴ Then Adonai said to Moses, “Behold, your time to die is near. Call Joshua, and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, and I will commission him.” Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁵ Adonai appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the opening of the Tent. ¹⁶ Adonai said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise up and prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon Me and break My covenant that I cut with them. ¹⁷ Then My anger will flare against them on that day, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them. So they will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will come on them. They will say on that day, ‘Isn’t it because our God is not among us that these evils have come on us?’ ¹⁸ I will surely hide My face on that day because of all the evil they have done, for they have turned to other gods.

Moses Introduces His Song

¹⁹ “Now, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to Bnei-Yisrael—put it in their mouth, so that this song may be a witness for Me against Bnei-Yisrael.

²⁰ “For when I bring them to the land flowing with milk and honey that I swore to their fathers, and they eat and are satisfied and grow fat—then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and they will spurn Me and break My covenant. ²¹ Now when many evils and troubles have come on them, this song will confront them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten from the mouth of their descendants. For I know the intention they are devising this day, even before I bring them into the land that I swore.” ²² That day Moses wrote this song and taught it to Bnei-Yisrael.

²³ Then he commissioned Joshua son of Nun and said, “Chazak! Be courageous! For you will bring Bnei-Yisrael into the land I swore to them—and I will be with you.”

²⁴ Now when Moses had finished writing the words of this Torah on a scroll, right to the end . . . ²⁵ Moses commanded the Levites, carriers of the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai saying, ²⁶ “Take this scroll of the Torah, and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai your God. It will remain there as a witness against you, ²⁷ for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Indeed, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Adonai—how much more then after my death? ²⁸ Gather to me all the elders of your tribes and your officials, so that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will certainly act corruptly and turn aside from the way I have commanded you. So evil will fall upon you in the latter days, because you will do what is evil in the sight of Adonai, provoking Him to anger by the work of your hands.”

³⁰ Moses spoke in the hearing of the whole community of Israel the words of this song, right to the end:

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Let Your Heart Take Courage

Psalm 27

Misdirected Zeal

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation. ² For I testify about them that they have zeal for God—but not based on knowledge. ³ For being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God. ⁴ For Messiah is the goal^[a] of the Torah as a means to righteousness for everyone who keeps trusting.

⁵ For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on Torah, “The man who does these things shall live by them.” ^{[b] 6} But the righteousness based on faith speaks in this way:

⁸ But what does it say?

¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame.” ^{[g] 12} For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all—richly generous to all who call on Him. ¹³ For “Everyone who calls upon the name of Adonai shall be saved.”^[h]

¹⁴ How then shall they call on the One in whom they have not trusted? And how shall they trust in the One they have not heard of? And how shall they hear without someone proclaiming? ¹⁵ And how shall they proclaim unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news of good things!” ^{[i] 16} But not all heeded the Good News. For Isaiah says, “Adonai, who has believed our report?” ^{[j] 17} So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Messiah.

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Escaping Death

20 After the uproar ended, Paul sent for the disciples; and when he had encouraged them and said farewell, he departed to go to Macedonia. ² When he had passed through these parts and given them a great word of encouragement, he came to Greece, ³ where he spent three months. When a plot was formed against him by the Jewish leaders as he was about to sail to Syria, he decided to return via Macedonia. ⁴ Sopater of Berea, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; as well as Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica; Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. ^{[a] 5} These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. ⁶ But we sailed from Philippi after the Days of Matzah. In five days we came to them in Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

⁷ Now on the first day of the week, we gathered to break bread. Paul was talking with them, intending to leave the next day, so he prolonged his speech till midnight. ⁸ There were many lamps in the upper chamber where we were meeting. ⁹ Now a young man named Eutychus was sitting in a windowsill, sinking into a deep sleep as Paul kept on talking. Overcome by sleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up—dead.

¹⁰ But Paul went down, fell on him and threw his arms around him. He said, “Don’t be upset, for his life is within him.”^[b]

¹¹ After he went back up and broke the bread and ate, he talked with them a long while until daybreak and then left. ¹² So they took the boy away alive, greatly relieved.

Prophetic Warnings

¹³ But we went on ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there—for so he had arranged, intending himself to travel there by land. ¹⁴ When he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. ¹⁵ Sailing from there, we arrived the next day opposite Chios; the next day we crossed over to Samos, and the day after that we came to Miletus. ¹⁶ For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he might not spend much time in Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Shavuot.

¹⁷ From Miletus, dispatching someone to Ephesus, he called for the elders of the community. ¹⁸ When they came to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know how I behaved among you all the time from the first day I set foot in Asia, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility and tears and trials which fell upon me through the plots of the Jewish leaders. ²⁰ I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly as well as from house to house, ²¹ testifying to both Jewish and Greek people repentance to God and trust in our Lord Yeshua.

²² “And now, look, bound by the Ruach, I am going to Jerusalem—not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³ except that the Ruach ha-Kodesh bears witness to me from city to city, saying that bondage and afflictions await me. ²⁴ However, I don’t consider my life of any value, except that I might finish my course and the office I received from the Lord Yeshua, to declare the Good News of the grace of God.

²⁵ “Now, look! I know that none of you, among whom I have gone proclaiming the kingdom, will ever see my face again. ²⁶ Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all. ²⁷ For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

²⁸ “Take care of yourselves and all the flock of which the Ruach ha-Kodesh has made you overseers, to shepherd the community of God—which He obtained with the blood of His own. ^{[c] 29} I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. ^{[d] 30} Even from among yourselves will arise men speaking perversions, to draw the disciples away after themselves. ³¹ Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning you with tears.

³² “Now I commit you to God and the word of His grace, which is strong to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who have been made holy. ³³ I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided for my own needs as well as for those with me. ³⁵ In all things I have shown you an object lesson—that by hard work one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Yeshua, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”^[e]

³⁶ When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ They all began weeping and falling upon Paul’s neck and kissing him, ³⁸ grieving most of all over the statement he made that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

Going to Jerusalem Despite Warnings

21 After tearing ourselves away from them and setting sail, we set a straight course to Cos, the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. ² Finding a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. ³ When we came in sight of Cyprus, passing it by on the left, we kept sailing to Syria and landed at Tyre—for there the ship was to unload the cargo. ⁴ We looked up the disciples and stayed there seven days. They kept telling Paul through the Ruach not to set foot in Jerusalem.

⁵ When our days there were over, we departed and went on our journey. They all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. After kneeling down on the shore and praying, ⁶ we said farewell to one another. Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷ When we had finished the trip from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais. We greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for one day. ⁸ On the next day, we departed and came to Caesarea. We entered the home of Philip, the proclaimer of Good News, who was one of the seven, and we stayed with him. ⁹ Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰ While we stayed there for a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet, and said, “The Ruach ha-Kodesh says this: ‘In this way shall the Jewish people in Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”

¹² When we heard these things, both we and the local people urged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul responded, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but to die for the name of the Lord Yeshua!”

¹⁴ Since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, saying only, “May the Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵ After these days, we packed and started going up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us, bringing us to Mnason of Cyprus—one of the early disciples by whom we might be hosted.

Advice from Jacob and the Elders

¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us gladly. ¹⁸ On the next day, Paul went in with us to Jacob; all the elders were present. ¹⁹ After greeting them, he reported to them in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his service. ²⁰ And when they heard, they began glorifying God.

They said, “You see, brother, how many myriads there are among the Jewish people who have believed—and they are all zealous for the Torah. ²¹ They have been told about you—that you teach all the Jewish people among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or to walk according to the customs. ²² What’s to be done then? No doubt they will hear that you have come.

²³ “So do what we tell you. We have four men who have a vow on themselves. ^{[f] 24} Take them, and purify yourself^[g] along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. That way, all will realize there is nothing to the things they have been told about you, but that you yourself walk in an orderly manner, keeping the Torah.

²⁵ “As for Gentiles who have believed, however, we have written by letter what we decided—for them to abstain from what is offered to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from immorality.”

²⁶ The next day Paul took the men, purifying himself along with them. He went into the Temple, announcing when the days of purification would be completed and the sacrifice would be offered for each one of them.

Trouble at the Temple

²⁷ When the seven days were about to be completed, the Jewish leaders from Asia^[h] saw Paul in the Temple and began stirring up the whole crowd. They grabbed him, ²⁸ shouting, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who is teaching all men everywhere against our people and the Torah and this place. Besides, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and defiled^[i] this holy place!”

²⁹ For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they assumed that Paul had brought him into the Temple. ³⁰ The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the Temple, and the gates were shut at once.

³¹ As they were trying to kill him, news came to the commander of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in chaos. ³² Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and rushed down to them. Upon seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the commander came up, arrested Paul, ordered him to be bound with two chains, and began investigating what he had done. ³⁴ Some in the crowd shouted one thing, and some another. As he could not determine the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into headquarters.

³⁵ When he came to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd. ³⁶ For the multitude of people that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into the headquarters, he said to the commander, “Can I say something to you?”

The commander said, “You know Greek? ³⁸ Then you’re not the Egyptian who stirred up a rebellion some time ago—and led four thousand men of the Assassins out into the desert?”

³⁹ Paul said, “I am a Jewish man from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you, let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰ When the commander had given him permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the people with his hand. When there was a great hush, he spoke to them in Aramaic,^[j] saying:

Paul’s Testimony on the Temple Stairs

22 “Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense which I now present to you.” ² When they heard that Paul was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even more quiet. Then he said, ³ “I am a Jewish man, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, trained strictly according to the Torah of our fathers, being zealous for God just as all of you are today. ⁴ I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prisons— ⁵ as the kohen gadol and all the council of elders can testify about me. I also received letters from them to the brothers, and I went to Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem even those who were there in chains—to be punished.

⁶ “But it happened that as I was traveling and drawing near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly flashed all around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’

⁸ “I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“He said to me, ‘I am Yeshua ha-Natzrati, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹ “Now those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’

“And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up, and go to Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’

¹¹ “But since I could not see because of the brilliance of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus. ¹² Then a certain Ananias—a devout man according to the Torah, well spoken of by all the Jewish people living there— ¹³ came to me. Standing before me, he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, look up!’ In that very moment, I looked and saw him!

¹⁴ “And he said, ‘The God of our fathers handpicked you to know His will—to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ Now why are you waiting? Get up and be immersed, and wash away your sins, calling on His Name.’

¹⁷ “It happened that when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance; ¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry! Get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness about Me.’

¹⁹ “And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another, I was imprisoning and beating those trusting in You. ²⁰ Even when the blood of Your witness Stephen was spilled, I too was standing by and approving, and guarding the clothing of those who were killing him.’

²¹ “And he said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

²² Up to this statement they listened to him. Then they raised their voices, saying, “Away from the earth with this fellow! For he’s not fit to live!”

The Romans Intervene

²³ As they were crying out and flinging off their cloaks and throwing dust into the air, ^{[k] 24} the commander ordered Paul to be brought into headquarters. He said Paul should be examined by lashing, so that he might find out why they were shouting against him so. ²⁵ But when they stretched him out with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen without due process?”

²⁶ Now when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is Roman.”

²⁷ The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you Roman?”

And he said, “Yes.”

²⁸ The commander answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.”

Paul said, “But I was born so.”

²⁹ Therefore, those who were about to interrogate him instantly drew back from him. And the commander also was afraid when he found out that Paul was a Roman and that he had bound him.

Delivered to the Council

³⁰ But on the next day, desiring to know exactly why Paul had been accused by the Judeans, he released him and commanded the ruling kohanim and all the Sanhedrin to meet together. And he brought Paul and set him before them.