Study Desk

They should not do any of these things, because there are still men in every city who teach the Law of Moses. The words of Moses have been read in the synagogue every Sabbath day for many years."

Paul and those with him went through the areas of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit did not allow them to tell the Good News in the province of Asia.

After this the jailer took Paul and Silas home and gave them some food. All the people were very happy because they now believed in God.

While Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens, he was upset because he saw that the city was full of idols.

There he met a Jewish man named Aquila, who was born in the country of Pontus. But he and his wife, Priscilla, had recently moved to Corinth from Italy. They left Italy because Claudius had given an order for all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit Aquila and Priscilla.

Paul stayed with the believers for many days. Then he left and sailed for Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were also with him. At Cenchrea Paul cut off his hair, because he had made a promise to God.

Apollos wanted to go to Achaia. So the believers in Ephesus helped him. They wrote a letter to the Lord's followers in Achaia and asked them to accept Apollos. When he arrived there, he was a great help to those who had believed in Jesus because of God's grace.

He did this for two years. Because of this work, everyone in Asia, Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

I say this because someone might see this trouble today and say we are rioting. We could not explain all this trouble, because there is no real reason for this meeting."

On Sunday we all met together to eat the Lord's Supper. Paul talked to the group. Because he was planning to leave the next day, he continued talking until midnight.

We went on ahead of Paul and sailed for the city of Assos, planning to meet him there. This is what he told us to do because he wanted to go by land.

Paul had already decided not to stop at Ephesus. He did not want to stay too long in Asia. He was hurrying because he wanted to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost if possible.

I can say this because I know that I told you everything that God wants you to know.

They cried and cried. They were especially sad because Paul had said they would never see him again. They hugged him and kissed him. Then they went with him to the ship to say goodbye.

We sailed near the island of Cyprus. We could see it on the north side, but we did not stop. We sailed to the country of Syria. We stopped at Tyre because the ship needed to unload its cargo there.

We found the Lord's followers there and stayed with them for seven days. They warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem because of what the Spirit had told them.

(The Jews said this because they had seen Trophimus with Paul in Jerusalem. Trophimus was a man from Ephesus. The Jews thought that Paul had taken him into the holy area of the Temple.)

Some people there were shouting one thing, and others were shouting something else. Because of all this confusion and shouting, the commander could not learn the truth about what had happened. So he told the soldiers to take Paul to the army building.

The whole crowd was following them. When the soldiers came to the steps, they had to carry Paul. They did this to protect him, because the people were ready to hurt him. The people were shouting, "Kill him!"

I persecuted the people who followed the Way. Some of them were killed because of me. I arrested men and women and put them in jail.