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The Acts of the Apostles 20

20 Then, after the people at Ephesus had stopped rioting, Paul called the believers together. He urged them to continue to trust in the Lord Jesus. Soon after that, he told them goodbye and left to go to the region of Macedonia. 2 Then Paul traveled through Macedonia and said many things to encourage the believers there. Then he continued on to Greece. 3 Paul then stayed in Greece for three months. He planned to return to Syria by ship. But he heard that some of the Jews there were planning to kill him as he traveled. So he decided to travel by land. Once again he went through Macedonia. 4 Now the men who were going to travel with him to Jerusalem were Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, from the town of Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, who were from the city of Thessalonica; Gaius, who was from the city of Derbe; Timothy, who was from the region of Galatia; and Tychicus and Trophimus, who were from the province of Asia. 5 I, Luke, joined Paul when he came back through the city of Philippi. Now the other seven men sailed to the city of Troas before we did, so they waited there for the two of us. 6 But Paul and I stayed in the city of Philippi until the end of the festival when Jewish people eat bread without yeast. Then we got on a ship that was going to the city of Troas. After five days we arrived there and met the other men who had traveled ahead of us. We all stayed in Troas for seven days.

7 While we were in Troas, we gathered together on the first day of the week to share a meal with the other believers. We met on that day because it was the day when Jesus became alive again after he died. Paul was planning to leave Troas the next day, so when he spoke to the believers, he spoke for a long time. He kept speaking until midnight. 8 We had gathered in an upstairs room. Many oil lamps were burning there. 9 Now a young man whose name was Eutychus was in the room. He was seated on the sill of an open window. As Paul continued talking for a long time, Eutychus became sleepier and sleepier. Finally, he was sound asleep. He slipped out of the window and fell three stories down to the ground. Some of the believers went down immediately and picked him up. But he was dead. 10 Paul also went down. He lay down and stretched out on top of the young man. He also put his arms around him. Then he said to the people who were standing around, “Do not worry, because he is alive again!” 11 Then Paul went back up to the room where he was meeting with the believers. They shared a meal together. Afterwards he talked at length with the believers, until the sun came up. Then he left. 12 Before Paul left, the believers brought the young man who had fallen out the window back to the meeting. Everyone there was extremely encouraged to see that he was alive again.

13 We then went to the ship. But Paul did not get on the ship with us in Troas, because he wanted to walk by himself to the town of Assos. So the rest of us got on the ship and sailed for Assos. We planned to bring Paul on board there. 14 And when we met Paul in Assos, he got on the ship with us and we sailed to the city of Mitylene. 15 The day after we reached Mitylene, we sailed from there and arrived at a place near the island of Chios. The day after that, we sailed to the island of Samos. The next day we left Samos and sailed to the city of Miletus. 16 Paul did not want to have a delay in Asia. So he had decided we should go to Miletus, south of Ephesus and past its harbor. He was trying to travel quickly because he wanted to arrive in Jerusalem, if possible, by the time of the Pentecost festival, and it was almost time for that festival.

17 So when the ship arrived at Miletus, Paul sent a messenger to Ephesus to ask the elders of the group of believers there to come to talk with him.

18 When the elders came to him, Paul said to them, “You know very well how I acted among you the entire time that I was with you, from the first day when I arrived here in the province of Asia until the day I left. 19 You know how I kept serving Jesus very humbly and how I sometimes wept. You also know how I suffered because the Jews who were not believers often tried to harm me. 20 You also know that, when I preached God’s message to you, I never left out anything that would help you. You know that I taught you God’s message when many people were present, and I also went to your homes and taught you there. 21 I preached both to Jews and to non-Jews. I told them all that they must stop their sinful behavior and start obeying God. They must believe in our Lord Jesus.”

22 “And now, I want you to know, I am going to Jerusalem. I am going because the Holy Spirit has clearly shown me that I must go there, and I must obey him. I do not know exactly what will happen to me there. 23 But I do know that in each city I have visited, the Holy Spirit has told me that in Jerusalem people will put me in prison and will cause me to suffer. 24 But I do not care even if people kill me, so long as I am first able to finish the work that the Lord Jesus has told me to do. He told me to tell people the good news that God saves us by doing for us what we do not deserve. 25 I have preached to you the message that God is reigning as king. But now, I must tell you, I know that today is the last time that you fellow believers will ever see me. 26 So I want you all to understand right now that if anyone who has heard me preach dies without trusting in Jesus, it is not my fault, 27 After all, I have told you everything that God has revealed about how he saves us. 28 You leaders must continue to believe and obey God’s message, and you must also help all the other believers to do the same. The Holy Spirit has given you the responsibility of caring for them. Jesus died on the cross to make those who believe in him his own special people. 29 I know very well that after I leave, people who teach lies will come among you and will do great harm to the believers 30 Even some leaders from your own group will start teaching believers the wrong things. They will teach those wrong things to try to get disciples of their own. 31 So be careful that all of you keep believing the true message about Jesus! Remember that throughout the three years I was with you, I warned each one of you consistently and very sincerely that you should stay faithful to Jesus.”

32 “And now as I leave you, I ask God to protect you and help you to keep believing the message that he saves us by doing for us what we do not deserve. If you continue believing that message, it will make you strong, and God will give you the good things that he has promised to all of those who belong to him.

33 As for me, I never tried to get money or fine clothing from anyone. 34 You certainly know that I worked with my hands to earn the money that my helpers and I needed. 35 In everything that I did, I showed you that we should work hard in order to have enough money to give some to those who are needy. We should remember that our Lord Jesus himself said, ‘A person is happier when he gives to others than when he receives from them.’”

36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of the elders and prayed. 37 They all cried a lot, and they hugged Paul and kissed him. 38 They were very sad because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they all went with him to the ship.

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