55 Bible Verses about Paul, Life Of
Most Relevant Verses
though I at least am entitled to rely on them. If anyone thinks he can rely on his physical advantages, still more can I! I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a descendant of Israel. I belong to the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew, and the son of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee;
Then the colonel came to Paul and said, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said. "I had to pay a large sum for my citizenship," said the colonel. "But I am a citizen by birth," said Paul.
"I am a Jew, and I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but was brought up here in this city, and thoroughly educated under the teaching of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
"I am a Jew," Paul answered, "from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you to let me speak to the people."
After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and as they practiced the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers.
I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a descendant of Israel. I belong to the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew, and the son of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee; as to my zeal, I was a persecutor of the church; and by the Law's standard of uprightness, no fault could be found with me.
Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, went to the high priest, and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there who belonged to the Way, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem.
And I said, 'Lord, they know that I used to go through one synagogue after another, and to imprison and flog those who believed in you, and when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood by and approved it, and took charge of the clothes of the men who killed him.'
You have heard of my former conduct when I was attached to the Jewish religion??ow furiously I used to persecute the church of God and ravage it,
Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, went to the high priest, and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women there who belonged to the Way, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem. But on his journey, as he was approaching Damascus, a sudden light flashed around him from heaven,read more.
and he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?" "Who are you, sir?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," said the voice. "But get up and go into the city, and there you will be told what you ought to do." Saul's fellow-travelers stood speechless, for they heard the voice but could not see anyone. When he got up from the ground and opened his eyes he could see nothing. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus, and for three days he could not see, and neither ate nor drank. There was at Damascus a disciple named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias!" And he answered, "Yes, Lord!" The Lord said to him, "Get up and go to the street called the Straight Street, and ask at the house of Judas for a man named Saul, from Tarsus, for he is there praying. He has had a vision and seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, to restore his sight." But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard many people tell of this man, and the harm he has done to your people in Jerusalem. He is here with authority to arrest everyone who calls upon your name." The Lord said to him, "Go! This man is the means I have chosen for carrying my name among the heathen and their kings, and among the descendants of Israel. For I am going to show him what he will have to endure for my sake." Ananias set out and went to the house, and there he laid his hands upon Saul, and said to him, "Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your journey, so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the holy Spirit." Something like scales immediately dropped from his eyes, and his sight was restored, and he got up and was baptized, and, after taking some food, regained his strength. Saul stayed for some time with the disciples at Damascus,
"I am a Jew, and I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but was brought up here in this city, and thoroughly educated under the teaching of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today. I persecuted this Way even to the death, and bound both men and women and put them in prison, as the high priest and the whole council will bear me witness. In fact, they gave me letters to the brothers in Damascus and I went there to bind those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished.read more.
But on my way, as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly about noon, a blaze of light flashed around me from heaven, and I fell upon the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' I answered, 'Who are you, sir?' 'I am Jesus of Nazareth,' he said, 'whom you are persecuting.' The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. Then I said, 'What am I to do, sir?' The Lord said to me, 'Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told of all you are destined to do.' As I could not see, because of the dazzling light, my companions had to lead me by the hand, and so I reached Damascus. There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the Law, highly respected by all the Jews who lived there, came to see me, and standing by my side, said to me, 'Saul, my brother, regain your sight!' Then instantly I regained my sight and looked at him, and he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to learn his will and to see his Righteous One and hear him speak, for you shall be his witness before all men of what you have seen and heard. And now, why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash out your sins, calling on his name.'
I once thought it my duty vigorously to oppose the cause of Jesus of Nazareth. That was what I did at Jerusalem when on the authority of the high priests I put many of God's people in prison. When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them, and many a time in all the synagogues I had them punished, and tried to force them to say impious things. In my extreme rage against them I even pursued them to distant towns.read more.
I was once going to Damascus on this business, authorized and commissioned by the high priests, when on the road at noon, your Majesty, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun flash around me and my fellow-travelers. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me? You cannot kick against the goad!' 'Who are you, sir?' said I. The Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for the express purpose of appointing you to serve me and to testify to what you have seen and to the visions you will have of me. I will save you from your people and from the heathen, to whom I will send you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's control to God, so that they may have their sins forgiven and have a place among those who are consecrated through faith in me.'
And when God, who had set me apart from my birth and had called me in his mercy, saw fit to reveal his Son to me, so that I might preach the good news about him to the heathen, immediately, instead of consulting with any human being, or going up to Jerusalem to see those who had been apostles before me, I went off to Arabia, and on my return came back to Damascus.
When I was at Damascus, the governor under King Aretas had the city gates watched in order to catch me, but I was lowered in a basket from an opening in the wall, and got out of his clutches.
and, after taking some food, regained his strength. Saul stayed for some time with the disciples at Damascus, and began at once to declare in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. Everyone was astonished, and said, "Is not he the man who made such havoc of the people in Jerusalem who call upon that name, and who came here especially for the purpose of arresting such persons and taking them before the high priests?"read more.
But Saul grew more and more powerful, and bewildered the Jews who lived in Damascus by his proofs that Jesus was the Christ. After some time had passed, the Jews made a plot to kill him, but Saul found out about the plot. They watched the city gates day and night, in order to kill him, but his disciples took him one night and let him down over the wall, lowering him in a basket.
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem, to become acquainted with Cephas, and I spent two weeks with him;
When he reached Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they could not believe that he was really a disciple. But Barnabas got hold of him and introduced him to the apostles, and he told them how on his journey he had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to him, and how boldly he had spoken for the cause of Jesus at Damascus. After that, he associated with them freely in Jerusalem,
and spoke boldly for the Lord's cause, talking and debating with the Greek-speaking Jews. But they tried to kill him. When the brothers found this out, they took him down to Caesarea, and sent him away to Tarsus.
Then Barnabas went over to Tarsus to seek out Saul, and found him and brought him to Antioch. The result was that for a whole year they met with the church, and taught large numbers of people, and it was at Antioch that the disciples first came to be known as Christians.
There were at Antioch in the church there a number of prophets and teachers??arnabas, Symeon who was called Niger, Lucius the Cyrenian, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the governor, and Saul. As they were engaged in worshiping the Lord and in fasting, the holy Spirit said, "Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me, for the work to which I have called them." So after fasting and prayer, they laid their hands upon them and let them go.read more.
Being sent out in this way by the holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they reached Salamis, they proclaimed God's message in the Jewish synagogues. They had John with them as their assistant. They went through the whole island as far as Paphos, and there they came across a Jewish magician and false prophet named Barjesus.
At Iconium in the same way, they went to the Jewish synagogue and spoke with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.
Then, fourteen years later, I went up to Jerusalem again, with Barnabas, and took Titus also with me. It was in obedience to a revelation that I went. I laid before them the good news that I preach to the heathen, presenting it privately to the leaders, for fear my efforts might be or might have been futile. But they did not insist that even my companion Titus, although he was a Greek, should be circumcised,read more.
to gratify the false brothers who had been smuggled in, who sneaked in to spy upon the freedom we enjoy in Christ Jesus, so as to reduce us to slavery again. But we did not submit to them for a moment, in order that the truth of the good news might remain yours. Those who were regarded as the leaders??hat they once were makes no difference to me; God takes no account of external differences??he leaders contributed nothing new to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been intrusted with the good news for the heathen, just as Peter had been intrusted with it for the Jews??8 for he who actuated Peter to be an apostle to the Jews also actuated me to be one to the heathen??9 and when they recognized the favor God had shown me, James, Cephas, and John, who were regarded as pillars of the church, pledged Barnabas and me their co-operation, with the understanding that we should work among the heathen and they among the Jews. Only, we were to remember the poor, and that I have taken pains to do.
Some people came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers that unless they were circumcised as Moses prescribed, they could not be saved. This created a disturbance and a serious discussion between Paul and Barnabas and them, and it was agreed that Paul and Barnabas and some others of their number should go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question. The church saw them off upon their journey, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the heathen, and caused great rejoicing among all the brothers.read more.
When they reached Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported how God had worked with them. But some members of the Pharisees' party who had become believers got up and said that such converts ought to be circumcised and told to obey the Law of Moses. The apostles and elders had a meeting to look into this matter.
Some time after, Paul said to Barnabas, "Come, let us go back and revisit the brothers in each of the towns where we made the Lord's message known, to see how they are doing." Now Barnabas wanted to take John who was called Mark with them. But Paul did not approve of taking with them a man who had deserted them in Pamphylia instead of going on with them to their work.read more.
They differed so sharply about it that they separated, and Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. But Paul selected Silas and set out, the brothers commending him to the Lord's favor. He traveled through Syria and Cilicia and strengthened the churches.
Thus they crossed Phrygia and Galatia. The holy Spirit prevented them from delivering the message in Asia, and when they reached Mysia they tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit it, and they passed Mysia and came down to Troas.
There Paul had a vision one night; a Macedonian was standing appealing to him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." As soon as he had this vision, we made efforts to get on to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to tell them the good news. So we sailed from Troas, and ran a straight course to Samothrace, and next day to Neapolis.read more.
From there we went to Philippi, a Roman garrison town, and the principal place in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed for some days.
After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they reached Thessalonica, where the Jews had a synagogue.
The men who went with Paul took him all the way to Athens, and came back with instructions for Silas and Timothy to rejoin him as soon as possible.
Paul stayed some time longer, and then bade the brothers goodbye and sailed for Syria, with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, because of a vow he had been under. When they reached Ephesus he left them there. He went to the synagogue there and had a discussion with the Jews. They asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent.read more.
He bade them goodbye, saying, "I will come back to you again if it is God's will." Then he sailed from Ephesus. When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and paid his respects to the church, and then went on to Antioch.
After spending some time there, he started out again, and traveled systematically through Galatia and Phrygia, reassuring all the disciples.
It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, after passing through the interior, reached Ephesus. Finding some disciples there, he said to them, "Did you receive the holy Spirit when you became believers?" "No," they said to him, "we never even heard that there was a holy Spirit." "How then were you baptized?" he asked. "With John's baptism," they answered.read more.
"John's baptism was a baptism in token of repentance," said Paul, "and he told the people to believe in him who was to follow him, that is, in Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and when Paul laid his hands on them, the holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in foreign tongues and with prophetic inspiration. There were about twelve of them in all. He went to the synagogue there, and for three months spoke confidently, holding discussions and trying to persuade them about the Kingdom of God. But as some of them were obstinate and refused to believe, finding fault with the Way before the people, he left them, and withdrew the disciples, and held daily discussions in the lecture-room of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that everyone who lived in Asia, Greeks as well as Jews, heard the Lord's message. God did such extraordinary wonders by means of Paul, that people took to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons he had used, and they were cured of their diseases, and the evil spirits went out of them.
From the human point of view, what good is it to me that I have fought wild animals here in Ephesus? If the dead do not rise at all, "Let us eat and drink, for we will be dead tomorrow!"
But I shall stay in Ephesus until the Harvest Festival, for I have a great and promising opportunity here, as well as many opponents.
It was because I was sure of this that I wanted to come to see you before going anywhere else, to give you a double pleasure; I was going to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and then to come back to you from Macedonia and have you see me off for Judea.
For I was in great trouble and distress of mind when I wrote you, and I shed many tears as I did it, yet it was not to hurt your feelings, but to make you realize the extraordinary affection I have for you.
Those who have kept on in their old sins and all the rest I have warned, and I warn them now while I am still away, as I did on my second visit, that if I come back I will spare nobody??3 since you demand proof that Christ really speaks through me. He is not weak in dealing with you. On the contrary, right among you he exhibits his power.
When the confusion was over, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he bade them goodbye and started for Macedonia. After traveling through those districts and giving the people a great deal of encouragement, he went on to Greece where he stayed for three months. Just as he was going to sail for Syria, the Jews made a plot against him, and he made up his mind to return by way of Macedonia.read more.
He was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus, from Asia. They went on to Troas and waited for us there, while we sailed from Philippi after the festival of Unleavened Bread, and joined them at Troas five days later. There we stayed a week.
When I went to Troas to preach the good news of the Christ there, I found a good opening for the Lord's work, but my mind could not rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.
while we sailed from Philippi after the festival of Unleavened Bread, and joined them at Troas five days later. There we stayed a week.
When the parting was over and we had sailed, we made a straight run to Cos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara. There we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, and we went on board and sailed on it. After sighting Cyprus and leaving it on our left, we sailed for Syria, and put in at Tyre, for the ship was to unload her cargo there.read more.
So we looked up the disciples there and stayed a week with them. Instructed by the Spirit, they warned Paul not to set foot in Jerusalem. But when our time was up, we left there and went on, and all of them with their wives and children escorted us out of the town. There we knelt down on the beach and prayed; then we bade one another goodbye, and we went on board the ship, and they went home. After making the run from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and spent a day with them. The next day we left there and went on to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the missionary, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him.
Just now I am starting for Jerusalem, to take help to God's people. For Macedonia and Greece have determined to make a contribution for the poor among God's people in Jerusalem.
The seven days were almost over when the Jews from Asia caught sight of him in the Temple, and stirred up all the crowd and seized him, shouting, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everybody everywhere against our people and the Law and this place, and besides he has actually brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this sacred place." For they had previously seen Trophimus of Ephesus with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the Temple.read more.
The whole city was thrown into confusion, and the people hurried together, and seized Paul and dragged him outside of the Temple, the gates of which were immediately shut. They were trying to kill him when the news reached the colonel of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in a tumult. He immediately got some officers and men and hurried down among them, and when they saw the colonel and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul. Then the colonel came up and seized him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains, and then inquired who he was and what he had been doing. Some of the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and as he could not find out the facts on account of the confusion, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.
In the morning, the Jews made a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty of them involved in this plot, and they went to the high priests and elders and said to them, "We have taken a solemn oath not to touch anything to eat till we have killed Paul.read more.
Now you and the council must suggest to the colonel that he should have Paul brought down to you, as you mean to look into his case more carefully, and we will be ready to kill him before he gets down." But Paul's nephew heard of the plot, and he came and got into the barracks, and told Paul. Paul called one of the officers and said to him, "Take this young man to the colonel, for he has something to tell him." So he took him to the colonel, and said, "The prisoner Paul called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you." So the colonel took him by the arm and stepping aside where they could be alone, asked, "What is it that you have to tell me?" "The Jews," he answered, "have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, on the ground that you mean to have a fuller inquiry made into his case. But do not let them persuade you, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him, and they have taken an oath not to eat or drink till they have killed him. They are all ready now, and are only waiting to get your promise."
Then he called in two of his officers and said to them, "Get two hundred men ready to march to Caesarea, with seventy mounted men and two hundred spear-men, by nine o'clock tonight." They were also to provide horses for Paul to ride, so that they might take him in safety to Felix, the governor, to whom he wrote a letter to this effect:read more.
"Claudius Lysias sends greetings to his Excellency Felix, the governor. This man had been seized by the Jews and they were just going to kill him when I came upon them with my men and rescued him, as I had learned that he was a Roman citizen. As I wanted to learn what charge they made against him, I had him brought before their council, and found that their accusations had to do with questions about their Law, but that he was not charged with anything that would call for his death or imprisonment. As I have been informed that a plot against him is brewing, I am sending him on to you at once, and directing his accusers to present their charges against him before you." Then the soldiers took Paul, as they had been ordered to do, and escorted him as far as Antipatris that night. The next day, they returned to the barracks, leaving the mounted men to go on with him, and they on reaching Caesarea delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. After reading the letter, he asked Paul what province he belonged to, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia, he said, "I will hear your case as soon as your accusers arrive." And he gave orders that he should be kept in Herod's palace.
He ordered the officer to keep Paul in custody, but to allow him some freedom, and not to prevent his friends from looking after him. Some days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and sent for Paul and heard what he had to say about faith in Christ Jesus. But as he talked of uprightness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became alarmed, and said, "You may go for the present. I will find time later to send for you."read more.
At the same time he hoped to get money from Paul, and for that reason he used to send for him very often and talk with him. But when two whole years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and as he wanted to gratify the Jews, Felix left Paul in prison.
Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, and the high priests and Jewish leaders presented their charges against Paul, and begged him as a favor to order Paul to come to Jerusalem, plotting to kill him on the way.read more.
Festus answered that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea, and that he himself was going there soon. "So have your principal men go down with me," he said, "and present charges against the man, if there is anything wrong with him." After staying only eight or ten days there, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day took his place in the judge's chair, and ordered Paul brought in. When he came, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and made a number of serious charges against him, which they could not substantiate. Paul said in his own defense, "I have committed no offense against the Jewish Law or the Temple or the emperor." Then Festus, wishing to gratify the Jews, said to Paul, "Will you go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?" But Paul said, "I am standing before the emperor's court, where I ought to be tried. I have done the Jews no wrong, as you can easily see. If I am guilty and have done anything that deserves death, I do not refuse to die; but if there is no truth in the charges that these men make against me, no one can give me up to them; I appeal to the emperor." Then Festus after conferring with the council answered, "You have appealed to the emperor, and to the emperor you shall go!"
When it was decided that we were to sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were turned over to an officer of the Imperial regiment, named Julius. We went on board an Adramyttian ship bound for the ports of Asia, and put to sea. We had a Macedonian from Thessalonica, named Aristarchus, with us. The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius kindly allowed Paul to go and see his friends and be taken care of.read more.
Putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, as the wind was against us, and after traversing the Cilician and Pamphylian waters, we reached Myra in Lycia. There the officer found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy, and put us on board her. For a number of days we made slow progress and had some difficulty in arriving off Cnidus. Then as the wind kept us from going on, we sailed under the lee of Crete, off Cape Salmone, and with difficulty coasted along it and reached a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. As a great deal of time had now passed, and navigation had become dangerous, for the autumn fast was already over, Paul began to warn them. "Gentlemen," he said, "I see that this voyage is likely to end in disaster and heavy loss, not only to ship and cargo but to our own lives also." But the officer was more influenced by the pilot and the captain than by what Paul had to say, and as the harbor was not fit to winter in, the majority favored putting to sea again, in the hope of being able to reach and winter in Phoenix, a harbor in Crete facing west-south-west and west-north-west. When a moderate south wind sprang up, thinking their object was within reach, they weighed anchor, and ran close along the coast of Crete. But very soon a violent wind which they call a Northeaster rushed down from it. The ship was caught by it and could not face the wind, so we gave way and let her run before it. As we passed under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with great difficulty to secure the ship's boat. After hoisting it on board, they used ropes to brace the ship, and as they were afraid of being cast on the Syrtis banks, they lowered the sail, and let the ship drift. The next day, as the storm continued to be violent, they began to throw the cargo overboard, and on the next, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. For a number of days neither the sun nor the stars were visible, and the storm continued to rage, until at last we gave up all hope of being saved. Then, when they had gone a long time without food, Paul got up among them, and said, "Gentlemen, you ought to have listened to me and not to have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. Even now, I beg you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For last night an angel of the God I belong to and serve stood before me, and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor, and see! God has given you the lives of all the people who are on the ship with you.' So keep up your courage, gentlemen! For I have faith in God that it will be just as I was told. But we are to be stranded on some island." It was the fourteenth night of the storm, and we were drifting through the Adriatic when about midnight the sailors began to suspect that there was land ahead. On taking soundings, they found a depth of twenty fathoms, and a little later, taking soundings again, they found a depth of fifteen.
Three months later, we sailed on an Alexandrian ship named the Dioscuri, which had wintered at the island. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days, then we weighed anchor and reached Rhegium. A day later, a south wind sprang up and the following day we arrived at Puteoli.read more.
There we found some of the brothers, and they urged us to spend a week with them. Then we went on to Rome. The brothers there had had news of our coming, and came as far as Appius' Forum and Three Taverns to meet us, and when Paul saw them he thanked God and was greatly encouraged. When we reached Rome, Paul was given permission to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
As I asked you to do when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus in order to warn certain people there not to teach strange views
When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and the books, especially the parchments.
I left you behind in Crete expressly to correct what defects there were, and to appoint elders in each town, as I directed you??6 men of irreproachable character, who have been married only once, whose children are Christians, free from any suspicion of profligacy or disobedience.
When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to settle there for the winter.
