Hushai Saves David

1 Moreover, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. 2 I will come upon him while he is ^qweary and discouraged and throw him into a panic, and all the people who are with him will flee. ^rI will strike down only the king, 3 and I will bring all the people back to you as a bride comes home to her husband. You seek the life of only one man,¹ and all the people will be at peace.” 4 And the advice seemed right in the eyes of Absalom and all the elders of Israel.

5 Then Absalom said, “Call ^sHushai the Archite also, and let us hear what he has to say.” 6 And when Hushai came to Absalom, Absalom said to him, “Thus has Ahithophel spoken; shall we do as he says? If not, you speak.” 7 Then Hushai said to Absalom, “This time the counsel that Ahithophel has given is not good.” 8 Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged,^{2 t}like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people. 9 Behold, even now he has hidden himself in one of the pits or in some other place. And as soon as some of the people fall³ at the first attack, whoever hears it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’ 10 Then even the valiant man, whose heart is like the heart of a lion, will utterly ^umelt with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty man, and that those who are with him are valiant men. 11 But my counsel is that all Israel be gathered to you, ^vfrom Dan to Beersheba, ^was the sand by the sea for multitude, and that you go to battle in person. 12 So we shall come upon him in some place where he is to be found, and we shall light upon him as the dew falls on the ground, and of him and all the men with him not one will be left. 13 If he withdraws into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we shall drag it into the valley, until not even a pebble is to be found there.” 14 And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.” ^xFor the Lord had ordained⁴ to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the Lord might bring harm upon Absalom.

15 ^yThen Hushai said to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel, and thus and so have I counseled. 16 Now therefore send quickly and tell David, ‘Do not stay tonight at ^zthe fords of the wilderness, but by all means pass over, lest the king and all the people who are with him be ^aswallowed up.’” 17 Now ^bJonathan and Ahimaaz were waiting at ^cEn-rogel. A female servant was to go and tell them, and they were to go and tell King David, for they were not to be seen entering the city. 18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom. So both of them went away quickly and came to the house of a man at ^dBahurim, who had a well in his courtyard. And they went down into it. 19 ^eAnd the woman took and spread a covering over the well’s mouth and scattered grain on it, and nothing was known of it. 20 When Absalom’s servants came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And the woman said to them, “They have gone over the brook⁵ of water.” And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

21 After they had gone, the men came up out of the well, and went and told King David. They said to David, ^f“Arise, and go quickly over the water, for thus and so has Ahithophel counseled against you.” 22 Then David arose, and all the people who were with him, and they crossed the Jordan. By daybreak not one was left who had not crossed the Jordan.

23 When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to ^ghis own city. He ^hset his house in order and ⁱhanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

24 Then David came to ^jMahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan with all the men of Israel. 25 Now Absalom had set ^kAmasa over the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of a man named Ithra the Ishmaelite,⁶ who had married Abigal the daughter of ^lNahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. 26 And Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.

27 When David came to Mahanaim, ^mShobi the son of Nahash from ⁿRabbah of the Ammonites, and ^oMachir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and ^pBarzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, 28 brought beds, basins, and earthen vessels, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans and lentils,⁷ 29 honey and curds and sheep and cheese from the herd, for David and the people with him to eat, for they said, “The people are hungry and ^qweary and thirsty ^rin the wilderness.”

Paul in Ephesus

1 And it happened that while ^tApollos was at Corinth, Paul passed ^uthrough the inland¹ country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, ^v“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, ^wwe have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, ^x“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into ^yJohn’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, ^y“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people ^zto believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, ^athey were baptized in² the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And ^bwhen Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and ^cthey began speaking in tongues and ^dprophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

8 And ^ehe entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them ^fabout the kingdom of God. 9 ^gBut when some became stubborn and ^hcontinued in unbelief, speaking evil of ⁱthe Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.³ 10 This continued for ^jtwo years, so that ^kall the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

The Sons of Sceva

11 And ^lGod was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 ^lso that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and ^mthe evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish ⁿexorcists ^oundertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ^p“I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, ^q“Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all⁴ of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and ^rthe name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, ^sconfessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord ^tcontinued to increase and prevail mightily.

A Riot at Ephesus

21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit ^uto pass through ^vMacedonia and Achaia and ^wgo to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, ^xI must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of ^yhis helpers, ^zTimothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia ^afor a while.

23 About that time ^bthere arose no little disturbance concerning ^cthe Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, ^dbrought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 ^dThese he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, ^esaying that ^fgods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the ^ggreat goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, ^g“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and ^hAristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s ⁱcompanions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs,⁵ who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 ^jNow some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, ^kmotioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, ^l“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from ^mthe sky?⁶ 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought ⁿthese men here who are neither ^osacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are ^pproconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further,⁷ it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and ^qdeparted for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when ^ra plot was made against him by the Jews⁸ as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, ^sAristarchus and Secundus; and ^sGaius of Derbe, and ^tTimothy; and the Asians, ^uTychicus and ^vTrophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for ^wus at ^xTroas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after ^ythe days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

Eutychus Raised from the Dead

7 ^zOn the first day of the week, when we were gathered together ^ato break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in ^bthe upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he ^cfell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and ^dbent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, ^e“Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and ^fhad broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.

13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and⁹ the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening ^gto be at Jerusalem, if possible, ^hon the day of Pentecost.

Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders

17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called ⁱthe elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them:

^j“You yourselves know ^khow I lived among you the whole time ^jfrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 ^lserving the Lord ^mwith all humility and with ⁿtears and with trials that happened to me through ^othe plots of the Jews; 20 how I ^pdid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and ^qteaching you in public and from house to house, 21 ^rtestifying both to Jews and to Greeks of ^srepentance toward God and of ^tfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ.¹⁰ 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained ^uby¹¹ the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that ^vthe Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that ^wimprisonment and ^xafflictions await me. 24 But ^yI do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only ^zI may finish my course and ^athe ministry ^bthat I received from the Lord Jesus, ^cto testify to ^dthe gospel of ^ethe grace of God. 25 And now, behold, ^fI know that none of you among whom I have gone about ^gproclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore ^hI testify to you this day that ⁱI am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for ^jI did not shrink from declaring to you ^kthe whole counsel of God. 28 ^lPay careful attention to yourselves and to all ^mthe flock, in which ⁿthe Holy Spirit has made you ^ooverseers, ^pto care for ^qthe church of God,¹² which he ^robtained ^swith his own blood.¹³ 29 I ^rknow that after my departure ^tfierce wolves will come in among you, ^unot sparing the flock; 30 and ^vfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore ^wbe alert, remembering that ^xfor three years I did not cease night or day ^yto admonish every one ^zwith tears. 32 And now ^aI commend you to God and to ^bthe word of his grace, which is able to ^cbuild you up and to give you ^dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 ^eI coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 ^fYou yourselves know that ^gthese hands ministered to my necessities and ^hto those who were with me. 35 In all things ⁱI have shown you that ^jby working hard in this way we must ^khelp the weak and ^lremember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed ^mto give than to receive.’”

36 And when he had said these things, ⁿhe knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And ^othere was much weeping on the part of all; ^pthey embraced Paul and ^pkissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of ^qthe word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And ^rthey accompanied him to the ship.

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

1 And when ^swe had parted from them and set sail, we ^tcame by a straight course to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.¹⁴ 2 And having found a ship crossing to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 When we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 4 And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And ^uthrough the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, ^vaccompanied us until we were outside the city. And ^wkneeling down on the beach, we prayed 6 and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home.

7 When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and we greeted ^xthe brothers¹⁵ and stayed with them for one day. 8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of ^yPhilip ^zthe evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, ^awho prophesied. 10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named ^bAgabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he ^ctook Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, ^d“Thus says the Holy Spirit, ^e‘This is how the Jews¹⁶ at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and ^fdeliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, we and the people there ^gurged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, ^g“What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For ^hI am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem ⁱfor the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, ^jwe ceased and said, ^k“Let the will of the Lord be done.”

15 After these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, bringing us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.

Paul Visits James

17 When we had come to Jerusalem, ^lthe brothers received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to ^mJames, and all ⁿthe elders were present. 19 After greeting them, ^ohe related one by one ^pthe things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ^qministry. 20 And when they heard it, they ^rglorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all ^szealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all ^tthe Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, ^utelling them ^vnot to circumcise their children or ^wwalk according to ^xour customs. 22 What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men ^ywho are under a vow; 24 take these men and ^zpurify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, ^yso that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law. 25 But as for the Gentiles who have believed, ^awe have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled,¹⁷ and from sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day ^zhe purified himself along with them and ^bwent into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and ^cthe offering presented for each one of them.