Study Desk

But look at what this man Paul is doing. He has convinced and turned away many people in Ephesus and in almost all of Asia! He says the gods made by human hands are not real.

There is a danger that our business will lose its good name, but there is also another danger: People will begin to think that the temple of the great goddess Artemis is not important. Her greatness will be destroyed, and Artemis is the goddess that everyone in Asia and the whole world worships."

Paul wanted to go in and talk to the crowd, but the followers did not let him.

But when they saw that Alexander was a Jew, they all shouted the same thing for two hours: "Great is Artemis of Ephesus!"

You brought these men here, but they have not said anything evil against our goddess or stolen anything from her temple.

where he stayed for three months. He was ready to sail for Syria, but some evil people were planning something against him. So Paul decided to go back through Macedonia to Syria.

The evil people made plans against me, which troubled me very much. But you know I always served the Lord unselfishly, and I often cried.

But now I must obey the Holy Spirit and go to Jerusalem. I don't know what will happen to me there.

We sailed near the island of Cyprus, seeing it to the north, but we sailed on to Syria. We stopped at Tyre because the ship needed to unload its cargo there.

But he said, "Why are you crying and making me so sad? I am not only ready to be tied up in Jerusalem, I am ready to die for the Lord Jesus!"

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in the country of Cilicia, but I grew up in this city. I was a student of Gamaliel, who carefully taught me everything about the law of our ancestors. I was very serious about serving God, just as are all of you here today.

Those who were with me did not understand the voice, but they saw the light.

But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I put the believers in jail and beat them.

But the Lord said to me, ‘Leave now. I will send you far away to the other nations.' "

But as the soldiers were tying him up, preparing to beat him, Paul said to an officer nearby, "Do you have the right to beat a Roman citizen who has not been proven guilty?"

The commander said, "I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen." But Paul said, "I was born a citizen."

Paul said to Ananias, "God will hit you, too! You are like a wall that has been painted white. You sit there and judge me, using the law of Moses, but you are telling them to hit me, and that is against the law."

(The Sadducees do not believe in angels or spirits or that people will rise from the dead. But the Pharisees believe in them all.)

But Paul's nephew heard about this plan and went to the army building and told Paul.

But don't believe them! More than forty men are hiding and waiting to kill Paul. They have all taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are waiting for you to agree."