Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
Parallel translations
- WEB except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me.
- BSB I only know that in town after town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions await me.
- NKJV except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.
- NASB except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that chains and afflictions await me.
- NLT except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Holy Spirit repeatedly warns Paul that imprisonment and afflictions await him in city after city. He goes forward knowing suffering lies ahead.
Overview
Through prophetic warnings in each city, the Spirit prepares Paul for the bonds and hardships to come, yet does not turn him back. The forewarning underscores that Paul's coming sufferings are within God's foreknowledge and plan, not accidents. Like his Master, Paul walks knowingly toward suffering for the sake of the gospel and the name of Jesus.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Acts 9:16For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.
- Acts 21:4And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.
- 1 Th 3:3That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto.
- Acts 14:22Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
- Acts 21:33Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.
- Acts 21:11And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
- 2 Tim 2:12If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
- Acts 8:29Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
- John 16:33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 20:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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