Acts 20:28-38

²⁸Now you leaders have to watch out for yourselves, and watch out for God’s people here too. Make sure you keep on following Jesus properly, and help all God’s people to follow him properly too. The Holy Spirit picked you to be their leaders, so look after them properly. Remember, God bought his people with the blood of his own son.

²⁹I know that after I go away from here, other people will come to you and they will teach you lies. They will try to trick all of God’s people. They will be like cheeky dingoes that kill sheep. Even in your own group of Christians, some men will get up and trick other Christians. They will change the true story and tell it wrong, so they can get people to follow them.

³¹So watch out. Make sure each one of you keeps on believing the true story about Jesus. Remember, I was here with you for 3 years, and for all that time I always told you not to believe a different message. And if I thought you were going wrong, I even cried about you.”

³²Paul kept on talking. He said, “Now I’m asking God to keep you safe, and to keep you believing the true message that God is very good to you and will save you. If you keep on believing that message you will grow strong spiritually. You will know you are in God’s family, and God will give you the good things he is keeping for his own people.

³³Listen, you mob know me. Do you remember that way I lived with you? I showed you the right way for a Christian to live. I never wanted to get anyone’s money or good clothes. I always worked with my hands to get the money that I needed, and to get money for my friends, too.

³⁵I did everything in a way that showed you that we all have to work hard to get enough money, not just for ourselves, but to give some to people that are short of the things they need. We have to remember that our leader is Jesus, and he said, ‘If people give things to you, that can make you a bit happy. But if you give things to other people you will be properly happy.’”

³⁶Paul finished talking, then he got down on his knees with all of those Christian leaders, to show respect to God, and he prayed with them.

³⁷They all cried a lot, and they hugged Paul and kissed him.

³⁸They heard Paul say that they wouldn’t see him again, and this made them very sad. Then they all went with him to the ship.