Acts 20:13-21:14

International Children’s Bible

The Trip from Troas to Miletus

¹³ We sailed for the city of Assos. We went first, ahead of Paul. He wanted to join us on the ship there. Paul planned it this way because he wanted to go to Assos by land. ¹⁴ When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went to Mitylene. ¹⁵ The next day, we sailed from Mitylene and came to a place near Chios. The next day, we sailed to Samos. A day later, we reached Miletus. ¹⁶ Paul had already decided not to stop at Ephesus. He did not want to stay too long in Asia. He was hurrying to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, if that was possible.

The Elders from Ephesus

¹⁷ Now from Miletus Paul sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. ¹⁸ When they came to him, he said, “You know about my life from the first day I came to Asia. You know the way I lived all the time I was with you. ¹⁹ The Jews plotted against me. This troubled me very much. But you know that I always served the Lord. I never thought of myself first, and I often cried. ²⁰ You know I preached to you, and I did not hold back anything that would help you. You know that I taught you in public and in your homes. ²¹ I warned both Jews and Greeks to change their lives and turn to God. And I told them all to believe in our Lord Jesus. ²² But now I must obey the Holy Spirit and go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what will happen to me there. ²³ I know only that in every city the Holy Spirit tells me that troubles and even jail wait for me. ²⁴ I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission. I want to finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.

²⁵ “And now, I know that none of you will ever see me again. All the time I was with you, I was preaching the kingdom of God. ²⁶ So today I can tell you one thing that I am sure of: If any of you should be lost, I am not responsible. ²⁷ This is because I have told you everything God wants you to know. ²⁸ Be careful for yourselves and for all the people God has given you. The Holy Spirit gave you the work of caring for this flock. You must be like shepherds to the church of God.^[a] This is the church that God bought with his own death. ²⁹ I know that after I leave, some men will come like wild wolves and try to destroy the flock. ³⁰ Also, men from your own group will rise up and twist the truth. They will lead away followers after them. ³¹ So be careful! Always remember this: For three years I never stopped warning each of you. I taught you night and day. I often cried over you.

³² “Now I am putting you in the care of God and the message about his grace. That message is able to give you strength, and it will give you the blessings that God has for all his holy people. ³³ When I was with you, I never wanted anyone’s money or fine clothes. ³⁴ You know that I always worked to take care of my own needs and the needs of those who were with me. ³⁵ I showed you in all things that you should work as I did and help the weak. I taught you to remember the words of Jesus. He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ When Paul had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ^37-38 And they all cried because Paul had said that they would never see him again. They put their arms around him and kissed him. Then they went with him to the ship.

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

21 We all said good-bye to them and left. We sailed straight to Cos island. The next day, we reached Rhodes, and from Rhodes we went to Patara. ² There we found a ship that was going to Phoenicia. We went aboard and sailed away. ³ We sailed near the island of Cyprus. We could see it to the north, but we sailed on to Syria. We stopped at Tyre because the ship needed to unload its cargo there. ⁴ We found some followers in Tyre, and we stayed with them for seven days. Through the Holy Spirit they warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem. ⁵ When we finished our visit, we left and continued our trip. All the followers, even the women and children, came outside the city with us. We all knelt down on the beach and prayed. ⁶ Then we said good-bye and got on the ship. The followers went back home.

⁷ We continued our trip from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais. We greeted the believers there and stayed with them for a day. ⁸ We left Ptolemais and went to the city of Caesarea. There we went into the home of Philip and stayed with him. Philip had the work of telling the Good News. He was one of the seven helpers.^{[b] 9} He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophesying. ¹⁰ After we had been there for some time, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. ¹¹ He came to us and borrowed Paul’s belt. Then he used the belt to tie his own hands and feet. He said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who wears this belt. Then they will give him to the non-Jewish people.’”

¹² We all heard these words. So we and the people there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. ¹³ But he said, “Why are you crying and making me so sad? I am ready to be tied up in Jerusalem. And I am ready to die for the Lord Jesus!”

¹⁴ We could not persuade him to stay away from Jerusalem. So we stopped begging him and said, “We pray that what the Lord wants will be done.”