However, as he took leave of them, he said, “I must by all means keep the coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return to you again, God willing.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed, “My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as yoʋ will.”
You must abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from what has been strangled, and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these things, you will do well. Farewell.”
After these things had taken place, Paul resolved in his spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go on to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must see Rome also.”
For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so as not to spend time in Asia, because he was hurrying to arrive in Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.
If I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what did it benefit me? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands: