; for the
Christians in Macedonia and Greece have been good enough to make a
contribution for the poor Christians at Jerusalem.

Now I beg of you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by
the love which his Spirit inspires, that you join me in earnest prayer
to God in my behalf. Pray that I may be delivered from those in Judea
who refuse to believe in Jesus, that my mission to Jerusalem may prove
acceptable to God's people, and that I may through the will of God come
to you joyfully and find rest with you.

May the God who gives peace be with you all. Amen.

PAUL'S LAST JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM

After we had said good-by to the elders of Ephesus we sailed to Syria
and landed at Tyre, where the ship was to unload her cargo. There we
found certain Christian disciples and stayed a week with them. Speaking
under the influence of the Spirit, they told Paul not to set foot in
Jerusalem; but when it was time for us to go, we went on our way, and
they all, with their wives and children, came with us until we were out
of the city. Then kneeling on the beach, we prayed and said good-by to
one another; we went on board and they returned home.

Sailing from Tyre to Ptolemais, we completed our voyage. After greeting
the Christian brothers who lived there, we spent a day with them. The
next morning we set out and reached Caesarea, where we went to the house
of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
He had four daughters who had the gift of prophecy.

During our stay there, which lasted a number of days, a prophet named
Agabus came down from Judea. Coming up to us, he took Paul's belt, bound
his own feet and hands with it, and said: "This is what the Holy Spirit
says, 'In the same way the Jews will bind the owner of this belt at
Jerusalem and will turn him over to the Romans.'" When we and the
brothers who lived there heard this, we begged Paul not to go up to
Jerusalem, but Paul answered, "What do you mean by weeping and breaking
my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but to die in Jerusalem
for the cause of the Lord Jesus." So when he could not be kept from
going, we stopped pleading and said: "The Lord's will be done."

After some days we started for Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from
Caesarea went with us and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus,
one of the early disciples, with whom we were to stay. When we reached
Jerusalem the brothers welcomed us gladly.

The