Bible in Basic English
And now, as you see, I am going to Jerusalem, a prisoner in spirit, having no knowledge of what will come to me there:
Only that the Holy Spirit makes clear to me in every town that prison and pains are waiting for me.
But I put no value on my life, if only at the end of it I may see the work complete which was given to me by the Lord Jesus, to be a witness of the good news of the grace of God.
And now I am conscious that you, among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom, will not see my face again.
And so I say to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all men.
For I have not kept back from you anything of the purpose of God.
Give attention to yourselves, and to all the flock which the Holy Spirit has given into your care, to give food to the church of God, for which he gave his blood.
I am conscious that after I am gone, evil wolves will come in among you, doing damage to the flock;
And from among yourselves will come men who will give wrong teaching, turning away the disciples after them.
So keep watch, having in mind that for three years without resting I was teaching every one of you, day and night, with weeping.
And now, I give you into the care of God and the word of his grace, which is able to make you strong and to give you your heritage among all the saints.
I have had no desire for any man's silver or gold or clothing.
You yourselves have seen that with these hands I got what was necessary for me and those who were with me.
In all things I was an example to you of how, in your lives, you are to give help to the feeble, and keep in memory the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, There is a greater blessing in giving than in getting.
And having said these words, he went down on his knees in prayer with them all.
And they were all weeping, falling on Paul's neck and kissing him,
Being sad most of all because he had said that they would not see his face again. And so they went with him to the ship.
— Acts 20:22-1964, Bible in Basic English
“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem without knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit warns me in town after town that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me. But I do not consider my life worth anything to myself, so that I may finish my task and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace. “And now I know that none of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom will see me again. Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of you all. For I did not hold back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God. Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears. And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace. This message is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have desired no one’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine provided for my needs and the needs of those who were with me. By all these things, I have shown you that by working in this way we 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.’” When he had said these things, he knelt down with them all and prayed. They all began to weep loudly, and hugged Paul and kissed him, especially saddened by what he had said, that they were not going to see him again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.”
Doing the Lord's work without pride, through all the sorrow and troubles which came on me because of the evil designs of the Jews:
And how I kept back nothing which might be of profit to you, teaching you publicly and privately,
Preaching to Jews and to Greeks the need for a turning of the heart to God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And now, as you see, I am going to Jerusalem, a prisoner in spirit, having no knowledge of what will come to me there:
Only that the Holy Spirit makes clear to me in every town that prison and pains are waiting for me.
But I put no value on my life, if only at the end of it I may see the work complete which was given to me by the Lord Jesus, to be a witness of the good news of the grace of God.
And now I am conscious that you, among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom, will not see my face again.
And so I say to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all men.
For I have not kept back from you anything of the purpose of God.
Give attention to yourselves, and to all the flock which the Holy Spirit has given into your care, to give food to the church of God, for which he gave his blood.
I am conscious that after I am gone, evil wolves will come in among you, doing damage to the flock;
And from among yourselves will come men who will give wrong teaching, turning away the disciples after them.
So keep watch, having in mind that for three years without resting I was teaching every one of you, day and night, with weeping.
And now, I give you into the care of God and the word of his grace, which is able to make you strong and to give you your heritage among all the saints.
I have had no desire for any man's silver or gold or clothing.
You yourselves have seen that with these hands I got what was necessary for me and those who were with me.
In all things I was an example to you of how, in your lives, you are to give help to the feeble, and keep in memory the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, There is a greater blessing in giving than in getting.
And having said these words, he went down on his knees in prayer with them all.
And they were all weeping, falling on Paul's neck and kissing him,
Being sad most of all because he had said that they would not see his face again. And so they went with him to the ship.