Read (and listen!) through the amazing story of Luke and Acts!
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Immerse: Luke and Acts is part of the Immerse: The Reading Bible, which takes you on a new and unique journey through the books of Luke and Acts in the New Testament. This fresh arrangement of the books highlights the depth of the New Testament’s fourfold witness to Jesus the Messiah. The Son of God, who fulfills all the longings and promises of the collected Scriptures. The goal of Bible reading is to understand the sacred writings in depth so we can learn to live with them. Using the text of the New Living Translation (NLT) from Tyndale Publishing, now you can experience Luke and Acts the same way the original readers did and be fully immersed in the most amazing story of all time!
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3 ways to get the most out of your experience
- Use Immerse: Luke & Acts instead of your regular chapter-and-verse Bible. This special reader’s edition restores the Bible to its natural
simplicity and beauty by removing chapter and verse numbers and other historical additions. Letters look like letters, songs look like
songs, and the original literary structures are visible in each book. - Commit to making this a community experience. Immerse is designed for groups to encounter large portions of the Bible together
for 4 weeks—more like a book club, less like a Bible study. By meeting every week in small groups and discussing what you read in open, honest conversations, you and your community can come together to be transformed through an authentic experience with the Scriptures. - Aim to understand the big story. Read through “The Stories and the Story” to see how the books of the Bible work together to tell God’s story of his creation’s restoration. As you read through Immerse: Luke & Acts, rather than ask, “How do I fit God into my busy life?” begin asking, “How can I join in God’s great plan by living out my part in his story?”
4 Questions to get your conversations started:
- What stood out to you this week?
- Was there anything confusing or troubling?
- Did anything make you think differently about God?
- How might this change the way we live?
The Immerse Bible Series is the proud winner of the prestigious Bible of the Year award from the ECPA Christian Book Awards. Immerse: The Reading Bible is specially crafted for a distraction-free listening and reading experience, helping you dive in and get immersed in Scripture. You’ll have a great experience using Immerse by yourself. But for an even richer experience, try reading with friends.
Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience is an invitation to a different kind of community interaction with the Bible. Less like a Bible study, more like a book club.
– 4, 8, or 16-week Bible listening plans take you through a large section of the Bible like the New Testament or the Torah
– Meet once a week for a free-flowing discussion about the text
– Wrestle with questions and celebrate ‘aha!’ moments together
Welcome to Immersed Luke and Acts Day 18, week four. Afterward, Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Aqayah before going to Jerusalem. "And after that," he said, "I must go on to Rome." He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia, while he stayed a while longer in the province of Asia. At that time, serious trouble developed an Ephesus concerning the way. It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy. He called them together, along with others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows, "Gentlemen, you know that our wealth comes from this business. But as you have seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many people that handmade gods aren't really gods at all. And he's done this not only here at Ephesus, but throughout the entire province. Of course, I'm not just talking about the loss of public respect for our business. I'm also concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence, and that Artemis, this magnificent goddess, worshipped throughout the province of Asia and all around the world, will be robbed of her great prestige. At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians." Soon the whole city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia. Paul wanted to go in too, but the believers wouldn't let him. Some of the officials of the province, Friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering the amphitheater. Inside the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another. Everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn't even know why they were there. The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him to explain the situation. He motioned for silence, and tried to speak. But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for about two hours. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians. Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! At last the mayor was able to quiet them down enough to speak. "Citizens of Ephesus," he said. Everyone knows that Ephesus is the official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose image fell down to us from heaven. Since this is an undeniable fact, you should stay calm and not do anything rash. You have brought these men here, but they have stolen nothing from the temple and have not spoken against our goddess. If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are in session and the officials can hear the case at once. Let them make formal charges. And if there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled in a legal assembly. I am afraid we are in danger of being charged with rioting by the Roman government since there is no cause for all this commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we won't know what to say. Then he dismissed them, and they dispersed. When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said goodbye and left for Macedonia. While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece, where he stayed for three months. He was preparing to sail back to Syria when he discovered a plot by some Jews against his life, so he decided to return through Macedonia. Several men were traveling with him. They were sopertor, son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derby, Timothy, Antichagus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. They went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. After the Passover ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia, and five days later joined them in Troas, where we stayed a week. On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord's Supper. Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight. The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps. As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Euticus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below. Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. "Don't worry," he said. "He's alive." Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord's Supper and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left. Meanwhile, the young man was taken home alive and well, and everyone was greatly relieved. Paul went by land to ask us where he had arranged for us to join him while we traveled by ship. He joined us there, and we sailed together to Mitalini. The next day, we sailed past the island of Chias. The following day, we crossed to the island of Samos, and a day later, we arrived at Militus. Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus, for he didn't want to spend any more time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible, in time for the festival of Pentecost. But when we landed at Militus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus, asking them to come and meet him. When they arrived, he declared, "You know that from the day I set foot in the province of Asia, until now, I have done the Lord's work humbly and with many tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. I never shrank back from telling you what you needed to hear, either publicly or in your homes. I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike, the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus. And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me, unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others the good news about the wonderful grace of God. And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the kingdom will ever see me again. I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it's not my fault, for I didn't shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know. So guard yourselves and God's people, feed and shepherd God's flock, his church, purchased with his own blood, over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders. I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. Watch out. After the three years I was with you, my constant watch and care over you night and day and my many tears for you. And now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself. I have never coveted anyone's silver or gold or fine clothes. You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and even the needs of those who were with me. And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus. It is more blessed to give than to receive. When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them. They all cried as they embraced and kissed him goodbye. They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship. After saying farewell to the Ephesian elders, we sailed straight to the island of Kos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara. There we boarded a ship sailing for Phoenicia. We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left and landed at the harbor of Tyre in Syria where the ship was to unload its cargo. We went ashore, found the local believers and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem. When we returned to the ship at the end of the week, the entire congregation, including women and children, left the city and came down to the shore with us. There we knelt, prayed, and said our farewells. Then we went aboard and they returned home. The next stop after leaving Tyre was Talamaeus, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed for one day. The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed in the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food. He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy. Several days later, a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. He came over, took Paul's belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, "The Holy Spirit declares, 'So shall the owner of this belt, be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, and turned over to the Gentiles." When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. But he said, "Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart. I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem, but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus." When it was clear that we couldn't persuade him, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done." After this we packed our things and left for Jerusalem. Some believers from Caesarea accompanied us, and they took us to the home of Nason, a man originally from Cyprus and one of the early believers. When we arrived, the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem welcomed us warmly. The next day Paul went with us to meet with James and all the elders of the Jerusalem church were present. After greeting them, Paul gave a detailed account of the things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his ministry. After hearing this, they praised God. And then they said, "You know, dear brother, how many thousands of Jews have also believed, and they all follow the law of Moses very seriously." But the Jewish believers here in Jerusalem have been told that you are teaching all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn their backs on the laws of Moses. They've heard that you teach them not to circumcise their children or follow other Jewish customs. What should we do? They will certainly hear that you have come. Here's what we want you to do. We have four men here who have completed their vow. Go with them to the temple and join them in the purification ceremony, paying for them to have their heads ritually shaved. And everyone will know that the rumors are all false and that you yourself observe the Jewish laws. As for the Gentile believers, they should do what we already told them in a letter. They should abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. So Paul went to the temple the next day with the other men. They had already started the purification ritual, so he publicly announced the date when their vows would end and sacrifices would be offered for each of them. The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him, yelling, "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the temple and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles." For earlier that day they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, and they assumed Paul had taken him into the temple. The whole city was rocked by these accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him. As they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately called out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander arrested him and ordered him bound with two chains. He asked the crowd who he was and what he had done. Some shouted one thing and some another. Since he couldn't find out the truth in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered that Paul be taken to the fortress. As Paul reached the stairs, the mob grew so violent the soldiers had to lift him to their shoulders to protect him, and the crowd followed behind shouting, "Kill him, kill him!" As Paul was about to be taken inside, he said to the commander, "May I have a word with you?" "Do you know Greek?" the commander asked, surprised. "Aren't you the Egyptian who led a rebellion some time ago and took four thousand members of the assassins out into the desert?" "No," Paul replied, "I am a Jew and a citizen of Tarsus in Solisha, which is an important city. Please, let me talk to these people." The commander agreed, so Paul stood on the stairs and motioned the people to be quiet. Soon a deep silence enveloped the crowd and he addressed them in their own language, Aramaic. "Brothers and esteemed fathers," Paul said, "Listen to me as I offer my defense. When they heard him speaking in their own language, the silence was even greater." Then Paul said, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Solisha, and I was brought up and educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel. As his student, I was carefully trained in our Jewish laws and customs. I became very zealous to honor God in everything I did, just like all of you today. But I persecuted the followers of the way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison. The high priest and the whole council of elders can testify that this is so. For I received letters from them to our Jewish brothers in Damascus, authorizing me to bring the followers of the way from there to Jerusalem, in chains, to be punished. Once I was on the road, approaching Damascus about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly shone down around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" "Who are you, Lord?" I asked. And the voice replied, "I am Jesus the Nazarene, the one you are persecuting." The people with me saw the light, but didn't understand the voice speaking to me. I asked, "What should I do, Lord?" And the Lord told me, "Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are to do." I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led by the hand to Damascus by my companions. A man named Ananias lived there. He was a godly man, deeply devoted to the law, and well regarded by all the Jews of Damascus. He came and stood beside me and said, "Brother Saul, regain your sight, and that very moment I could see him." Then he told me, "The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, and to see the righteous one, and hear him speak. For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord." After I returned to Jerusalem, I was praying in the temple and fell into a trance. I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, "Hurry, leave Jerusalem, for the people here won't accept your testimony about me." "But Lord," I argued, "they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you, and I was in complete agreement when your witness Stephen was killed. I stood by and kept the coats they took off when they stoned him. But the Lord said to me, "Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles." The crowd listened until Paul said that word. Then they all began to shout, "Away was such a fellow, he isn't fit to live." They yelled, threw off their coats, and tossed handfuls of dust into the air. The commander brought Paul inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious. When they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to the officer standing there, "Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn't even been tried?" When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked, "What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen." So the commander went over and asked Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes, I certainly am," Paul replied. "I am too," the commander muttered, "and it cost me plenty." Paul answered, "But I am a citizen by birth." The soldiers who were about to interrogate Paul quickly withdrew when they heard he was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.
