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Acts 20 · a question people ask

"I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem" (20:22). What does Paul mean?

In the text

He doesn't explain it. He says he goes "not knowing what will happen to me there; except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me" (20:22-23), and that "these things don’t count" (20:24). In the chapter before, "Paul determined in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem" (19:21). The chapter doesn't say how the Spirit bound him or how the Holy Spirit testified in every city, and these notes add nothing to its words.

The verses

“Now, behold, I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there; except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me. But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God.”
Acts 20:22-24 · World English Bible
“Now after these things had ended, Paul determined in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.””
Acts 19:21 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Acts 20

Acts 20: The whole counsel of God

In Paul's words to the elders of Ephesus, testify is one Greek verb three times: he testified "both to Jews and to Greeks" (20:21), "the Holy Spirit testifies in every city" (20:23), and his ministry is "to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God" (20:24). And he tells them to remember words of the Lord Jesus that no Gospel gives: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (20:35).

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Last reviewed October 7, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions