Acts 20:28

Paul charges the elders to guard themselves and the flock the Spirit made them overseers of, the church God purchased with His own blood. It is a foundational text on pastoral duty and the price of redemption.

Cross-references · 40

• 1 Pet 5:2–3Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
• 1 Tim 4:16Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
• 1 Pet 1:18–19Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
• Isa 40:11He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
• 1 Tim 3:2A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
• Acts 13:2As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
• Jer 3:15And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
• 1 Cor 10:32Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:
• Heb 13:17Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
• Ps 78:70–72He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
• Eph 1:7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
• Luke 12:32Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
• John 21:15–17So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
• Phil 1:1Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:
• 1 Tim 5:17Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
• 1 Tim 3:5(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
• Ezek 34:31And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.
• Eph 1:14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
• Gal 1:13For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:
• Mic 7:14Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thine heritage, which dwell solitarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.
• 1 Tim 4:14Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
• Rev 5:9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
• Acts 20:17And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
• Isa 53:10–12Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
• 1 Pet 2:25For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
• 1 Cor 15:9For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
• 1 Cor 12:8–11For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
• Mic 5:4And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
• 1 Cor 1:2Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:
• Song 1:7–8Tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions?
• Luke 21:34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
• Ezek 34:3Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
• Col 4:17And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it.
• Titus 1:7For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
• 1 Pet 2:9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
• Acts 14:23And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.
• 1 Cor 12:28–31And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
• 1 Tim 3:15–16But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
• 1 Cor 9:26–27I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
• 1 Cor 11:22What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.