ACTS OF THE APOSTLES CHAPTER 19 - 24

ACTS 19

1 It happened, while Apollos stayed
At Corinth, that Paul, on parade
By upper regions, came down to
The town of Ephesus in view.
And finding some disciples there
2 He said to them, “Did you take care
To get the Holy Spirit when
You first believed?” They said again
To him, “We have not so much heard
The Holy Spirit in a word.”
3 And he said to them, “Into what
Then were you baptized to the cut?”
They said, “The baptism of John.”
4 Then Paul said “John indeed was drawn
To baptize with repentance' brawn
A baptism, telling the folk
They should believe upon the bloke
Who would come after him, in stroke,
On Christ Jesus.” 5 When they heard this,
They were baptized in name to kiss
The Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul laid
Hands on them, Holy Spirit made
Them speak in tongues and prophesy.
7 The men were about twelve come by.

The verse says they were baptized in the name
Of the Lord Jesus. Ellen White would claim
The Father, Son and Holy Ghost in fame
Was formula known in the Gospel days
And caused a rift from John's disciples' ways.
If Paul baptized them in the blessed three,
(Without the mention of a trinity),
Then they would hear the Holy Spirit spoken
As they were dipped to be a sign and token.
Beloved, the formula of words with care
Divides the human faith and heavenly share.
I leave the argument and I lay bare
My heart before Your eye, my spirit broken
To know avenging power at last awoken.

8 He went into the synagogue
And spoke boldly in dialogue
For three months, to persuade about
The things of God's kingdom with shout.
9 But when some were hard in their doubt,
Spoke badly of the way before
The crowd, he left them on that score
And took his disciples apart
To study each day from the start
In the school of Tyrannus' art.
10 And this continued for two years,
So all who lived in Asian tiers
Heard the word of the Lord Jesus,
Both Jews and Greeks and without fuss.
11 Now God did strange signs at the hands
Of Paul, 12 so that even linen bands
Or smocks were brought that he had touched
To the sick, and the sickness clutched
Would leave them and each evil spirit
Went back to hell or at least near it.

With three years here and two years there,
Paul was no nomad of the fair,
But tried to find a place to stay,
Not gallivanting round that way.
A sorcerer is more like to my mind,
One laying healing cloths upon the blind.
If I could find Tyrannus' school I'd go
And listen to the teaching in a row
Of other pupils not tired of the show.
So are men. They will always long to sit
Among the great and have a gloried fit.
Beloved, You have deprived me of the crowd,
And I sit here alone, though head's unbowed,
With rarely more than my own family's kit.

13 Some wandering Jewish exorcists
Dared take the name upon their fists
Of the lord Jesus over all
Those in the evil spirits' thrall,
Saying “We exorcise you by
The Jesus whom Paul preaches by.”
14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva,
A Jewish chief priest, to receive her.
15 The evil spirit answered then
And said “Jesus I know again,
And Paul I know, but who are you?”
16 Then the man in whom evil grew
Jumped on them and he brought them down
And beat them so they fled the town
Naked and wounded, the whole crew.
17 This became known both to all Jews
And Greeks in the Ephesian mews,
And fear fell on them all, and so
The Lord Jesus' fame came to grow.
18 And many who had believed came
Confessing of their deeds of shame.
19 Also, many of those who had
Been doing magic that was bad
Brought their books in a pile to burn
In sight of all to give and earn.
They counted up the cost of them,
More than fifty thousand in gem.
20 So the Lord's word grew mightily
Prevailing over land and sea.

When sorcery backfires the naked few
Run out upon the town to see the view.
In all the courts and lanes where men have met
Attractions in the things that they can get,
The evil spirits hide or then appear
To make the guilty ride on their own fear.
Some think occult is spirit without dress
Of matter or of body to confess,
But everywhere I find it, I see where
It is a moneyed profit and a ware.
The fifty thousand bits of silver grace
Are what attracts the fits of human race.
Beloved, I stand untried before Your face,
Acknowledging the coupled human share.

21 When these things were done, Paul decided
And in the Spirit he confided,
When he'd gone through Macedonia
And throughout also Achaia,
To find Jerusalem and say
“After I've been there, I must stray
Also to see Rome in a day.”
22 He sent into Macedonia
Two of those who served him in awe,
Timothy and Erastus, but
He himself stayed in Asia shut.
23 About then there arose a great
Commotion about the way straight.

I added straight here so the reader'd know
How close the text is to Qur'anic show,
Where the right faith is the straight way to go,
According to the first words in a row.
Commotion there may be at times about
The straight way, and a hue, a sigh, or shout,
But mostly market men on the highway
Do not stop to note it or go astray
Upon the rugged foot-path and the bill
That takes the soul on the celestial hill.
Beloved, I stay in Asia in my mind,
And look toward the east, if it were kind,
The emptiness beneath the rolling sky,
The dusty hills and cities on the cry.

24 A certain man named Demetrius,
A silversmith, who made a fuss
Of silver shrines of Diana,
Brought no small profit to the craw
Of craftsmen. 25 He called them to meet
With other workers in their street,
And said “Men, you know that our treat
Is by this trade. 26 “You see and hear
Not only in Ephesian gear,
But throughout almost all the land
Of Asia, this Paul gives command
To turn the folk away and say
That they are not gods whom to pray
That are made by our hands for pay.
27 “So not only this trade of ours
Is like to fail of fame and powers,
But also the great temple of
The great goddess Diana's love
May be despised, her greatness fall,
Whom all Asia, the world in thrall,
Come to worship for house and stall.”

Demetrius had fear the craft to make
The silver image to worship at stake.
He was too optimistic of the crowd
Who claimed to follow Jesus and his shroud.
If icons were too difficult to paint,
They could all move to Rome where imaged saint
Is still the object of Ephesian prayer,
The hope of everyone upon the stair.
Beloved, the world You made is quick to think
That evil that supports us on the brink
Is like to fall before the onslaught of
The good, the true, the beautiful for love,
And yet the comic images remain
As though the human lot were to be sane.

28 Now when they heard, their wrath arose,
And they shouted out in their throes,
To say “Great is Diana of
Ephesians!” 29 The whole town in shove
Was filled with the confusion, and
Rushed to the theatre to stand
Together, having seized Gaius
As well as one Aristarchus,
Both Macedonians and friends
Of Paul in travel to those ends.
30 And when Paul wanted to go in
To the folk to allay the din,
The disciples would not permit.
31 Then some of the officials fit
Of Asia, who were his friends, sent
To him begging not to prevent
Into the theatre. 32 Some then
Shouted one thing, and then again
Another, for the crowed was sot,
And most of them outside the plot
Of why they had come in the lot.
33 And they drew Alexander out
Of the crowd, the Jews set with clout.
And Alexander beckoned so
With his hand he might have a go
To defend the folk from the show.
34 But when they knew he was a Jew,
All with one voice cried out for two
Hours, “Great is Diana of the
Ephesians to eternity!”
35 And when the city clerk had come
To silence the crowd to a hum,
He said “Men of Ephesus, who
Is there who does not know it's true
That the Ephesians' town is set
To guard the temple that is let
To the great goddess Diana,
And to the image which fell down
From Zeus to grace our grateful town?
36 “So since these things are not denied,
You should be quiet and go hide.
37 “For you have brought these men here who
Are neither robbers of the crew
Of temples nor blasphemers of
Your goddess Diana you love.
38 “So if Demetrius and those
Of his craftsmen have come and chose
A case against anyone here,
The courts are open to appear
Before proconsuls. Let them bring
Their charges against any ring.
39 “But if you have a question more,
It shall be settled on the score
Of lawful gathering in store.
40 “For we are liable to be
Called to account for the uproar
Of this day's tumult that you see,
Since there's no reason we can give
To explain this uproar and live.”
41 And when he had said all these things,
He sent the crowd away on wings.

The institutions of most blessèd Rome
Have become so entrenched that they seem home.
The mob prevails, it is the arm of strife
The state must use instead of gun and knife.
The pinchered claws are mob and its control
To keep the laboured oppressed on the dole
And foster usury of toll and goal.
The better way and day seems just a tale,
Imagination rioting in gaol,
And with no outlet but to shout and sing
Until the controls fall upon the thing.
Beloved, I'd be snowbound a winter's day,
And feel the frost creep in the feeble ray,
Before I'd kiss Ephesian temple's sway.

ACTS 20

1 After the uproar stopped, Paul called
The disciples, kissed, and installed
To go back to Macedonia.
2 Now when he had gone over all
That region and encouraged them
With many messages in gem,
He came to Greece 3 and stayed there three
Months. And when the Jews plotted spree
Against him on the point to sail
To Syria, he changed his tale,
Went back to Macedonia.
4 And Sopater of Berea
Went along with him to Asia,
And also Aristarchus and
Secundus of the hardy band
Of the Thessalonians, and
Gaius of Derbe, Timothy,
And Tychicus and one to see,
Trophimus of Asian degree.
5 These men went ahead, stopped to wait
For us at Troas. 6 But in rate
We sailed away from Philippi
After Days of Unleavened Bread,
And in five days joined them to spy
At Troas, where for seven days' spread
We stayed with them as we were led.

As soon as all was quiet on that shore,
And Ephesus lay under charm and spell
Of goddess gleaming from the temple door,
Paul found a reason to escape the knell.
Some men are satisfied to live in peace,
While others seek the tumult of the way,
The market and the mob in its release,
The open struggle under light of day.
Beloved, I seek the yeastless loaf again
As spring retards the winter's life for men.
I seek the silent air of forest plot,
The hope of summer and forget-me-not.
Let Paul look out for trouble in his spot:
I keep me to the wonders of my den.

7 Now on the first day of the week,
When the disciples came to seek
To break bread, Paul, ready to go
On the next day, preached there in stow,
Continued his words till midnight.

The evening after the blessed Sabbath past
Was still a time of breaking bread to last
Throughout the night till Sunday morning dawn
When Paul would leave for the next place he's drawn.
If I could hear Paul preaching on that score,
I doubt he could keep interest at my door
Till midnight. I would surely find it hard
To understand the Greek of such a pard.
Beloved, I meet the coming of the eve
With prayers upon my lips that I receive
From Paul in what he wrote a message better
Than what the Christians would find in his letter,
That Paul releases one and all from fetter
Of law that protects lowly ones who grieve.

8 There were many lamps in their sight
In the high room where they sat bright.
9 And in a window there sat one
Young man named Eutychus when done,
Who slumbered instead on the run.
And being overcome by sleep,
And Paul kept preaching to the sheep,
He fell down from the third floor and
Was taken up dead where they stand.
10 But Paul went down and fell on him,
Embracing him said fast and trim,
“Don't worry, his life's still in him.”
11 When he'd come up, and broken bread
And eaten, and talked on instead
Until the dawn, at last he went.
12 And they brought the young man present
Alive, and sat in comfort sent.

Paul preached the young crowd into slumbered dream
Until one fell down from the window's team.
He ought to have known from the start the way
To get a young man going not astray
Is to have a band playing with trap-set
To beat the band with all the power they get.
This droning on of elders through the years
Brought the good faith near to the ground in tears.
But fortunately heathen tunes arose
In time to save the pious from their pose,
And get them waving arms in their gustos
To wag a tail in time with all their peers.
Beloved, no one today can fall asleep
In the disco churches thrown in a heap.

13 Then we went on to the ship and
Sailed to Assos, there to take stand
Of Paul on board, for so he'd said,
Planning to go on foot instead.
14 And when he met us at Assos,
We took him on board with a toss
And came to Mitylene across.
15 We sailed from there, and the next day
Came opposite Chios in weigh.
The following day we arrived
At Samos and stayed as contrived
At Trogyllium. The next day we
Came to Miletus in degree.
16 For Paul decided to sail past
Ephesus, so that he at last
Would not have to spend time in Asia,
For he was in haste for the pleasure
Of being in Jerusalem,
If he could, on the day in hem
Of Pentecost and no outcast.

Paul is a Pharisee, I see, from start
To finish by both words and playing part.
Instead of going back to meet the crowd
Of the Ephesians to preach on aloud,
He wants to rush down to Jerusalem
To keep the Jewish feasts with Jewish gem.
That ought to be proof in my book that he
Did not despise the law eternally.
Beloved, they see I am not a Pharisee,
Nor any other sort of Jewish bloke,
I like him better as with honest folk
He shows his colours with a lawful stroke.
Though I fail to go down to join the feast,
I still applaud the efforts of the least.

17 From Miletus he sent on to
Ephesus and called for the crew
Of elders of the group of those
Called out ones to be on their toes.
18 And when they'd come to him, he said
To them “You know, from the first spread
When I came to Asia, how I
Always lived among you, as spry
19 “To serve YHWH with humility,
With many tears and trials on me
By the plotting of the Jews, 20 “how I
Kept back nothing of my supply,
But declared all of it to you,
And taught you publicly in view
And from house to house, 21 “and to bear
Witness to Jews, and to Greeks there,
Repentance toward God and the way
Of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
22 “And see, now I go bound today
In spirit to Jerusalem,
Not knowing what things have sufficed
To happen to me in that den,
23 “Except the Holy Spirit's word
In every city, I have heard
Saying chains and troubles wait me.
24 “But none of these things have moved me,
Nor do I count my life's degree
So dear to myself, so that I
May finish my race and with joy,
And the service which I received
From the Lord Jesus undeceived,
To testify in Gospel way
Of grace of God and without pay.

You sent Your spirit to reveal the fate
Of Paul if he went in the city's gate,
And still he runs toward the temple scene,
With conscience paved, untrummeled, conscience clean.
You sent Your spirit telling Paul the day
He stepped into the town of David's sway,
He would be taken up in chains and find
A task among the fettered and the blind.
Beloved, I follow unseen in the way
That Paul went looking for a loving ray,
And see the temple towers gleam from the height
Of hope in Rome against all heathen spite.
The hope is vain for temple, Paul and all:
The grave has long consumed them at the wall.

25 “And indeed, now I know you all,
Among whom I've gone at the call
Of preaching the kingdom of God,
Will see my face no more on sod.
26 “Therefore I bear witness to you
Today that I'm innocent too
Of the blood of all men in crew.
27 “For I have not shunned to declare
To you God's whole counsel in share.
28 “Therefore take heed to yourselves and
To all the flock, among which planned
The Holy Spirit to appoint
You overseers, and anoint
To shepherd the group of called out
Ones of God which He bought about
With the blood of His own and stout.
29 “For I know this, after I've gone
Bloodthirsty wolves will come in drawn
Among you, not sparing the flock.
30 “Also from among your own stock
Men will rise up, and speak false things,
To draw away disciples' rings.
31 “So watch, and mind that for three years
I did not cease to warn with tears
Everyone night and day of fears.

The wolves indeed came in as Paul proposed,
They tore the message from fingers unclosed,
And made a pagan suit of arms to wear
Before the emperor with all the fair.
They took Paul's name and word to raise a flag
Against the Sabbath queen, to crown the hag
Of Tammuz with a Trinity and fire
Upon an altar gilded with the dire.
Beloved, if Paul had written not a word,
Could the result in this world that's unstirred
By the truth faith be in a worse appeal?
Your plan's behind the roll of wait and weal.
Though church may be cast in the lowest hell,
You see and say Apostle Paul did well.

32 “So now, brothers, I commend you
To God and to the word that's true
Of His grace, which can build you up
And give you heritage in cup
Among all those who're sanctified.
33 “I have coveted no one’s pride
Of silver or gold or clothing.
34 “Yes, you yourselves know everything
That these hands have provided for
My needs, and for those who in store
Were with me. 35 “I have shown you how
By labouring by sweat of brow,
That you must take care of the weak.
And mind words Lord Jesus would speak,
That he said ‘It is blessèd more
To give than to receive in store.’”

Traditions oral of the things Christ said
That did not enter in the Gospel spread,
Are found upon the tongue of those who're led
Into assemblies of the better read.
So Paul, whose hand provides his meals and coat,
As well of those of them to whom he wrote,
Remembers the good word a gift to him
Of what Christ said among the former dim.
Beloved, no word falls empty to the wind
Or on the ground where humankind have sinned,
But that upon the day that You make true
It rises phoenix-like above the dew.
I wait in Your eternity and view
To find the treasures You've gathered and binned.

36 And when he had said all these things,
He knelt down and prayed in their rings.
37 Then they all wept freely, and fell
On Paul’s neck and they kissed him well,
38 And grieved most for the words he said,
That they would never more be led
To see his face. And so they went
With him down to the ship he meant.

The centuries pass with the ache and tears
Of great theologies beyond our years,
And wrangling if the Pauline Gospel's gears
Are right or wrong or anything but fears.
The letter kills indeed, and what he wrote
Is often more a curse some Christian smote
Than spirit and the life he hoped to lay
Upon the heart by night and loving day.
But turning from the tide of dogma's gain
Into the spring of welcome coming rain
To see how those who knew him wept that they
Might never see him more, I stop to pray
In pity for myself I never knew
The living hand and warm of Paul in view.

ACTS 21

1 Now it came to pass, that when we
Had departed from them, set free
Sail, running a straight course, then we
Came to Cos, the next day to Rhodes,
And from there to Patara's loads.
2 And finding a ship sailing over
To Phoenicia, we like a rover
Went on board and set sail for clover.
3 When we had sighted Cyprus, we
Passed it upon the left-hand lee,
Sailed to Syria, landed at Tyre,
For there the ship was by her hire
To unload cargo piled up higher.
4 And finding some disciples' ways,
We remained there for seven days.
They told Paul through the Spirit not
To go to Jerusalem's plot.
5 When we'd come to those days' end, we
Departed, went on our way, see,
And they all went with us, with wives
And children, till we left the hives
Out of the city. And we knelt
Down on the shore, prayed as we felt.
6 When we had taken our leave there
Of one another, for our share
We boarded the ship, and they went
Back to their homes and were content.
7 When we'd finished the trip from Tyre,
We came to Ptolemais on fire
To greet the brothers, and to stay
With them there the space of a day.

It all sounds so romantically inclined
That the disciples met were so designed
To give the sense the spirit taught them well,
And give a message and a word to tell.
The distance in both time and place perhaps
Prevents belief in me from its collapse.
But if I heard that someone near my stall
Thought the divine word had met in the thrall,
I should have doubted. Maybe that's why Paul
Has no regard in practice for the word,
The message given by the saintly herd.
Beloved, I pass Your whispers though not faint,
I think them narrow if not rather quaint,
And so miss revelations of a saint.

8 On the next day we who were Paul’s
Companions departed the stalls
And came to Caesarea, and
Went in Philip's house and to stand,
Who was evangelist among
The seven, and stayed with his young.
9 For this man had four virgin daughters
Who prophesied of coming slaughters.
10 And as we stayed there many days,
A certain prophet named for praise
Agabus came down from Judea.
11 When he had come to us, the seer
Took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and
His feet, and said “So is the stand
Of Holy Spirit, ‘So shall those
Jews at Jerusalem for shows
Bind the man who owns this belt, and
Deliver him into the hand
Of Gentiles.’” 12 Now when we heard these
Things, both we and those from those lees
Pleaded with him not to go up
Into Jerusalem like tup.
13 Then Paul replied, “What do you mean
By weeping and breaking my spleen?
For I am ready not to be
Just bound, but also to die free
At Jerusalem for the name
Of the Lord Jesus in acclaim.”
14 So when he would not change his mind,
We stopped our trying and resigned
Said "Let the will of YHWH be done."

The seven daughters beautiful that claimed
Descent from the evangelist and famed
Philip failed to report the coming tide
Against Paul on the Zionitic side.
It seems a man, a single man, was better
Than any female prophet since he met her.
Beloved, I do protest the implication
A man is better by multiplication.
What seven women could not do, he came
And set on end. Beloved, it is a shame.
Paul clutches at the wrong straw in the wind.
If he'd said that he listened and not sinned
To follow the advice of Philip's daughters,
He might have kept my pleasure in his waters.

15 And after those days we packed and
Went up to Jerusalem's strand.
16 Some disciples from Caesarea
Also went with us and made freer
To bring with them a certain Mnason
Of Cyprus, one who'd early hasten
To be a disciple, with whom
We were to lodge and find our room.
17 When we'd come to Jerusalem,
The brothers welcomed us in hem.
18 On the next day Paul went with us
To James, and all the omnibus
Of elders were gathered. 19 And when
He'd greeted them, he told again
In detail those things which God did
Among the Gentiles through his bid.
20 When they heard, they glorified YHWH.
And they said to him, “You see true,
Brother, how many of the Jew
There are who have believed, and they
Are zealous all for the law's sway,
21 “But they have been informed of you
That you teach all the Jews who stay
Among the Gentiles to give way
Forsaking Moses, saying that
They ought not to circumcise flat
Their children nor to follow fat.
22 “So now, the crowd will surely meet,
For they'll hear that you've come in seat.
23 “So do what we tell you: We've got
Four men who've taken a vow's plot.
24 “Take them and be cleansed with them too,
And pay their way so they may too
Shave heads, and so all may know that
The things they heard about your scat
Are empty, but that you yourself
Walk lawfully upon your shelf.
25 “But of the Gentiles who believe,
We've written to give them reprieve
From doing such a thing, but they
Should keep themselves from things they slay
To idols, from blood and from things
Strangled and fornication's flings.”

It seems that even those who follow You,
Beloved, and know Your sent one is the true,
May have exaggeration in the crew.
Paul does not lag behind the other Jew
In his regard for Pharisean due.
Is any act done for the saints to see
A thing to grasp and contemplate and be
It's executioner? I doubt indeed,
Beloved that I should join the doubtless creed.
Let me seek only Your desire for me
And let no man impede my love's stampede.
Then when the harvest of the foreskins done
Is gathered in beneath the purple sun,
I'll have another game that I have won.

26 Then Paul took the men, and next day,
Being purified in their way,
Went to the temple to proclaim
The end of the cleansing in aim,
To make an offering for each one.

For trying Paul cannot come satisfy
All men, though he may live in ways to try.
A Greek to Greeks, a Jew to Jews, gives way
To anger on the part of every dray.
What Christian now is happy to read here
That Paul went in the temple with his gear
To sacrifice a sheep or goat to bring
Its blood into the holy temple's ring?
It stands to be a problem theologic,
Embarrassment before the bishop's dogic.
But then if he'd refused to do the rite,
The holy church would squelch him from their sight.
Beloved, I am a hermit in this crowd
Of saints who seem to serve You as allowed.

27 Near the end of the seven days,
The Jews from Asia saw the phase
Of him inside the temple, and
Stirred up the whole crowd in a band
And in their violence laid hand
On him, 28 and shouted out aloud,
“Men of Israel, stand and be proud
To aid! This is the man who teaches
All men in every country's reaches
Against the people, and the law,
And this place that we hold in awe,
And furthermore he also brought
Greeks into the temple in plot
Defiling this holy place sought.”
29 For they had earlier caught sight
Of Trophimus, Ephesian wight
With him in the town, and they thought
That Paul had come with him and brought
Him in the temple. 30 All the town
Was troubled, and the folk ran riot
And seized Paul and dragged him unquiet
Out of the temple, and straight off
They shut the doors against such scroff.

The truth is Paul had taught a greater sight,
The heavenly temple to replace the might
Of earthly crowns caught in Jerusalem,
The heavenly sanctuary and the gem
That once was opened to the dying eye
Of Stephen as he cried aloud with sigh.
The truth is Paul, though bringing sacrifice,
Looked to the heavenly ministry and nice
Of resurrected Christ, that figure who
Affirmed his Pharisean sort of view
That death leads to the resurrection true.
But beside truth the notion of the crowd
Is always false and violent to shroud
The interests of the state, unholy cloud.

31 Now as they tried to kill him, news
Came to the commander of crews
In garrison that all the town
Jerusalem from head to crown
Was in an uproar. 32 He straight off
Took soldiers and centurions,
And ran down to them in their tonnes.
And when they saw the officer
And soldiers, they stopped beating cur.
33 The officer came near and took
Him and commanded him and shook
His with two chains, and he asked who
He was and what he'd come to do.
34 And some among the multitude
Cried one thing, some another shrewd.
So when he could not ascertain
The truth because of riot's reign,
He ordered him brought back inside
The barracks so he could decide.
35 When he reached the stairs, he must be
Borne by the soldiers for the spree
Of the crowd. 36 For the multitude
Of folk had followed harsh and rude
To shout out "Be he done away!"
37 As Paul was at the door in sway,
He asked the officer, "Now may
I speak to you?" And he replied,
"Can you speak Greek? 38 Are you decried
Egyptian who some time ago
Stirred up rebellion and led four
Thousand assassins on the sand?"
39 But Paul said “I'm a Jew to stand
From Tarsus, in Cilicia, and
A citizen of no mean town,
And beg you let me speak now down
To the folk." 40 So he gave him leave,
And Paul stood on the stairs in sleeve,
And motioned to the folk. And when
There was a greater silence, then
He spoke to them in Hebrew tongue,
Speaking the truth he'd always sung.

There are two kinds of folk alive today,
I swear, Beloved, of those come out to play.
There is the mob that's ready at the kill,
There is the guard established by the will
Of those who farm the rabble not with hate,
But merely in the greed their fires create.
If I could find one man or woman too
Whose eyes were wholly fixed in love on you,
Then I would change my tune about the view.
The optimism of Paul on the stairs,
Who thought a word of truth despoiled of cares
Might turn to love and life, is more than I
Can muster as I turn about the sty.
Beloved, I raise my hat at Pauline shares.

ACTS 22

1 “Brothers and fathers, hear the word
Of my defence, and so be stirred."
2 And when they heard him speak to them
In Hebrew language, they kept hem
The more in silence. Then he said:
3 "I am indeed a Jew and bred
In Tarsus town of Cilicia,
But brought up in this town of awe
At the feet of Gamaliel,
Taught by the strictness and taught well
In our ancestors' law, and I
Was zealous toward God as you cry
Also today. 4 "I came to slay
Those who followed this very way,
And bound them and brought them into
Custody, men and women's crew,
5 "As the high priest bears witness to,
The elders' council all in view,
From whom I also received script
To the brothers, and went equipped
Down to Damascus to bring back
In chains those who were there in slack
Up to Jerusalem to be
Punished all for their heresy.

The arm of justice is a heavy arm
When spread about to do us woe and harm.
The heresy of faith in Christ who came
Opposing every state as though in blame,
Without an act of violence and shame,
Cannot be tolerated in the game.
The violence is assumed at the vest,
And perpetrated with a legal zest.
But those who fail in loyalty to fear,
Are apprehended with pacific gear.
Beloved, I am a heretic, I know,
Among the purple-plumed who rise a go
Before the pageantry of pope and state.
I stand before Your throne, Beloved, and wait.

6 “And so it happened as I went
And came near Damascus not spent
Beyond noon, suddenly a great
Light from the sky shone round in state.
7 “And I fell to the ground and heard
A voice that said to me and stirred,
‘Saul, Saul, why persecute thou me?’
8 “And so I answered, ‘Who now be
You, sir?’ And so he said to me,
‘I'm Jesus of Nazareth, whom
You persecute and to your doom.’
9 “And those who were with me indeed
Saw the light, were afraid, and peed,
But they did not hear his voice who
Spoke to me. 10 “I said, ‘What to do,
Sir?’ And the lord said to me, ‘Rise
And go into Damascus wise,
And there you will be told all things
Which are determined for your springs.’
11 “And since I could not see the way
For the glory of that light's sway,
I was led by the hand of those
Who were with me, until my toes
Came to Damascus, as I chose.

When will men learn to know and see the truth
That standing before glory in their youth
Is what makes them blind to all faith and ruth?
The vision personal and glory met
Are not the gate to seeing the well set,
But keep the eye from every way that's true,
So that an executioner and crew
Can lead better than priest or president.
When will men learn to know the way You sent?
Beloved, I too, before the gloried sight
Remain impressed by power, and by the might.
And yet I know to wait till that is past,
And for the scales to fall from leaguered mast.
The still room is the place of divine cast.

12 “A certain Ananias there,
A devout man and by the share
Of the law, with a good witness
Of all the Jews who would confess,
13 “Came to me, and he stood and said
To me, ‘Brother Saul, come instead
To have your sight.’ And at that same
Hour I looked up at him from flame.
14 “So he said ‘Our ancestors' God
Has chosen you to know His rod,
And see the Just One, and to hear
The message of his mouth in fear.
15 ‘For you will be his witness here
To all men of what you have seen
And what you heard beyond the screen.
16 ‘And now why are you waiting? Rise
And take the way that will baptize
And wash away your sins, and call
Upon the name of YHWH withal.’

The goal of every vision and the sight
Of glories on the hill and road for spite,
Is always to return repenting where
The soul must call upon You for its share.
To call upon Your name is all the prayer
That any may assume with humble care.
The brighter celebrations on the air,
The pageants and parades of guilded wear,
Are mereness of hyprocrisy, I swear.
Beloved, I stop upon the dergah floor
And call upon Your names before the four
Gates of obedience and burning love,
Awareness and the truth of hand in glove,
The treasures unlocked in abundant store.

17 “It happened, when I came back to
Jerusalem and prayed as due
Within the temple, I was in
A trance 18 “and saw him there to win
Me saying to me, ‘Make haste and
Get out of Jerusalem's stand
And quickly, for they'll not receive
Your testimony that I grieve.’
19 “So I said ‘Sir, they know that in
Every synagogue I made din
To imprison and beat those who
Had come to believe upon you.
20 ‘When the blood of Your martyr Stephen
Was shed, I also would get even
By standing to consent to death,
And guarded the coats with my breath
Of those who slew him unreprieven.’
21 “Then he said to me, ‘Go your way,
For I will send you far to stray
From here to the Gentiles in sway.’”

The Jewish crowd would listen and be still
Until the man said something of a pill:
That he would rather the uncircumcised
Were at his table than the well-apprised.
If anyone could give the matter thought,
He should acknowledge that his life has taught
Him such means are the way to come to grief.
Why did Paul sabotage his own belief?
Beloved, he should have listened to the bill
Of what You said by Spirit to the fill.
Instead he went head-long into the gate
Of blind Jerusalem to find his fate.
Keep me, Beloved, from every mosque and church,
And I will remain on Your divine perch.

22 They listened to him till he said
That, and then they raised cry instead,
“Away with such a fellow spread
From the earth, for he is not fit
To live!” 23 Then, as they cried to wit
And tore off their clothes and threw dust
Into the air, 24 commander must
Order him to be brought into
The barracks, and said he should do
With scourging to say what is true,
So he might know why they cried out
Against him, and not be in doubt.
25 And as they bound him with ropes there,
Paul said to the centurion's share
Who stood by, “Is it lawful for
You to scourge a man and make sore
Who is a Roman, uncondemned?”
26 When the centurion heard that stemmed,
He went to tell the commander,
And said “Take care what you would stir,
For this man's a Roman, no cur.”
27 Then the commander came and said
To him, “Say, are you Roman bred?”
He said “Yes.” 28 The commander said
“With a large sum I got this spread.”
And Paul said “I was born and bred.”
29 Then straight off those who were about
To torture him withdrew their snout,
And the commander too was scared
To find out he was Roman fared,
Because he'd bound him unimpaired.
30 The next day, since he wished to know
For sure why Jews accused him so,
He brought him from the prison stow,
And ordered the chief priests to show
And all their council to appear,
And brought Paul down and set to hear.

The work of law and order since the day
That Paul was saved by Romans set in sway,
Has weakened and diminished at the fray.
In those days a passport of citizen
Could save one from the torture-chamber's den.
But now Guantanamo comes in the list
Of places where the innocent are hissed,
From which the guilty are set free and missed
To kill again, because they have been kissed
By those who hold the oil and turn the gold
From cave to cave where children are still sold.
If I were caught today, nothing could save
Me from the water torture and the grave,
No word that I am free, waste to be brave.

ACTS 23

1 And Paul looked earnestly about
At the council in the redoubt,
And said “Men and brothers, I've spent
My life in all good conscience meant
Before God until this day lent.”
2 And the high priest Ananias
Commanded those who stood in class
By him to strike him on the mouth.
3 Then Paul said to him, north and south,
“God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!
For you sit to judge me in thrall
According to the law, and do
You command me to be struck too
Contrary to the law in view?”
4 And those who stood by said “Do you
Revile God’s high priest?” 5 Then Paul said
“I did not know, brothers and bred,
That he was the high priest, for it
Is written, ‘You shall not speak shit
Of your people's ruler and fit.’”

The fact is that the priest did act in view
Of the law in a way that is not true.
The fact that he was the high priest did not
Excuse his acting in the wayward plot.
Did Paul sincerely take authority
Of the same sinner who condemned the free
Jesus as divine under sovereignty?
I think not. But the taqiyya he used
Was how to avoid being more abused.
The stroke upon the jaw set him to think
How to step back from falling off the brink.
Beloved, I speak the word to swim or sink,
Not by the truth You hold, but by the sway
Of how to survive and to get away.

6 But when Paul noticed that one part
Were Sadducees, while the upstart
Of others were the Pharisees,
He cried out in the council sees,
"Men and brothers, and if you please,
I am a Pharisee, the son
Of Pharisee, for the hope won
And resurrection of the dead
I'm being judged with all this dread!"
7 When he said this, a fury broke
Out between Pharisees and yoke
Of Sadducees, the council room
Was in division to its doom.
8 For Sadducees say there is no
Form resurrecting, and there's no
Angel or spirit, but the both
Are confessed by Pharisees' quoth.
9 So there arose a loud outcry.
And the scribes of the Pharisees'
Party arose protesting why,
Saying, "We find no evil in
This man, but if a spirit's din
Or angel has spoken to him,
Let us not fight against God's vim."
10 When there arose a great dissension,
The officer, fearing to mention
That Paul might be pulled clear apart,
Commanded the soldiers to start
Down and take him by force from them,
And bring him in the barracks' hem.
11 But the next night the Lord stood by
Him and said, "Be of good cheer's tie,
Paul, for you've testified for me
Here in Jerusalem finely,
So you must also bear witness
At Rome where you will give address."

I start to understand the way of Paul,
Who followed Jesus in his lowly call
To quiet insubordination's wall.
And yet it is a Roman sort of creed
That martyrdom amounts to the faith's seed.
I'd rather live in peace with my own greed
Of Your love on the hill, upon the mead.
I'd rather live in peace in my own stall.
Beloved, I too stand where the corners meet,
The Christians grope, the Muslims shout their feat,
The Jews remain a nation and complete.
White martyrdom instead of crosses keep
Me safe beneath my winter sort of sleep,
Although I still hear the saints rise and weep.

12 When it was day, some of the Jews
Banded together to abuse
An oath, saying that they would not
Eat or drink till they'd done the plot
To kill Paul. 13 Now there were more than
Forty who plotted to a man.
14 They came to the chief priests and elders,
And said like brick-layers and welders,
"We've bound ourselves under a great
Oath that we will eat nothing late
Until we've killed Paul the ingrate.
15 "So you together with the crowd
Of councillors suggest aloud
To the commander that he be
Brought down to you tomorrow, see,
As though you would question the more,
But we are ready at the door
To kill him before he comes near."

As soon as congregations grow to be
Greater than just the promised two or three,
Then there arises some late jealousy,
And hate requires the action of the free.
It may be just the pecking order met
In farmyard fowl and human sort of pet,
But in time will grow to the plot to kill,
For hate is murder in the heavenly bill.
Beloved, I flee from congregations here,
The twelves and twenties standing without tear
Beside the slain, beside the green and bier.
I flee to You from every human pride,
The building and the offering in the slide
From hope of height to earthen gate and weir.

16 So when Paul's sister's son heard that
Ambush was plotted under fat,
He went to the barracks and told
Paul. 17 Then Paul called one of the bold
Centurions to him and said,
"Take this young man now to the head
Commander, let him speak as led."
18 So he took him and brought him to
The commander and said in view,
"Paul the prisoner called me to
Him and asked me to bring this young
Man to you. He has word on tongue."
19 Then the commander took him by
The hand, went aside for reply,
"What is it you have to tell me?"
20 And he said "The Jews would agree
To ask to bring Paul down into
The council for tomorrow's crew,
As though they would inquire anew.
21 "But do not yield to them, for more
Than forty of them lie in store
For him, men who have bound themselves
By an oath that they will like elves
Neither eat nor drink till they've killed,
And now they're ready where they've swilled
To wait the promise from you billed."
22 So the commander let the young
Man go, commanding, "Hold your tongue
From telling you've revealed these things
To me." 23 And he called from the wings
For two centurions, and said
"Prepare two hundred soldiers fed,
And seventy horsemen to be led,
And two hundred spearmen to go
To Caesarea at the third
Hour of the night when none have heard,
24 "And provide mounts to set Paul on,
And bring him safely at the dawn
To Felix who is governor."

There are things one can count on in the fest
Of government among the ruling vest.
They do protect the prisoner at best
From those who would endanger him in zest.
A dog will ran from master with a bone,
At least one not trained in the law of stone.
A hawk will stand beside her kill to keep
It from the buzzard hoping for the heap.
Beloved, I too play at the game to find
A refuge from the fruited and the wined,
And so rely on guns and swords that make
The other thugs turn back and in the wake
Of harm and hope beneath the glories' take.
I am aware, Beloved, of what You signed.

25 He wrote a letter on this score:
26 Claudius Lysias, unto
The most excellent of the crew
Felix: Greetings. 27 This man was seized
By the Jews and they unappeased
Were out to kill him. But I came
With troops and rescued him from blame,
Since I learned he was Roman flame.
28 And when I wanted to know why
They had accused him on the sly
I brought him to their council try.
29 I found out he was blamed about
Questions of their law, but without
Charges deserving death or chains.
30 And when it was told me the Jews
Lay in wait for the man in crews,
I sent him straight way off to you,
And also commanded his crew
Of such accusers to tell you
The charges against him. Adieu.
31 Then the soldiers, as they were told,
Took Paul and brought him by night cold
To Antipatris. 32 The next day
They left the horsemen go away
With him, and returned to the fort.
33 When they came near the town for sport
Called Caesarea and had brought
The letter to governor sought,
They also presented to him
Paul. 34 And when the governor grim
Had read it, he asked what province
He was from. And when he said since
That he was from Cilicia, 35 he
Said, "I will hear you in degree
When your accusers also come."
And he commanded him to be
Kept in Herod's Praetorium.

The letter of a civil servant may
Be accurate in sum, in sultry way
The facts are set in such helpful array
That shows between the signs how great the man
Is who remembered to keep to the plan
Of building up his own career from ban.
So Claudius take full advantage of
The accidents of tricks in hand and glove
To tell how faithfully he serves the state,
While in fact he looks to his own bright pate.
Beloved, the more the change, the more the rate
Of the same courage to embrace the fate.
I turn from love of self and from self-hate
And find You and Your own eternal love.

ACTS 24

1 Now after five days Ananias
The high priest came down there to try us
With the elders and with a man
To speak named Tertullus in clan.
These gave their evidence in blame
To the governor against Paul.
2 And when he was called to the game
Tertullus began words in blame,
Saying "Seeing that through you we
Enjoy great peace, prosperity
Is brought to this nation to see
By your foresight, 3 "we take it aye
And in all places like sweet pie,
Most noble Felix, with all thanks.
4 "Yet not to bore you with our ranks,
I beg you hear by courtesy,
A few words from us. 5 "For now we
Have found this man a plague, a maker
Of great dissension and a staker
Among all Jews throughout the world,
And a ringleader of unfurled
Sect of the Nazarenes. 6 "And he
Even tried to profane in spree
The temple, and we seized him, and
Wanted to judge him by our stand.
7 "But the commander Lysias
Came by and with great gust and gas
Took him out of our hands and pew,
8 "Commanding us to come to you.
By examining him yourself
You may find out these things on shelf
Of which we accuse him like elf."
9 And the Jews all agreed with him,
Maintaining these things were so dim.

No Gentile seems to realize how great
Defiling of the temple is in state,
How sensitive a matter in the plot
It is to those who worship You a lot.
The pagan goes for crosses and for sex
In song and wisdom's dogmas to perplex,
The spiritual and non-existent rex.
But the Jew in the old times knew the way
That You had promised to cleanse temple's sway.
The temple cleansed, the city rebuilt is
The catalyst upon which faith makes fizz
In voices heard from You above and Spirit
Come down in form of dove or at least near it.
And so the accusations stand at bay.

10 Then Paul, after the governor
Had given sign to speak his score
Replied: "Since I know you have been
For many years a judge to win
This nations, I am glad to make
Appeal before you for my sake,
11 Because you may find out that it
Is not more than twelve days to wit
Since I went to Jerusalem
To worship and not to condemn.
12 "And they did not find me within
The temple disputing of sin
With anyone nor making row
Among the crowd, nor anyhow
In the town synagogues to bow.
13 "Nor can they prove the things of which
They now accuse me at a pitch.
14 "But this I confess to you, that
According to the way out flat
They call a sect, so worship I
My ancestors' God on the fly,
Believing all things that are writ
In law and prophets where I sit.
15 "I have hope in the God, which they
Themselves also accept in sway,
That there will be a resurrection
Of the dead, and not insurrection,
Both of the just and the unjust.
16 "This being so, I myself strive
Always to have my conscience thrive
Without offence toward God and men.
17 "Now after many years in gust
I came to bring alms and again
Offerings to my nation in den,
18 "In the midst of which some Jews from
Asia found me cleansed and to come
In the temple, but without mob
And without riot there to rob.
19 "They ought to have been here before
You to object if they in store
Had anything against my score.
20 "Or else let those who are here say
If they found any wrong in sway
In me while I stood on that day
Before the council, 21 "unless it
Is for this one statement which in fit
I cried out, standing among them,
‘Concerning resurrection's gem
Of the dead I am being judged
By you this day by those who smudged.'"

Unlike all others, Paul reports in brief
Exactly how things are for weal or grief.
How can he be so accurate and fair?
It's simply that his actions to beware
Are all done in Your view, and so he hides
No secrets from the trying human eyes.
He can say what did happen, because he
Is innocent from the start of the spree.
Beloved, let me live my life in this tomb
So that without temptation to my doom
I can bare every secret to the sky
Without apology and without sigh.
But then I trow that churchmen will find room
To clamour for my life with hopeful lie.

See here, Beloved, Paul clearly states the truth
That Jesus' men in no false tongue or ruth
Believed in the same God precisely that
Was known to the Jews of that time out flat.
He makes appeal to no philosophy
Denying Your form and reality
With bodiless, formless non-entity,
Nor does he trick Messiah out to be
A second god set in a Trinity.
Beloved, I take the faith of Paul and see
That You are One who sent down Christ to find
The lowly and oppressed, the hopeful blind
And bring them to the temple of Your light
Set on the heavenly shores before their sight.

22 But when Felix had heard these things,
Having more right knowledge in wings
About the way, he took a break
And said "When Lysias in wake,
The officer, comes down, I'll make
A fatwa for your case in stake."
23 So he ordered centurion
To keep Paul and to give him run
Of the place and told him to let
His friends provide for him and get
To visit him. 24 After some days,
When Felix came with his wife's praise,
Drusilla, who was Jewish, he
Sent for Paul and heard him freely
About the faith in Christ to raise.
25 And so he reasoned about right,
And self-control, judgement in sight,
Till Felix feared and so replied,
"Go hence for now, come back to bide
At more convenient time beside."
26 At the same time he also thought
Maybe Paul would pay him a slot
To set him free from temple plot.
That's why he sent for him quite oft
To talk with him. 27 After two years
Porcius Festus it appears
Succeeded Felix, and Felix,
Wanting to do the Jews no tricks,
Left Paul bound and in the same fix.

Unless a man would be bound in the store
Of politicians and the civil servant,
Both of whom are regretfully most fervent
In doing everything to up their score
Despite the knocks of justice at the door,
He will find every way he can and swervant
Avoiding government's eyes still observant.
The innocent once caught is seen no more.
Beloved, when Master Happy left his plot
To the Lord Celebration, see what spot
Of fickle Paul was left in. He became
A pawn and present to policy's game.
All things are sweetly done and in Your name.


AUTHOR: THOMAS G. MCELWAIN

Copyright © 2007 Adams & McElwain Publishers and Thomas McElwain First Published in two volumes, The Beloved and I 2005, and Led of the Beloved, 2006. Second Edition, 2010 Third and revised edition, 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this verse commentary on the sacred Scriptures may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from publisher.

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