20:18a–21b

You know: 20:18b–21c in Greek is one sentence. It describes what Paul is sure that the elders know about him. For example:

You yourselves know how I lived among you all the time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which befell me through the plots of the Jews; 20how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Revised Standard Version)

In many languages it is more natural to translate this as several sentences. You may then want to repeat You know at the beginning of each new sentence. The example below adds this phrase each time it is not in the Berean Standard Bible:

You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia. 19⌊You know⌋ I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews. 20I did not shrink back from declaring anything that was helpful to you as I taught you publicly and from house to house. 21⌊You know⌋ I testified to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

20:18b

You: Here this pronoun in Greek emphasizes the fact that the elders personally saw how Paul lived in Ephesus. For example:

You yourselves (Revised Standard Version)

how I lived the whole time I was with you: Paul said here that the elders knew how he behaved while he had lived with them in Ephesus for three years. Other ways to translate this clause are:

how I lived among you the whole time (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
how I behaved the entire time I lived in your city
-or-
everything I did during the time I was with you (Contemporary English Version)

I was with you: This refers to Paul living in Ephesus, as they did. It does not imply that he lived in the same house with them. For example:

I lived among you (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
I was ⌊in Ephesus⌋ with you

After the three years in Asia, Paul went elsewhere. Paul now spoke to the elders some years later. In some languages it is more natural to indicate that Paul no longer lived in Asia. For example:

⌊when⌋ I had lived with you

20:18c

from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia: This clause indicates that the elders knew what Paul did during the whole time he was in Asia. Other ways to translate this clause are:

ever since the first day I set foot among you in Asia, (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
beginning with the first day I came into the province of Asia

I arrived: This clause in Greek is literally “I set foot.” It is an idiom that refers to the first moment Paul entered Asia.

the province of Asia: The Berean Standard Bible adds the phrase province of, as in 20:16. See how you translated this phrase there.

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