Seized in the Temple

¹⁷When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. ¹⁸The following day, Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹After greeting them, he gave a detailed account of everything God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. ²⁰When they heard this, they glorified the Lord and said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law. ²¹They have been told about you — that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or follow the customs. ²²So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have a vow on them. ²⁴Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that the things they were told about you are nothing, and that you yourself live in an orderly manner and keep the law. ²⁵As for the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they need not observe such things, except that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from what is strangled, and from sexual immorality. ²⁶So Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them and went into the temple to give notice of when the days of purification would be completed and the offering would be made for each of them. ²⁷When the seven days were nearly over, the Jews from Asia saw Paul in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him, ²⁸shouting, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, the law, and this place. And beyond that, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place!" ²⁹(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul, and they assumed Paul had brought him into the temple.) ³⁰The whole city was stirred up, and the people came running together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. ³¹While they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³²He immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When the crowd saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³The commander came forward, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since he could not determine the facts because of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be brought into the barracks. ³⁵When Paul reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd. ³⁶For the mass of people followed behind, shouting, "Away with him!"