使徒行传 21
Revised Chinese Union Version (Simplified Script) Shen Edition
保罗上耶路撒冷
21 我们离别了众人，就开船直航到哥士，第二天到了罗底，又从那里到帕大喇。 2 我们遇见一只船要往腓尼基去，就上船起航。 3 我们望见塞浦路斯，就从南边行过，往叙利亚去，在推罗上岸，因为船要在那里卸货。 4 我们在那里找到了一些门徒，就住了七天。他们藉着圣灵的感动，告诉保罗不要上耶路撒冷去。 5 几天之后，我们又出发前行。他们众人同妻子儿女都送我们到城外，我们都跪在滩上祷告，彼此辞别。 6 我们上了船，他们就回家去了。
7 我们从推罗行完航程，来到了多利买，问候那里的弟兄，和他们同住了一天。 8 第二天，我们离开那里，来到凯撒利亚，就进了传福音的腓利家里，和他同住；他是那七个执事里的一个。 9 他有四个女儿，都是未出嫁的，都会说预言。 10 我们在那里多住了好几天，有一个先知，名叫亚迦布，从犹太下来。 11 他到了我们这里，就拿保罗的腰带，捆上自己的手脚，说：“圣灵这样说：‘犹太人在耶路撒冷要如此捆绑这腰带的主人，把他交在外邦人手里。’” 12 我们听见这些话，就跟当地的人苦劝保罗不要上耶路撒冷去。 13 于是保罗回答：“你们为什么这样痛哭，使我心碎呢？我为主耶稣的名，不但被人捆绑，就是死在耶路撒冷也是愿意的。” 14 既然保罗不听劝，我们就住了口，只说：“愿主的旨意成就。”
15 过了这几天，我们收拾行李上耶路撒冷去。 16 有凯撒利亚的几个门徒和我们同去，带我们到一个早期的门徒塞浦路斯人拿孙的家里，请我们与他同住。
保罗访问雅各
17 我们到了耶路撒冷，弟兄们欢欢喜喜地接待我们。 18 第二天，保罗同我们去见雅各；所有的长老也都在场。 19 保罗向他们问安，然后将 神用他在外邦人中所做的事奉，一一述说了。 20 他们听见了，就归荣耀给 神，对保罗说：“弟兄，你看犹太人中有数以万计的信徒，而他们都是热心于律法的人。 21 他们曾听见人说，你教导所有在外邦的犹太人离弃摩西，对他们说，不要给孩子行割礼，也不要遵守规矩。 22 众人必听见你来了，这可怎么办呢？ 23 你就照着我们的话做吧！我们这里有四个人，都有愿在身。 24 你带他们去，与他们一同行洁净的礼，替他们缴纳规费，让他们得以剃头。这样，众人就会知道，先前所听见关于你的事都是假的；而且也知道，你自己为人循规蹈矩，遵行律法。 25 至于信主的外邦人，[a]我们已经根据我们的决议写信，叫他们要禁戒偶像所玷污的东西、血和勒死的牲畜，禁戒淫乱。” 26 于是保罗带着那四个人，第二天与他们一同行了洁净礼，进了圣殿，报告洁净期满的日子，等候祭司为他们各人献上祭物。
保罗在圣殿里被捕
27 那七日将完，从亚细亚来的犹太人看见保罗在圣殿里，就煽动所有的群众，下手拿住他， 28 喊着：“以色列人哪，来帮忙！这就是在各处教导众人糟蹋我们百姓、律法和这地方的人。不但如此，他还带了希腊人进圣殿，污秽了这圣地。” 29 这话是因他们曾看见以弗所人特罗非摩跟保罗一起在城里，以为保罗带他进了圣殿。 30 于是全城都骚动，百姓一齐跑来，拿住保罗，拉他出圣殿，殿门立刻都关了。 31 他们正想要杀他，有人报信给营里的千夫长，说耶路撒冷全城都乱了。 32 千夫长立刻带着士兵和几个百夫长，跑下去到他们那里。他们见了千夫长和士兵，就停下来不打保罗。 33 于是千夫长上前拿住他，吩咐用两条铁链捆锁，又问他是什么人，做了什么事。 34 群众中有的喊这个，有的喊那个；因为这样乱嚷，千夫长无法知道实情，就下令将保罗带进营楼去。 35 保罗一走上台阶，群众挤得凶猛，士兵只得将保罗抬起来。 36 一群人跟在后面，喊着：“除掉他！”
保罗为自己辩护
37 保罗快要被带进营楼时，对千夫长说：“我可以对你说句话吗？”千夫长说：“你懂得希腊话吗？ 38 那你就不是从前作乱、带领四千凶徒往旷野去的那埃及人了。” 39 保罗说：“我本是犹太人，生在基利家的大数，并不是无名小城的公民。求你准我对百姓说话。” 40 千夫长准了。保罗就站在台阶上，向百姓做了个手势，要他们静下来，保罗就用希伯来话对他们说：
Footnotes
- 21．25 有古卷加“他们没有什么可控告你。”
Acts 21
New Catholic Bible
From Jerusalem to Rome[a]
Chapter 21
Last Journey to Jerusalem[b]
Arrival at Tyre. 1 When we[c] had finally torn ourselves away from them and set sail, we traveled directly to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 2 There, we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, so we went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus, we passed by it on our left and sailed to Syria, landing at Tyre where the ship was to unload her cargo.
4 We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them for seven days. Through the Spirit, they advised Paul to abandon his plans to move on to Jerusalem. 5 However, when our time with them was ended, we left and continued on our journey. All of them, including women and children, escorted us outside the city. Kneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6 and then bid farewell to one another. Afterward, we boarded the ship and they returned home.
Arrival at Ptolemais and Caesarea. 7 We finished our voyage from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brethren and stayed with them for one day. 8 On the next day, we left and came to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven,[d] and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who possessed the gift of prophecy.
10 After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. 11 He came up to us, took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ”
12 When we heard this, we joined with the people who lived there in begging Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 Since he would not be dissuaded, we finally gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Various Events and Paul’s Defenses at Jerusalem
15 Paul Is Welcomed by the Elders.[e] At the end of our stay, we made preparations and went up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, one of the early disciples, with whom we were to stay.
17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren gave us a warm welcome. 18 On the next day, Paul paid a visit to James. We accompanied him, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
20 When they heard this, they gave praise to God. Then they said to Paul, “You can see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and all of them are zealous upholders of the Law. 21 They have been informed in your regard that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or to observe their custom. 22 What then is to be done? They are sure to hear that you have arrived.
23 “This is what we suggest that you do. We have four men here who are under a vow. 24 Take these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay the expenses involved with the shaving of their heads. In this way, all will know that there is nothing in these reports they have been given about you and that you observe the Law. 25 As for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have informed them of our decision that they must abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything that has been strangled, and from unchastity.”
26 Therefore, on the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. He then entered the temple to give notice of the date when the period of purification would end and the offerings would be made for each of them.
27 Paul’s Arrest in the Temple.[f] When the seven days were nearly over, the Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple. Stirring up the whole crowd, they seized him, 28 shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, the Law, and this place. What is more, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” 29 They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.
30 Thus, the entire city was in turmoil, and people came running from all directions. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and the gates were then shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 Immediately, he took soldiers and centurions with him and charged down on them.
When the Jews saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander came forward, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Next he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another; and since the commander could not arrive at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35 When he came to the steps, the violence of the crowd was so intense that he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”
37 Just as he was about to be taken into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” The commander replied, “So you speak Greek? 38 Then you are not the Egyptian[g] who recently started a revolt and led the four thousand assassins into the desert.” 39 Paul asserted, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city. May I have your permission to speak to the people?” 40 When the permission was granted, Paul stood on the steps and raised his hand to the people for silence. As soon as quiet was restored, he started speaking to them in Aramaic.[h]
Footnotes
- Acts 21:1 The period of missionary journeys is over. The new series of events begins in Jerusalem with an address of the elders of the community to Paul (Acts 21:20-26), followed by an address of Paul to the people (Acts 22:1-21). Then follows a series of four trials, of increasing importance, in Jerusalem and in Caesarea (Acts 23:1ff; 24:1ff; 25:1ff; 26:1ff). In this suffering of Paul, which makes him, like every martyr, a sharer in the suffering of Jesus, the basic theme of the discourses, almost their very reason for being, is the resurrection. Finally, there is the journey to Rome. In the capital of the Empire, the decisive turning point comes. Paul henceforth addresses himself to the Gentiles without any longer taking account of the privilege of the Jews to be the first to receive the message (Acts 28:28).
- Acts 21:1 This is the third “we-section” (see note on Acts 16:9-15).
- Acts 21:1 Right from the beginning, the presence of the Spirit is apparent. It is he who urges Paul toward his destiny, and his presence is signified by the prophets who discuss the hour from which all want to save Paul. The assembly takes up the words of our Lord in the Garden of Olives: “The Lord’s will be done” (v. 14).
- Acts 21:8 Seven: see Acts 6:2-4.
- Acts 21:15 The elders extend a cordial but anxious welcome. Paul gives the community of Jerusalem an account of his mission, and the Church offers thanks. In this Jewish city, in a community presided over by James, a relative of Jesus deeply attached to Judaism, Paul accepts to live in the Jewish manner—in accord with his dictum: “I have become all things to all” (1 Cor 9:22). He must also give proof of his good faith: if he does not impose the practices of Judaism on Gentiles, he does not on the other hand wish to turn away those of Jewish origin from those practices.
In fact, Paul does not blame Jewish practices but those who insist on making them the condition of salvation. As a Jew himself, he loyally consents to perform a typically Jewish act of devotion: he joins a group of pilgrims who have taken a Nazirite vow (see Acts 18:18); at the appointed time he will come to be purified in the temple in accord with the prescriptions of the Law (Num 6:1-21) and will even pay the expenses. The Book of Acts does not say anything about Paul bringing the collection of the Churches to this mother community that has fallen in need. - Acts 21:27 Now the time for imprisonment and captivity has arrived, sparked by a misunderstanding. The Jews come to believe that Paul is bringing into the temple a non-Jew—someone who is forbidden under penalty of death from entering the inner courts. Hence, a cry of sacrilege rings out. In reality, hatred is about to explode. Judaism has felt the jolt of a nascent Christianity and has reacted defensively to it. This reflexive sentiment has already been at work against Stephen (see Acts 6:11-14), and the same accusations were formulated against Jesus (Mt 26:61; 27:40; Mk 14:58; 15:29).
The defensive reaction is a violent, irrational, and almost visceral one. It has to be such in order that the Christian originality may be manifest and that one may know what to hold on to. The commander of the cohort, who watches the temple from the fortress installed at the north-west corner, intervenes to prevent a riot. The soldiers believe they are arresting a nationalist extremist. Luke stresses once more that neither Paul nor Christians have ever been involved in a subversive plot against the Empire. - Acts 21:38 The Egyptian: in A.D. 54, an Egyptian agitator, Ben Stada, had stirred up the Jewish nationalists to whom reference is made here, as we know from the historian Flavius Josephus. The Roman authorities were forced to put down the riot, and thousands were killed. Assassins: literally, sicarii, violent nationalists who carried a short dagger, called sica in Latin, and did not hesitate to use it.
- Acts 21:40 Aramaic: the language spoken by Jews at this time; Hebrew was no longer spoken or understood by the people after the Babylonian exile (587 B.C.).
和合本修訂版經文 © 2006, 2010, 2017 香港聖經公會。蒙允許使用。 Scripture Text of Revised Chinese Union Version © 2006, 2010, 2017 Hong Kong Bible Society. www.hkbs.org.hk/en/ Used by permission.
