Acts 20:19

I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Paul addresses the elders of the Ephesian church at Miletus, in a farewell moment as he departs for Jerusalem.

The words — δουλεύω (douleuō) means "to serve as a slave," not merely "to work for"; it marks ministry as bondage to the Lord rather than a role one fills.

The thread — The tears echo 2 Corinthians 2:4; the Jewish plots appear in Acts 20:3; the slave-servant language resonates with Colossians 3:24.

Why it lands — Paul reduces his apostolic career to slave-work, tears, and opposition, forcing the reader to ask whether their own service looks more like performance than bondage.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

δουλεύωνdouleuōnserving τῷtōthe κυρίῳkuriōLord μετὰmetawith πάσηςpasēsall ταπεινοφροσύνηςtapeinophrosunēshumility καὶkaiand πολλῶνpollōnmany δακρύωνdakruōntears καὶkaiand πειρασμῶνpeirasmōntrials τῶνtōnthat συμβάντωνsumbantōnwere happening μοιmoito me ἐνenin ταῖςtaisthe ἐπιβουλαῖςepiboulaisplots τῶνtōnof the Ἰουδαίων·IoudaiōnJews;

King James Version

Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:

Cross-references

Colossians 3:24 because you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as your reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
2 Corinthians 2:4 For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you.
Acts 20:3 where he stayed three months. And when the Jews formed a plot against him as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.
Romans 12:11 Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
2 Corinthians 4:7 Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.
Jeremiah 13:17 But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride. My eyes will overflow with tears, because the LORD’s flock has been taken captive.
Acts 14:19 Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.
2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
2 Corinthians 7:5 For when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were pressed from every direction—conflicts on the outside, fears within.
2 Corinthians 12:7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.