Acts 20:1
And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia. And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.
The background was a festival in honor of Diana, at which Paul's teaching had already undermined confidence in the heathen gods and cooled enthusiasm for their worship, helping to stir the opposition that broke out. Before the uproar he had purposed to journey through Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem and afterward to go to Rome, and to that end he had sent Timothy and Erastus on ahead into Macedonia while he himself intended to stay in Ephesus until after Pentecost. The decision of the recorder and the other honorable officers set Paul before the people as innocent of any unlawful act, a triumph of Christianity over error and superstition in which God raised up a great magistrate to vindicate His apostle and hold the mob in check. The uproar hastened his departure and closed his labors in Ephesus, ending his work there after sustained teaching, opposition, and trials, because the excitement and tumult in the city was unfavorable to the preaching of the gospel. His going was filled with gratitude to God that his life had been preserved and that Christianity had not been brought into disrepute by the tumult.
When the uproar was over, Paul called the disciples together, embraced them, and departed to go into Macedonia. That gathering and embracing was an affectionate farewell to his children in the faith. He set out for Macedonia by way of Troas, accompanied by Tychicus and Trophimus, faithful Ephesian brethren who remained his faithful companions and fellow laborers to the close of his life.