Acts 20:19

"serving the Lord with all lowliness of mind, and with tears, and with trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews"With all lowliness of mind": Or, in. very humble manner. This statement reveals that even though Paul was an Apostle, he was neither arrogant nor self-righteous. "He did not exhibit. puffed up conceit, or boast of what he had done" (Reese p. 744). "With tears": Tears caused by those who rejected the gospel and Christians who went back into the world. This expression reveals that Paul was emotionally involved with the people whom he was trying to save (2 Corinthians 11:28; Romans 9:1). "With trials which befell me by the plots of the Jews": Including such things as the persecution from the synagogue in Acts 19:9. The. Corinthian letter was written shortly after Paul's three-year stay in Ephesus and chapter Acts 1:8-10 suggests that Paul had endured. very serious threat to his life in Asia. The plural "trials" reveals that many unrecorded sufferings and plots took place while Paul was in Ephesus.