Acts
Chapter 20: 17-38
17From Miletus,
Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18When
they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you,
from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19I
served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the
plots of the Jews. 20You know that I have not hesitated to
preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house
to house. 21I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they
must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
22"And
now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me
there. 23I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns
me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24However, I
consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task
the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
25"Now
I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see
me again. 26Therefore, I declare to you today that I am
innocent of the blood of all men. 27For I have not hesitated
to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28Keep watch over
yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds
of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29I
know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the
flock. 30Even from your own number men will arise and distort
the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31So be
on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and
day with tears.
32"Now
I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an
inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33I have not
coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. 34You yourselves
know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work
we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more
blessed to give than to receive.' "
36When he
had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37They
all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38What grieved
them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they
accompanied him to the ship.
