Paul was in a hurry to arrive in Jerusalem, hoping to make it in time for the Feast of Pentecost, so he decided to bypass Ephesus and not spend any time in that region.
Paul had it in his heart to go to Jerusalem and, on his way there, to revisit the places in Greece where he had ministered. “After that,” he said, “I have to go to Rome also.”
When we went ashore we found a number of believers and stayed with them for a week. They prophesied to Paul repeatedly, warning him by the Holy Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.
Continuing our journey, we made our way to the ship and sailed for Assos. Paul had previously arranged to meet us there as he traveled overland by foot.
As soon as all of the Passover celebrations were over, we sailed from Philippi. After five days we joined the others in Troas, where we stayed another week.
and said farewell to them, adding, “I will come back to you, if it is God’s will, after I go to Jerusalem to observe the feast.” Then he set sail from Ephesus for Caesarea.
The Holy Spirit had forbidden Paul and his partners to preach the word in the southwestern provinces of Turkey, so they ministered throughout the region of central and west-central Turkey.
While Apollos was ministering in Corinth, Paul traveled on through the regions of Turkey until he arrived in Ephesus, where he found a group of twelve followers of Jesus.
Seven men accompanied him as far as western Turkey. They were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, and Timothy, Tychicus, and Trophimus from western Turkey.
When they arrived, he said to them, “All of you know how I’ve lived and conducted myself while I was with you. From the first day I set foot in western Turkey