Acts 20:17-38

¹⁷From Miletus he sent word to Ephesus and called to himself the elders of the church. ¹⁸And when they came to him, he said to them,

“You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; ²⁰how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was beneficial, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, ²¹solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ²²And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that chains and afflictions await me. ²⁴But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵“And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. ²⁶Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all people. ²⁷For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. ²⁸Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. ²⁹I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ³⁰and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. ³¹Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. ³²And now I entrust you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. ³⁴You yourselves know that these hands served my own needs and the men who were with me. ³⁵In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷And they all began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, ³⁸grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.