The Silver Trumpets

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Make two silver ^ktrumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp. 3 And when both are blown, all the congregation shall gather themselves to you at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 4 But if they blow only one, then the ^lchiefs, the heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you. 5 When you blow an alarm, ^mthe camps that are on the east side shall set out. 6 And when you blow an alarm the second time, ⁿthe camps that are on the south side shall set out. An alarm is to be blown whenever they are to set out. 7 But when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow a long blast, but you shall not sound an alarm. 8 And ^othe sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations. 9 And ^pwhen you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. 10 ^qOn the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and ^rat the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the Lord your God.”

Israel Leaves Sinai

11 ^sIn the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud ^tlifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, 12 ^uand the people of Israel set out ^vby stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of ^wParan. 13 They set out for the first time ^xat the command of the Lord by Moses. 14 ^yThe standard of the camp of the people of Judah set out first by their companies, and over their company was ^zNahshon the son of Amminadab. 15 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Issachar was ^aNethanel the son of Zuar. 16 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Zebulun was ^bEliab the son of Helon.

17 And when the tabernacle was ^ctaken down, the ^dsons of Gershon and the ^esons of Merari, who carried the tabernacle, set out. 18 And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out by their companies, and over their company was ^fElizur the son of Shedeur. 19 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Simeon was ^gShelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Gad was ^hEliasaph the son of Deuel.

21 ⁱThen the Kohathites set out, ^jcarrying the holy things, and the tabernacle was ^kset up before their arrival. 22 ^lAnd the standard of the camp of the people of Ephraim set out by their companies, and over their company was ^mElishama the son of Ammihud. 23 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Manasseh was ⁿGamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 24 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Benjamin was ^oAbidan the son of Gideoni.

25 ^pThen the standard of the camp of the people of Dan, acting as the rear guard of all the camps, set out by their companies, and over their company was ^qAhiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Asher was ^rPagiel the son of Ochran. 27 And over the company of the tribe of the people of Naphtali was ^sAhira the son of Enan. 28 This was the order of march of the people of Israel by their companies, when they set out.

29 And Moses said to ^tHobab the son of ^uReuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ^v‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will do good to you, for ^wthe Lord has promised good to Israel.” 30 But he said to him, “I will not go. I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.” 31 And he said, “Please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us. 32 And if you do go with us, whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same will we do to you.”

33 So they set out from ^xthe mount of the Lord three days’ journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days’ journey, to ^yseek out a resting place for them. 34 And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.

35 And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, ^z“Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” 36 And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”

He Heals the Brokenhearted

Paul in Ephesus

1 And it happened that while ^rApollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland¹ country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you ^sreceive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into ^tJohn’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the ^ubaptism of repentance, telling the people ^vto believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in² the ^wname of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had ^xlaid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began ^yspeaking in tongues and ^zprophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

8 And he entered the ^asynagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the ^bWay before the congregation, he ^cwithdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.³ 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

The Sons of Sceva

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that ^deven handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits ^ecame out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the ^fname of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul ^gproclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, ^h“Jesus I know, ⁱand 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 the ^jname of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced ^kmagic 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 ^lword of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

A Riot at Ephesus

21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, ^m“After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself ⁿstayed in Asia for a while.

23 ^oAbout that time there arose no little ^pdisturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These 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, saying that ^qgods ^rmade 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 great 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 ^senraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, ^tdragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions 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 Now ^usome 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, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a ^vdefense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “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 the 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 these men here who are neither sacrilegious 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 proconsuls. 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 departed 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 a ^wplot 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, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for ^xus at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the 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 ^yOn the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to ^zbreak 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 the 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 fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had 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, ^awe 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 to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of ^bPentecost.

Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders

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

^c“You yourselves know how I lived among you ^dthe whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with ^etears and with trials that happened to me through the ^fplots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 ^gtestifying both to ^hJews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.¹⁰ 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by¹¹ the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit ⁱtestifies to me in every city that imprisonment and ^jafflictions await me. 24 ^kBut I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about ^lproclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am ^minnocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 ⁿPay careful attention to yourselves and to all the ^oflock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God,¹² which he obtained with his own blood.¹³ 29 I know that after my departure fierce ^pwolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise ^qmen speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. 32 And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 ^rI coveted ^sno one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. 35 In all things I have ^tshown you that by working hard in this way we must ^uhelp the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

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

Paul Goes to Jerusalem

1 And when ^vwe had parted from them and set sail, we came 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 through the Spirit they were ^wtelling 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, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling 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 the 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 Philip the evangelist, who was one of ^xthe seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, who ^yprophesied. 10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, ^zhe took Paul’s ^abelt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus ^bsays the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews¹⁶ at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ^cready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the ^dname of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “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, the brothers received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they ^eglorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many ^fthousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all ^gzealous for the law, 21 and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to ^hcircumcise their children or walk according to our 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 who are ⁱunder a ^jvow; 24 take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may ^kshave 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, we have sent ^la 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 he ^mpurified himself ⁿalong with them and went into the temple, giving notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them.