¹⁶ Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus^(A) to avoid spending time in the province of Asia,^(B) for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem,^(C) if possible, by the day of Pentecost.^(D)

¹¹ Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says,^(A) ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind^(B) the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”^(C)

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^(D) in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”^{(E) 14} When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up^(F) and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”^(G)

¹⁵ After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem.^(H)