23. So we will tell you what to do: Four of our men have made a vow to God.
24. Take these men with you and share in their cleansing ceremony. Pay their expenses so that they can shave their heads. This will prove to everyone that the things they have heard about you are not true. They will see that you obey the Law of Moses in your own life.
25. “In regard to the non-Jewish believers, we have already sent a letter to them saying what we think they should do: ‘Don’t eat food that has been given to idols. Don’t eat meat from animals that have been strangled or any meat that still has the blood in it. Don’t be involved in sexual sin.’”
26. So Paul took the four men with him. The next day he shared in their cleansing ceremony. Then he went to the Temple area and announced the time when the days of the cleansing ceremony would be finished. On the last day an offering would be given for each of the men.
27. When the seven-day period was almost finished, some Jews from Asia saw Paul in the Temple area. They stirred up everyone into an angry mob. They grabbed Paul
28. and shouted, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who is teaching things that are against the Law of Moses, against our people, and against this Temple of ours. This is what he teaches people everywhere. And now he has brought some Greeks into the Temple area and has made this holy place unclean!”
29. (The Jews said this because they had seen Trophimus with Paul in Jerusalem. Trophimus was a man from Ephesus. The Jews thought that Paul had taken him into the holy area of the Temple.)
30. An angry reaction spread throughout the city, and everyone came running to the Temple. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the holy area, and the gates were closed immediately.
31. While they were trying to kill Paul, the commander of the Roman army in Jerusalem got word that the whole city was in a state of riot.
32. Immediately the commander ran to where the crowd had gathered, taking with him some army officers and soldiers. When the people saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
33. The commander went over to Paul and arrested him. He told his soldiers to tie him up with two chains. Then he asked, “Who is this man? What has he done wrong?”