Acts 20:28-35

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

²⁸ Take care and be on guard for yourselves and the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you bishops and guardians, to shepherd (tend and feed and guide) the church of the Lord or ^[a]of God which He obtained for Himself [buying it and saving it for Himself] with His own blood.

²⁹ I know that after I am gone, ferocious wolves will get in among you, not sparing the flock;

³⁰ Even from among your own selves men will come to the front who, by saying perverse (distorted and corrupt) things, will endeavor to draw away the disciples after them [to their own party].

³¹ Therefore be always alert and on your guard, being mindful that for three years I never stopped night or day seriously to admonish and advise and exhort you one by one with tears.

³² And now [brethren], I commit you to God [I deposit you in His charge, entrusting you to His protection and care]. And I commend you to the Word of His grace [to the commands and counsels and promises of His unmerited favor]. It is able to build you up and to give you [your rightful] inheritance among all God’s set-apart ones (those consecrated, purified, and transformed of soul).

³³ I coveted no man’s silver or gold or [costly] garments.

³⁴ You yourselves know personally that these hands ministered to my own needs and those [of the persons] who were with me.

³⁵ In everything I have pointed out to you [by example] that, by working diligently in this manner, we ought to assist the weak, being mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, It is more blessed (makes one happier and more ^[b]to be envied) to give than to receive.