22. But now I must obey the Holy Spirit and go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what will happen to me there.
23. I know only that in every city the Holy Spirit tells me that troubles and even jail wait for me.
24. I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I complete my mission. I want to finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.
25. “And now, I know that none of you will ever see me again. All the time I was with you, I was preaching the kingdom of God.
26. So today I can tell you one thing that I am sure of: If any of you should be lost, I am not responsible.
27. This is because I have told you everything God wants you to know.
28. Be careful for yourselves and for all the people God has given you. The Holy Spirit gave you the work of caring for this flock. You must be like shepherds to the church of God. This is the church that God bought with his own death.
29. I know that after I leave, some men will come like wild wolves and try to destroy the flock.
30. Also, men from your own group will rise up and twist the truth. They will lead away followers after them.
31. So be careful! Always remember this: For three years I never stopped warning each of you. I taught you night and day. I often cried over you.
32. “Now I am putting you in the care of God and the message about his grace. That message is able to give you strength, and it will give you the blessings that God has for all his holy people.
33. When I was with you, I never wanted anyone’s money or fine clothes.
34. You know that I always worked to take care of my own needs and the needs of those who were with me.
35. I showed you in all things that you should work as I did and help the weak. I taught you to remember the words of Jesus. He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36. When Paul had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.
37-38. And they all cried because Paul had said that they would never see him again. They put their arms around him and kissed him. Then they went with him to the ship.