Micah and the Levite

1 There was a man of ^tthe hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, ^u“Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3 And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make ^va carved image and ^wa metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” 4 So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother ^xtook 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made ^yan ephod and ^zhousehold gods, and ^aordained¹ one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 ^bIn those days there was no king in Israel. ^cEveryone did what was right in his own eyes.

7 Now there was a young man of ^dBethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite, and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed from the town of Bethlehem in Judah to sojourn where he could find a place. And as he journeyed, he came to ^ethe hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9 And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite of Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to sojourn where I may find a place.” 10 And Micah said to him, “Stay with me, and be to me ^fa father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.” And the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite ^gwas content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 And Micah ^hordained the Levite, and the young man ⁱbecame his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

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.¹ 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 brothers² 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 Jews³ 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,⁴ 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.

Paul Arrested in the Temple

27 When ^cthe seven days were almost completed, ^dthe Jews from Asia, ^eseeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who ^fis teaching everyone everywhere against the people and ^gthe law and ^gthis place. Moreover, he even brought Greeks into the temple and ^hhas defiled ^gthis holy place.” 29 For they had previously seen ⁱTrophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together. They seized Paul and ^jdragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. 31 ^jAnd as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of ^kthe cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 ^lHe at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him ^mto be bound ⁿwith two chains. He inquired who he was and what he had done. 34 ^oSome in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another. And as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into ^pthe barracks. 35 And when he came to the steps, he was actually carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36 for the mob of the people followed, crying out, ^q“Away with him!”

Paul Speaks to the People

37 As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the tribune, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Are you not ^rthe Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^sinto the wilderness?” 39 Paul replied, ^t“I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.” 40 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, ^umotioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in ^vthe Hebrew language,⁵ saying:

Restoration for Israel and Judah

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ^eWrite in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 ^fFor behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, ^gwhen I will restore ^hthe fortunes of my people, ⁱIsrael and Judah, says the Lord, ^jand I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”

4 These are the words that the Lord spoke concerning ⁱIsrael and Judah:

8 “And it shall come to pass in that day, declares the Lord of hosts, that I will ^obreak his ^pyoke from off your neck, and I will ^oburst your bonds, ^qand foreigners shall no more make a servant of him.¹ 9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and ^rDavid their king, whom I will raise up for them.

The Lord Will Turn Mourning to Joy

1 ^z“At that time, declares the Lord, ^aI will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, ^awhen I restore their fortunes:

24 ^eAnd Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and ^ethe farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 25 For I will ^fsatisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

26 At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.

27 ^g“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when ^hI will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with ⁱthe seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass that ^jas I have watched over them ^kto pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, ^jso I will watch over them ^lto build and to plant, declares the Lord. 29 In those days they shall no longer say:

30 ⁿBut everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

The New Covenant

31 ^o“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make ^pa new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when ^qI took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, ^rthough I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 ^sFor this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: ^sI will put my law within them, and I will write it ^ton their hearts. ^uAnd I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ ^vfor they shall all know me, ^wfrom the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For ^xI will forgive their iniquity, and ^yI will remember their sin no more.”