Atos 20

ARC · Chapter 20/28

1E, depois que cessou o alvoroço, Paulo chamou para si os discipulos, e, abraçando-os, saiu para a Macedonia.

2E, havendo andado por aquellas partes, e exhortando-os com muitas palavras, veiu á Grecia.

3E, passando ali tres mezes, e sendo-lhe pelos judeos postas ciladas, havendo de navegar para a Syria, determinou voltar pela Macedonia.

4E acompanhou-o, até á Asia, Sopater, de Berea, e, dos de Thessalonica, Aristarcho, e Segundo, e Gaio de Derbe, e Timotheo, e, dos da Asia, Tychico e Trophimo.

5Estes, indo adiante, nos esperaram em Troas.

6E, depois dos dias dos pães asmos, navegámos de Philippos, e em cinco dias fomos ter com elles a Troas, onde estivemos sete dias.

7E no primeiro dia da semana, ajuntando-se os discipulos para partir o pão, Paulo, que havia de partir no dia seguinte, discursava com elles; e alargou a pratica até á meia noite.

8E havia muitas luzes no cenaculo onde estavam juntos.

9E, estando um certo mancebo, por nome Eutycho, assentado n'uma janella, caiu, tomado de um somno profundo que lhe sobreveiu durante o extenso discurso de Paulo, desde o terceiro andar; e foi levantado morto.

10Paulo, porém, descendo, inclinou-se sobre elle, e, abraçando-o, disse: Não vos perturbeis, que a sua alma n'elle está.

11E subindo, e partindo o pão, e comendo, e fallando-lhes largamente até á alvorada, assim partiu.

12E levaram vivo o mancebo, e ficaram não pouco consolados.

13Nós, porém, subindo ao navio, navegámos até Asson, onde deviamos receber a Paulo, porque assim o ordenara, indo elle por terra.

14E, logo que se ajuntou comnosco em Asson, tomámol-o, e fomos a Mitylene:

15E, navegando d'ali, chegámos no dia seguinte defronte de Chio, e no outro aportámos a Samos, e, ficando em Trogyllio, chegámos no dia seguinte a Mileto.

16Porque já Paulo tinha determinado passar adiante de Epheso, para não gastar tempo na Asia. Apressava-se pois para, se lhe fosse possivel, estar em Jerusalem no dia de pentecostes.

17E de Mileto mandou a Epheso, a chamar os anciãos da egreja.

18E, logo que chegaram junto d'elle disse-lhes: Vós bem sabeis, desde o primeiro dia em que entrei na Asia, o modo como em todo esse tempo me portei no meio de vós,

19Servindo ao Senhor com toda a humildade, e com muitas lagrimas e tentações, que pelas ciladas dos judeos me teem sobrevindo.

20Como nada, que util vos fosse, deixei de vos annunciar, e ensinar publicamente e pelas casas:

21Testificando, tanto aos judeos como aos gregos, a conversão a Deus, e a fé em nosso Senhor Jesus Christo.

22E agora, eis que, ligado eu pelo espirito, vou para Jerusalem, não sabendo o que lá me ha de acontecer.

23Senão que o Espirito Sancto de cidade em cidade me testifica, dizendo que me esperam prisões e tribulações.

24Mas de nenhuma coisa faço caso, e nem a minha vida tenho por preciosa, comtanto que cumpra com alegria a minha carreira, e o ministerio que recebi do Senhor Jesus, para dar testemunho do evangelho da graça de Deus.

25E agora, eis-que bem sei que todos vós, por quem passei prégando o reino de Deus, não vereis mais o meu rosto.

26Portanto, no dia de hoje, vos protesto que estou limpo do sangue de todos.

27Porque nunca deixei de annunciar-vos todo o conselho de Deus.

28Olhae pois por vós, e por todo o rebanho sobre que o Espirito Sancto vos constituiu bispos, para apascentardes a egreja de Deus, a qual alcançou com seu proprio sangue.

29Porque eu sei isto: que, depois da minha partida, entrarão entre vós lobos crueis, que não perdoarão ao rebanho.

30E que d'entre vós mesmos se levantarão homens que fallarão coisas perversas, para attrahirem os discipulos após si.

31Portanto, vigiae, lembrando-vos de que, durante tres annos, não cessei, de noite e de dia, de admoestar com lagrimas a cada um de vós.

32Agora pois, irmãos, encommendo-vos a Deus e á palavra da sua graça; o qual é poderoso para vos edificar e dar herança entre todos os sanctificados.

33De ninguem cubicei a prata, nem o oiro, nem o vestido.

34Vós mesmos sabeis que para o que me era necessario a mim, e aos que estão comigo, estas mãos me serviram.

35Tenho-vos mostrado em tudo que, trabalhando assim, é necessario supportar os enfermos, e lembrar as palavras do Senhor Jesus, que disse: Mais bemaventurada coisa é dar do que receber.

36E, havendo dito isto, pondo-se de joelhos, orou com todos elles.

37E levantou-se um grande pranto entre todos, e, lançando-se ao pescoço de Paulo, o beijavam,

38Entristecendo-se muito, principalmente pela palavra que dissera, que não veriam mais o seu rosto. E acompanharam-n'o até ao navio.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

In Troas, Paul raises the young man Eutychus back to life after he fell from a window while dozing off during Paul's lengthy sermon. Later, in Miletus, he tearfully bids farewell to the elders of Ephesus, warning of future dangers for the church.

Explanation

The Eutychus episode has a human touch and even a hint of humor: the young man falls asleep during a long sermon and falls from a third-story window — but Paul restores him to life with striking calm, without fanfare. The farewell speech at Miletus is one of Paul's most personal, revealing his pastoral heart: he warns of 'fierce wolves' who would arise to distort the faith, a timeless warning to all Christian leadership about vigilance. His closing quotation of Jesus — 'it is more blessed to give than to receive' — does not appear in the written Gospels, showing that not everything Jesus said was recorded there.

Fun facts

  • Paul's quotation 'it is more blessed to give than to receive' is a saying of Jesus that appears in none of the four Gospels — a rare example of a word of Jesus preserved only by oral tradition and recorded here.
  • Miletus was an important Greek port near Ephesus; Paul chose not to detour to Ephesus so as not to lose time, showing his urgency to reach Jerusalem in time for Pentecost.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Atos 20:1As soon as the uproar of the Ephesian craftsmen dies down, Paul embraces the disciples in farewell and leaves for Macedonia, resuming his interrupted journey.
  2. Atos 20:2Passing through Macedonia, Paul keeps encouraging the local churches with a great deal of teaching, before moving on to Greece.
  3. Atos 20:3After three months in Greece, Paul discovers a plot against him by the Jews just as he is about to sail for Syria, and for safety he decides to change his route, going back by land through Macedonia.
  4. Atos 20:4A list of traveling companions is recorded, coming from different cities Paul had already visited, showing how the network of churches he founded already had its own representatives traveling along with him.
  5. Atos 20:5This group of companions goes on ahead and waits for Paul to arrive at Troas, the agreed meeting point before the final crossing.
  6. Atos 20:6After the Jewish feast of unleavened bread, Paul sails from Philippi and takes five days to rejoin the group at Troas, where they stay another week.
  7. Atos 20:7The “first day of the week” is Sunday, the day Christians gradually adopted as their weekly gathering because it was the day of Jesus’s resurrection, although the Jewish Sabbath continued to be observed by many for quite some time still.
  8. Atos 20:8The setting of the gathering is described in detail: many lamps lit in the upstairs room where they were meeting, a detail that helps make sense of the accident that follows.
  9. Atos 20:9Eutychus dozes off during a long speech by Paul that stretches on until midnight, and falls from a high window. The account treats the fall as real and severe, not a mild fainting spell, since the text says he was picked up dead.
  10. Atos 20:10After Eutychus’s fatal fall, Paul goes down, falls on the young man, and embraces him, declaring that his life was still in him—a gesture and statement that precede the resurrection.
  11. Atos 20:11After tending to the young man, Paul goes back up, shares in the meal (“breaking bread”), and keeps talking with everyone until daybreak, before finally leaving.
  12. Atos 20:12The young man is brought back home alive, and the community is greatly comforted after the scare and the miracle.
  13. Atos 20:13The group of companions sails on to Assos, where they were to pick up Paul, who preferred to make that leg on foot, probably wanting some time to walk alone.
  14. Atos 20:14Paul joins them at Assos as planned, and the journey continues by ship to Mitylene, following the coast of Asia Minor.
  15. Atos 20:15The sea voyage continues in short stages, passing by Chios and Samos before reaching Miletus, a route of stops typical of ancient coastal navigation.
  16. Atos 20:16Paul tries to reach Jerusalem in time for Pentecost, an important Jewish feast, showing that he still organized his travel around the Jewish festival calendar even after years of preaching among the Gentiles.
  17. Atos 20:17Paul gathers the local leaders of Ephesus at a stopping point on the journey, without entering the city, probably so as not to lose time. It is an emotional farewell speech, given knowing he might never see them again.
  18. Atos 20:18When the Ephesian elders arrive, Paul begins by recalling his own conduct during the entire time he spent among them, a kind of accounting before the farewell.
  19. Atos 20:19Paul describes his ministry as full of humility, tears, and trials, caused by the constant plots of the Jews opposed to his preaching.
  20. Atos 20:20Paul assures them he never held back from teaching anything that was helpful, whether publicly or by visiting people from house to house.
  21. Atos 20:21Summing up his preaching in a single sentence, Paul says he always testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance and faith in Jesus.
  22. Atos 20:22Paul reveals that he now feels “bound in the spirit” to go to Jerusalem, even without knowing exactly what he will face there.
  23. Atos 20:23In every city he passes through, the Holy Spirit has been warning Paul that imprisonment and suffering await him in Jerusalem.
  24. Atos 20:24Despite the warnings, Paul declares that he does not value his own life more than completing the mission he received from Jesus: proclaiming the gospel of the grace of God.
  25. Atos 20:25Paul makes a personal and emotional prediction: he is certain that none of those leaders will see his face again after this farewell.
  26. Atos 20:26Paul declares himself free from any guilt for the salvation or ruin of those who heard his preaching, since he had done his part in proclaiming the full message.
  27. Atos 20:27He stresses that he never hid or softened any part of God’s teaching, even when it brought trouble or persecution.
  28. Atos 20:28“Bishops,” elders, and pastors are used here as synonyms describing the same local leadership role. The hierarchical distinction the word bishop would later gain in later centuries did not yet exist.
  29. Atos 20:29Paul warns that after he leaves, “grievous wolves” will come in, trying to harm the community—an image of false or destructive leaders.
  30. Atos 20:30The danger does not come only from outside: Paul warns that even from within the very group of leaders present, people will rise up distorting the teaching to draw away their own followers.
  31. Atos 20:31Paul calls for constant watchfulness, reminding them that for three whole years he himself never stopped warning each one of them, with tears, day and night.
  32. Atos 20:32In his farewell, Paul commits the leaders to the care of God and to the message of His grace, trusting that this would be enough to sustain them after he left.
  33. Atos 20:33Paul points out that he never coveted anyone’s money or possessions during his work among them, an important detail reinforcing his integrity.
  34. Atos 20:34Paul recalls that he supported himself and his companions with his own manual labor, likely tentmaking, without depending financially on the community.
  35. Atos 20:35This saying attributed to Jesus does not appear in any of the four written Gospels. It is an example of a teaching of Jesus passed down orally and preserved only here, in Paul’s speech.
  36. Atos 20:36After finishing his farewell speech, Paul kneels down and prays together with everyone present, closing the meeting solemnly.
  37. Atos 20:37The farewell is emotionally intense: everyone weeps freely, embraces Paul around the neck, and kisses him, a common gesture of affection and respect in the culture of the time.
  38. Atos 20:38What saddens the group most is the certainty, spoken by Paul himself, that they would not see his face again; even so, they accompany him to the ship before his final departure.

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