Acts 21:17-26 - Paul Visits The Leaders Of The Jerusalem Church

¹⁷ And when we came to Jerusalem, the brothers [there] welcomed us gladly. ¹⁸ The next day Paul went with us to visit James [the Lord's half-brother and a leader in the Jerusalem church], with all of the elders [of the Jerusalem church] being present. ¹⁹ And after greeting them Paul reported one by one the things that God had brought about among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰ And when they heard [all] this, they gave honor to God, then said to Paul, "Brother, you can see how many thousands of Jewish believers [in Christ] there are [everywhere] and all of them are eager to observe the [requirements of the] law of Moses. ²¹ Now these Jewish Christians have been informed that you are teaching all the Jews living among the Gentiles to give up [following the teaching of] Moses, [even] telling them not to circumcise their children and not to practice the [other] customs [of the Jewish religion]. ²² What do you think will happen when they hear that you have come [here to Jerusalem]? ²³ So, here is what we would like you to do: We have four men who have made a vow [i.e., a special promise to God]. ²⁴ Take these men and observe the ceremony of purification with them, pay their expenses so they can shave their heads [i.e., to signify that they are making a vow] and [then] everyone will know that there is no truth in what people have been told about you, but that you, too, are living properly and observing the law of Moses. ²⁵ But concerning Gentile believers, we wrote [to them] our decision, that they should avoid [eating] things sacrificed to idols, from [drinking] blood, from [eating] what is strangled and from sexual immorality."

²⁶ Then Paul took the men and the next day he observed the ceremony of purification with them. Then he went into the Temple, declaring [to the priest] when he would fulfill the [required] days of the purification [ceremony] and [be ready] for the sacrifices to be offered for each of them.