Bible in 90 Days

³⁸ The guards reported these words to the magistrates, and they became afraid when they heard that Paul and Silas^[a] were Roman citizens. ³⁹ So the magistrates^[b] came, apologized to them, and escorted them out. Then they asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ Leaving the jail, Paul and Silas^[c] went to Lydia’s house. They saw the brothers, encouraged them, and then left.

Paul and Silas in Thessalonica

17 Paul and Silas^[d] traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ² As usual, Paul entered there and on three Sabbaths discussed the Scriptures with them. ³ He explained and showed them that the Messiah^[e] had to suffer and rise from the dead: “This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah.”^[f]

⁴ Some of them were persuaded and began to be associated with Paul and Silas, especially a large crowd of devout Greeks and the wives of many prominent men. ⁵ But the Jewish leaders^[g] became jealous, and they took some contemptible characters who used to hang out in the public square,^[h] formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They attacked Jason’s home and searched it for Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the people. ⁶ When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials and shouted, “These fellows who have turned the world upside down have come here, too, ⁷ and Jason has welcomed them as his guests. All of them oppose the emperor’s decrees by saying that there is another king—Jesus!”

⁸ The crowd and the city officials were upset when they heard this, ⁹ but after they had gotten a bond from Jason and the others, they let them go.

Paul and Silas in Berea

¹⁰ That night the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ These people were more receptive than those in Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive the message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if those things were so. ¹² Many of them believed, including a large number of prominent Greek women and men.

¹³ But when the Jewish leaders^[i] in Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul also in Berea, they went there to upset and incite the crowds. ¹⁴ Then the brothers immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed there.

Paul in Athens

¹⁵ The men who escorted Paul took him all the way to Athens and, after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left. ¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was deeply disturbed to see the city full of idols. ¹⁷ So he began holding discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and other worshipers, as well as every day in the public square^[j] with anyone who happened to be there. ¹⁸ Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some asked, “What is this blabbermouth trying to say?” while others said, “He seems to be preaching about foreign gods.” This was because Paul^[k] was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹ Then they took him, brought him before the Areopagus,^[l] and asked, “May we know what this new teaching of yours is? ²⁰ It sounds rather strange to our ears, and we would like to know what it means.” ²¹ Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there used to spend their time doing nothing else other than listening to the latest ideas or repeating them.

²² So Paul stood up in front of the Areopagus^[m] and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way. ²³ For as I was walking around and looking closely at the objects you worship, I even found an altar with this written on it: ‘To an unknown god.’ So I am telling you about the unknown object you worship. ²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in shrines made by human hands, ²⁵ and he isn’t served by people^[n] as if he needed anything. He himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything else. ²⁶ From one man^[o] he made every nation of humanity to live all over the earth, fixing the seasons of the year and the national boundaries within which they live, ²⁷ so that they might look for God,^[p] somehow reach for him, and find him. Of course, he is never far from any one of us. ²⁸ For we live, move, and exist because of him, as some of your own poets have said: ‘…Since we are his children, too.’^{[q] 29} So if we are God’s children, we shouldn’t think that the divine being is like gold, silver, or stone, or is an image carved by humans using their own imagination and skill. ³⁰ Though God has overlooked those times of ignorance, he now commands everyone everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world with justice^[r] through a man whom he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”

³² When they heard about a resurrection of the dead, some began joking about it, while others said, “We will hear you again about this.” ³³ And so Paul left the meeting.^{[s] 34} Some men joined him and became believers. With them were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus,^[t] a woman named Damaris, and some others along with them.

Paul in Corinth

18 After this, Paul^[u] left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul^[v] went to visit them, ³ and because they had the same trade he stayed with them. They worked together because they were tentmakers by trade. ⁴ Every Sabbath, he would speak in the synagogue, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks. ⁵ But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to the word^[w] as he emphatically assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.^{[x] 6} But when they began to oppose him and insult him, he shook out his clothes in protest and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the gentiles.”

⁷ Then he left that place and went to the home of a man named Titius^[y] Justus, who worshipped God and whose house was next door to the synagogue. ⁸ Now Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole family. Many Corinthians who heard Paul also believed and were baptized.

⁹ One night, the Lord told Paul in a vision, “Stop being afraid to speak out! Don’t remain silent! ¹⁰ For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you or harm you, because I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ So Paul^[z] lived there for a year and a half and continued to teach the word of God among the people there.^[aa]

¹² While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jewish leaders^[ab] gathered together, attacked Paul, and brought him before the judge’s seat. ¹³ They said, “This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the Law.”

¹⁴ Paul was about to speak when Gallio admonished the Jewish leaders,^[ac] “If there were some misdemeanor or crime involved, it would be reasonable to put up with you Jews. ¹⁵ But since it is a question about words, names, and your own Law, you will have to take care of that yourselves. I refuse to be a judge in these matters.” ¹⁶ So he drove them away from the judge’s seat. ¹⁷ Then all of them^[ad] took Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and began beating him in front of the judge’s seat. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Paul’s Return Trip to Antioch

¹⁸ After staying there for quite a while longer, Paul said goodbye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He had his hair cut in Cenchrea, since he was under a vow. ¹⁹ When they arrived in Ephesus, he left Priscilla and Aquila^[ae] there. Then he went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. ²⁰ They asked him to stay longer, but he refused. ²¹ As he told them goodbye, he said, “I will come back^[af] to you again if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. ²² When he arrived in Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem,^[ag] greeted the church there, and then returned to Antioch. ²³ After spending some time there, he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Apollos Preaches in Ephesus

²⁴ Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos arrived in Ephesus. He was a native of Alexandria, an eloquent man, and well versed in the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in the Lord’s way, and with spiritual fervor he kept speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only about John’s baptism. ²⁶ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained God’s way to him more accurately. ²⁷ When Apollos^[ah] wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples there, urging them to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who, through God’s^[ai] grace, had believed. ²⁸ He successfully refuted the Jews in public and proved by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.^[aj]

Paul in Ephesus

19 It was while Apollos was in Corinth that Paul passed through the inland districts and came to Ephesus. He found a few disciples there ² and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

They answered him, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³ He then asked, “Then into what were you baptized?”

They answered, “Into John’s baptism.”

⁴ Then Paul said, “John baptized when they repented, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” ⁵ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in foreign languages^[ak] and to prophesy. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

⁸ He went into the synagogue and spoke there boldly for three months, holding discussions and persuading those who heard him^[al] about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But when some people became stubborn, refused to believe, and slandered the Way in front of the people, Paul^[am] left them, taking his disciples away with him, and held daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.^{[an] 10} This went on for two years, so that all who lived in Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord. ¹¹ God continued to do extraordinary miracles through Paul.^{[ao] 12} When handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched his skin were taken to the sick, their diseases left them and evil spirits went out of them.

¹³ Then some Jews who went around trying to drive out demons attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!” ¹⁴ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.

¹⁵ But the evil spirit told them, “Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted with Paul, but who are you?”

¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them, got the better of them, and so violently overpowered all of them that they fled out of the house naked and bruised. ¹⁷ When this became known to everyone living in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks alike, they all became terrified, and the name of the Lord Jesus began to be held in high honor. ¹⁸ Many who became believers kept coming to confess and talk about what they had been doing. ¹⁹ Moreover, many people who had practiced occult arts gathered their books and burned them in front of everybody. They estimated their value and found them to have been worth 50,000 silver coins.^{[ap] 20} In that way the word of the Lord kept spreading and triumphing.

²¹ After these things had happened, Paul decided^[aq] to go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to go on to Jerusalem. “After I have gone there,” he told them, “I must also see Rome.” ²² Then he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed in Asia a while longer.

A Riot in Ephesus

²³ Now about that time a great commotion broke out concerning the Way. ²⁴ By making silver shrines of Artemis, a silversmith named Demetrius provided a large income for skilled workers. ²⁵ He called a meeting of these men and others who were engaged in similar trades and said, “Men, you well know that we get a good income from this business. ²⁶ You also see and hear that, not only in Ephesus, but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has won over and taken away a large crowd by telling them that gods made by human^[ar] hands are not gods at all. ²⁷ There is a danger not only that our business will lose its reputation but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be brought into disrepute and that she will be robbed of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her.”

²⁸ When they heard this, they became furious and began to shout, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ The city was filled with confusion, and the people^[as] rushed into the theater together, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s fellow travelers from Macedonia. ³⁰ Paul wanted to go into the crowd, but the disciples wouldn’t let him. ³¹ Even some officials of the province of Asia who were his friends sent him a message urging him not to risk his life in the theater.

³² Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, since the crowd was confused, and most of them didn’t know why they were meeting. ³³ Some of the crowd concluded it was because of Alexander, since the Jews had pushed him to the front. So Alexander motioned for silence and tried to make a defense before the people. ³⁴ But when they found out that he was a Jew, they all started to shout in unison for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ When the city recorder had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who in the world^[at] doesn’t know that this city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell down from heaven?^{[au] 36} Since these things cannot be denied, you must be quiet and not do anything reckless. ³⁷ For you have brought these men here, although they neither rob temples nor blaspheme our^[av] goddess. ³⁸ So if Demetrius and his workers have a charge against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They should accuse one another there. ³⁹ But if you want anything else, it must be settled in the regular assembly, ⁴⁰ because we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, and there is no good reason we can give to justify this commotion.” ⁴¹ After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.

Paul’s Trip to Macedonia and Greece

20 When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged them. Then he said goodbye to them and left to go to Macedonia. ² He went through those regions and encouraged the people^[aw] with everything he had to say. Then he went to Greece ³ and stayed there for three months. When he was about to sail for Syria, a plot was initiated against him by the Jews, so he decided to go back through Macedonia. ⁴ He was accompanied by Sopater (the son of Pyrrhus) from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia. ⁵ These men went on ahead and were waiting for us in Troas. ⁶ After the Festival^[ax] of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and days later we joined them in Troas and stayed there for seven days.

Paul’s Farewell Visit to Troas

⁷ On the first day of the week, when we had met to break bread, Paul began to address the people.^[ay] Since he intended to leave the next day, he went on speaking until midnight. ⁸ Now there were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. ⁹ A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in a window, began to sink off into a deep sleep as Paul kept speaking longer and longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ But Paul went down, bent over^[az] him, took him into his arms, and said, “Stop being alarmed, because he’s still alive.” ¹¹ Then he went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. He talked with them for a long time, until dawn, and then left. ¹² They took the young man away alive and were greatly relieved.

Paul’s Trip to Miletus

¹³ We proceeded to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we intended to pick up Paul. He had arranged it this way, since he had planned to travel there on foot. ¹⁴ When he met us in Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. ¹⁵ We sailed from there and on the following day arrived off Chios. The next day, we crossed over to Samos and stayed at Trogyllium.^[ba] The day after that, we came to Miletus. ¹⁶ Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in Asia, as he was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost, if that was possible.

Paul Meets with the Ephesian Elders

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent messengers^[bb] to Ephesus to ask the elders of the church to meet with him. ¹⁸ When they came to him, he told them, “You know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day I set foot in Asia. ¹⁹ I served the Lord with all humility, with tears, and with trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. ²⁰ I never shrank from telling you anything that would help you nor from teaching you publicly and from house to house. ²¹ I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus.^{[bc] 22} And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³ except that in town after town the Holy Spirit assures me that imprisonment and suffering are waiting for me. ²⁴ But I don’t place any value on my life, if only I can finish my race and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵ “Now I know that none of you among whom I traveled preaching about the kingdom will ever see my face again. ²⁶ I therefore declare to you today that I’m not responsible for the blood of any of you, ²⁷ because I never shrank from telling you the whole plan of God. ²⁸ Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to be shepherds of God’s^[bd] church, which he acquired with his own blood. ²⁹ I know that when I’m gone, savage wolves will come among you and not spare the flock. ³⁰ Indeed, some of your own men will arise and distort the truth in order to lure the disciples into following them. ³¹ So be alert! Remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped tearfully warning each of you.

³² “I’m now entrusting you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and secure for you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. ³³ I never desired anyone’s silver, gold, or clothes. ³⁴ You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who were with me. ³⁵ In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we should help the weak and remember the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”^[be]

³⁶ When Paul^[bf] had said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them. ³⁷ All of them cried and cried^[bg] as they put their arms around Paul and kissed^[bh] him affectionately. ³⁸ They were especially sorrowful because of what he had said—that they would never see his face again. Then they took him to the ship.

Paul in Tyre

21 When we had torn ourselves away from those brothers,^[bi] we sailed straight to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.^{[bj] 2} There we found a ship going across to Phoenicia, so we went aboard and sailed on. ³ We came in sight of Cyprus, and leaving it on our left, we sailed on to Syria and landed at Tyre because the ship was to unload its cargo there. ⁴ So we located some disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit, they kept telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem, ⁵ but when our time there came to an end, we left and proceeded on our journey. All of them accompanied us with their wives and children out of the city. We knelt on the beach, prayed, ⁶ and said goodbye to each other. Then we reboarded the ship, and they went back home.

Paul in Caesarea

⁷ When we completed our voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, greeted the brothers there, and stayed with them for one day. ⁸ The next day, we left and came to Caesarea. We went to the home of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven, and stayed with him. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who could prophesy. ¹⁰ After we had been there for a number of days, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. ¹¹ He came to us, took Paul’s belt, and tied his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘This is how the Jewish leaders^[bk] in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt. Then they will hand him over to the gentiles.’” ¹² When we heard this, we and the people who lived there begged Paul^[bl] not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³ At this Paul replied, “What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I’m ready not only to be tied up in Jerusalem but even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus!”

¹⁴ When he could not be persuaded otherwise, we remained silent except to say, “May the Lord’s will be done.”

Paul in Jerusalem

¹⁵ When our time there ended,^[bm] we got ready to go up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us. They took us to the home of Mnason to be his guests. He was from Cyprus and had been^[bn] an early disciple. ¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers there welcomed us warmly.

¹⁸ The next day, Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹ After greeting them, Paul^[bo] related one by one the things that God had done among the gentiles through his ministry. ²⁰ When they heard about it, they praised God and told him, “You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and all of them are zealous for the Law. ²¹ But they have been told about you—that you teach all the Jews living among the gentiles to forsake the Law of Moses, and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or observe the customs. ²² What is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ So do what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow. ²⁴ Take these men, go through the purification ceremony with them, and pay their expenses to shave their heads. Then everyone will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you are carefully observing and keeping the Law. ²⁵ As for the gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our decision that they should keep away from food that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood,^[bp] from anything strangled,^[bq] and from sexual immorality.”

Paul is Arrested in the Temple

²⁶ Then Paul took those men and the next day purified himself with them. Then he went into the Temple to announce the time when their days of purification would end and when the sacrifice would be offered for each of them. ²⁷ When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul^[br] in the Temple, stirred up a large crowd. They grabbed Paul,^{[bs] 28} yelling, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere to turn against our people, the Law, and this place. More than that, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this Holy Place.” ²⁹ For they had earlier seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and assumed that Paul had taken him into the Temple. ³⁰ The whole city was in chaos. The people rushed together, grabbed Paul, dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the doors were sealed shut.

³¹ The crowd^[bt] was trying to kill Paul^[bu] when a report reached the tribune of the cohort^[bv] that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² Immediately the tribune^[bw] took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the crowd.^[bx] When the people^[by] saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the tribune came up, grabbed Paul,^[bz] and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He then asked who Paul^[ca] was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some of the crowd shouted this and some that. Since the tribune^[cb] couldn’t learn the facts due to the confusion, he ordered Paul^[cc] to be taken into the barracks. ³⁵ When Paul^[cd] got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because the mob had become so violent. ³⁶ The crowd of people kept following him and shouting, “Kill him!”

Paul Speaks in His Own Defense

³⁷ Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the tribune, “May I say something to you?”

The tribune^[ce] asked, “Oh, do you speak Greek? ³⁸ You’re not the Egyptian who started a revolt some time ago and led 4,000 assassins into the desert, are you?”

³⁹ Paul replied, “I’m a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. Please let me speak to the people.” ⁴⁰ The tribune^[cf] gave him permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, motioned for the people to be silent. When everyone had quieted down, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language:

22 “Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense that I am now making before you.” ² When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet, and he continued:

³ “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but raised in this city and educated at the feet of Gamaliel in the strict ways of our ancestral Law. I am as zealous for God as all of you are today. ⁴ I persecuted this Way, even executing people,^[cg] and kept tying up both men and women and putting them in prison, ⁵ as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. I also received letters from them to the brothers in Damascus, and I was going there to tie up those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ “But while I was on my way and approaching Damascus about noon, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?’

⁸ “I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’^[ch]

“He told me, ‘I’m Jesus from Nazareth,^[ci] whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹ The men who were with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

¹⁰ “Then I asked, ‘What am I to do, Lord?’

“The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are destined to do.’ ¹¹ Since I could not see because of the brightness of the light, the men who were with me took me by the hand and led me into Damascus.

¹² “A certain Ananias, who was a devout man with respect to the Law and who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there, ¹³ came to me. He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that moment I could see him.

¹⁴ “Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear his own voice,^{[cj] 15} because you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ So now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.’

¹⁷ “Then I returned to Jerusalem. While I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance ¹⁸ and saw the Lord^[ck] saying to me, ‘Hurry up and get out of Jerusalem at once, because the people^[cl] won’t accept your testimony about me.’

¹⁹ “I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I kept imprisoning and beating those who believe in you. ²⁰ Even when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing there, approving it and guarding the coats of those who were killing him.’

²¹ “Then he told me, ‘Go, because I’ll send you far away to the gentiles.’”

²² Up to this point they listened to him, but then they began to shout, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! He’s not fit to go on living!” ²³ While they were yelling, tossing their coats around, and throwing dirt into the air, ²⁴ the tribune ordered Paul^[cm] to be taken into the barracks and told the soldiers^[cn] to beat and question him in order to find out why the people^[co] were yelling at him like this.

²⁵ But when they had tied him up with the straps, Paul asked the centurion^[cp] who was standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t been condemned?”

²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and told him, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷ So the tribune went and asked Paul,^[cq] “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes,” he said.

²⁸ Then the tribune replied, “I paid a lot of money for this citizenship of mine.”

Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.” ²⁹ Immediately those who were about to examine him stepped back, and the tribune was afraid when he found out that Paul^[cr] was a Roman citizen and that he had tied him up.

Paul is Brought before the Jewish Council

³⁰ The next day, since the tribune^[cs] wanted to find out exactly what Paul^[ct] was being accused of by the Jews, he released him and ordered the high priests and the entire Council^[cu] to meet. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

Paul Defends Himself

23 Paul looked straight at the Council^[cv] and said, “Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty before God up to this very day.”

² Then the high priest Ananias ordered the men standing near him to strike him on the mouth. ³ At this Paul told him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!^[cw] How can you sit there and judge me according to the Law, and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”

⁴ The men standing near him asked, “Do you mean to insult God’s high priest?”

⁵ Paul answered, “I didn’t realize, brothers, that he is the high priest. After all, it is written, ‘You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’”^[cx]

⁶ When Paul saw that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted in the Council,^[cy] “Brothers, I’m a Pharisee and a descendant^[cz] of Pharisees. I’m on trial concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected.”

⁷ After he said that, an angry quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided, ⁸ because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and that there is no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all those things.

⁹ There was a great deal of shouting until some of the scribes who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and argued forcefully, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰ The quarrel was becoming violent, and the tribune was afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces. So he ordered the soldiers to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks. ¹¹ That night the Lord stood near Paul^[da] and said, “Have courage! For just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome, too.”

Some Jews Plot to Kill Paul

¹² In the morning, the Jewish leaders^[db] formed a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink anything before they had killed Paul. ¹³ More than 40 men formed this conspiracy. ¹⁴ They went to the high priests and elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to taste any food before we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now then, you and the Council^[dc] must notify the tribune to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to look into his case more carefully, but before he arrives we’ll be ready to kill him.”

¹⁶ But the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush, so he came and got into the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, because he has something to tell him.”

¹⁸ So the centurion^[dd] took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”

¹⁹ The tribune took him by the hand, stepped aside to be alone with him, and asked, “What have you got to tell me?”

²⁰ He answered, “The Jewish leaders^[de] have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council^[df] tomorrow as though they were going to examine his case more carefully. ²¹ Don’t believe them, because more than 40 of them are planning to ambush him. They’ve taken an oath not to eat or drink before they’ve killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”

²² The tribune dismissed the young man and ordered him not to tell anyone that he had notified him. ²³ Then he summoned two centurions and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight,^[dg] along with 70 mounted soldiers and 200 soldiers with spears. ²⁴ Provide a mount for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Governor Felix.” ²⁵ He wrote a letter with this message:

²⁶ “From:^[dh] Claudius Lysias

To: Governor Felix

Greetings, Your Excellency:

²⁷ This man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I went with the guard and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸ I wanted to know the exact charge they were making against him, so I had him brought before their Council.^{[di] 29} I found that, although he was charged with questions about their Law, there was no charge against him deserving death or imprisonment. ³⁰ Since a plot against the man has been reported to me, I’m sending him to you at once, and I’ve also ordered his accusers to present their charges against him before you.”

³¹ So the soldiers, in keeping with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³² The next day, they let the horsemen ride with Paul^[dj] while they returned to their barracks. ³³ When these men^[dk] came to Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. ³⁴ After reading the letter, the governor^[dl] asked which province Paul^[dm] was from. On learning that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, “I will hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered Paul^[dn] to be kept in custody in Herod’s palace.^[do]

Paul Presents His Case to Felix

24 Five days later, the high priest Ananias arrived with certain elders and Tertullus, an attorney, and they summarized their case against Paul before the governor. ² When Paul^[dp] had been summoned, Tertullus opened the prosecution by saying:

“Your Excellency Felix, since we are enjoying lasting peace because of you, and since reforms for this nation are being brought about through your foresight, ³ we always and everywhere acknowledge it with profound gratitude. ⁴ But so as not to detain you any further, I beg you to hear us briefly with your customary graciousness. ⁵ For we have found this man a perfect pest and an agitator among all Jews throughout the world. He is a ringleader in the sect of the Nazarenes^{[dq] 6} and even tried to profane the Temple, but we arrested him.^{[dr] 8} By examining him for yourself, you will be able to find out from him everything of which we accuse him.”

⁹ The Jewish leaders^[ds] supported his accusations by asserting that these things were true. ¹⁰ When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he replied:

“Since I know that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I am pleased to present my defense. ¹¹ You can verify for yourself that I went up to worship in Jerusalem no more than twelve days ago. ¹² They never found me debating with anyone in the Temple or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or throughout the city, ¹³ and they cannot prove to you the charges they are now bringing against me. ¹⁴ However, I admit to you that in accordance with the Way, which they call a heresy,^[dt] I worship the God of our ancestors and believe in everything written in the Law and the Prophets. ¹⁵ I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish—that there is to be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked. ¹⁶ Therefore, I always do my best to have a clear conscience before God and people. ¹⁷ After many years, I have come back to my people to bring gifts for the poor and to offer sacrifices. ¹⁸ They found me in the Temple doing these things just as I had completed the purification ceremony. No crowd or noisy mob was present. ¹⁹ But some Jews from Asia were there, and they should be here before you to accuse me if they have anything against me. ²⁰ Otherwise, these men themselves should tell what wrong they found when I stood before the Council^[du]— ²¹ unless it is for the one thing I shouted as I stood among them: ‘It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’”

²² Felix was rather well informed about the Way, and so he adjourned the trial with the comment, “When Tribune Lysias arrives, I’ll decide your case.” ²³ He ordered the centurion to guard Paul^[dv] but to let him have some freedom and not to keep any of his friends from caring for his needs.

²⁴ Some days later, Felix arrived with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him talk about faith in Jesus^[dw] the Messiah.^{[dx] 25} As Paul^[dy] talked about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became afraid and said, “For the present you may go. When I get a chance, I will send for you again.” ²⁶ At the same time he was hoping to receive a bribe from Paul, and so he would send for him frequently to talk with him.

²⁷ After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. Since Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor, he left Paul in prison.

Paul Appeals to the Emperor

25 Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. ² The high priests and Jewish leaders informed him of their charges against Paul, urging ³ and asking Festus^[dz] to have Paul^[ea] brought to Jerusalem as a favor. They were laying an ambush to kill him on the road.

⁴ Festus replied that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself would be going there soon. ⁵ “Therefore,” he said, “have your authorities come down with me and present their charges against him there, if there is anything wrong with the man.”

⁶ Festus^[eb] stayed with them no more than eight or ten days and then went down to Caesarea. The next day, he sat on the judge’s seat and ordered Paul brought in. ⁷ When Paul^[ec] arrived, the Jewish leaders^[ed] who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him and began bringing a number of serious charges against him that they couldn’t prove. ⁸ Paul said in his defense, “I have done nothing wrong against the Law of the Jews, or of the Temple, or of the emperor.”

⁹ Then Festus, wanting to do the Jewish leaders^[ee] a favor, asked Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to be tried there before me on these charges?”

¹⁰ But Paul said, “I am standing before the emperor’s judgment seat where I ought to be tried. I haven’t done anything wrong to the Jewish leaders,^[ef] as you know very well. ¹¹ If I’m guilty and have done something that deserves death, I’m willing to die. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can hand me over to them as a favor. I appeal to the emperor!”

¹² Festus talked it over with the council and then answered, “To the emperor you have appealed; to the emperor you will go!”

King Agrippa Meets Paul

¹³ After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to welcome Festus. ¹⁴ Since they were staying there for several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king. He said, “There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix. ¹⁵ When I went to Jerusalem, the high priests and the Jewish elders informed me about him and asked me to condemn him. ¹⁶ I answered them that it was not the Roman custom to sentence a man to be punished until the accused met his accusers face to face and had an opportunity to defend himself against the charge. ¹⁷ So they came here with me, and the next day without any delay I sat down in the judge’s seat and ordered the man to be brought in. ¹⁸ When his accusers stood up, they didn’t accuse him of any of the crimes^[eg] I was expecting. ¹⁹ Instead, they had several arguments with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died—but Paul kept asserting he was alive. ²⁰ I was puzzled how I should investigate such matters, so I asked if he would like to go to Jerusalem and be tried there for these things. ²¹ But Paul appealed his case and asked to be held in prison until the decision of his Majesty. So I ordered him to be held in custody until I could send him to the emperor.”

²² Agrippa told Festus, “I would like to hear the man.”

“Tomorrow,” he said, “you will hear him.”

²³ The next day, Agrippa and Bernice arrived with much fanfare and went into the auditorium along with the tribunes and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴ Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all you men who are present with us! You see this man about whom the whole Jewish nation petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵ I find that he has not done anything deserving of death. But since he has appealed to his Majesty, I have decided to send him. ²⁶ I have nothing reliable to write our Sovereign about him, so I have brought him to all of you, and especially to you, King Agrippa, so that I will have something to write after he is cross-examined. ²⁷ For it seems to me absurd to send a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.”

Paul Presents His Case to Agrippa

26 Then Agrippa told Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense.

² “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, that I can defend myself today against all the accusations of the Jewish leaders,^{[eh] 3} since you are especially familiar with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen patiently to me. ⁴ All the Jews know how I lived from the earliest days of my youth with my own people and in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known for a long time, if they would but testify to it, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the standards of our strictest religious party.

⁶ “And now I stand here on trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our ancestors. ⁷ Our twelve tribes, worshiping day and night with intense devotion, hope to attain it. It is because of this hope, O King, that I am accused by the Jews. ⁸ Why is it thought incredible by all of you that God should raise the dead? ⁹ Indeed, I myself thought it my duty to take extreme measures against the name of Jesus from Nazareth.^{[ei] 10} That is what I did in Jerusalem. I received authority from the high priests and locked many of the saints in prison. And when I cast my vote against them, they were put to death. ¹¹ I would even punish them frequently in every synagogue and try to make them blaspheme. Raging furiously against them, I would hunt them down even in distant cities.

¹² “That is how I happened to be traveling to Damascus with authority based on a commission from the high priests. ¹³ On the road at noon, O King, I saw a light from heaven that was brighter than the sun. It flashed around me and those who were traveling with me.

¹⁴ “All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice asking me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me? It is hurting you to keep on kicking against the cattle prods.’^[ej]

¹⁵ “I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’^[ek]

“The Lord answered, ‘I’m Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet, because I’ve appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you to be my servant and witness of what you’ve seen and of what I’ll show you. ¹⁷ I’ll continue to rescue you from your people and from the gentiles to whom I’m sending you. ¹⁸ You will help them understand^[el] and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan’s control to God, so that their sins will be forgiven and they will receive a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

¹⁹ “And so, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. ²⁰ Instead, I first told the people in Damascus and Jerusalem, then all the people in Judea—and after that the gentiles—to repent, turn to God, and perform deeds that are consistent with such repentance. ²¹ For this reason the Jewish leaders^[em] grabbed me in the Temple and kept trying to kill me. ²² I’ve had help from God to this day, and so I stand here to testify to both the powerful and the lowly alike, stating only what the prophets and Moses said would happen— ²³ that the Messiah^[en] would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead and would bring light both to our people and to the gentiles.”

²⁴ As he continued his defense, Festus shouted, “You’re out of your mind, Paul! Too much education is driving you crazy!”

²⁵ But Paul said, “I’m not out of my mind, Your Excellency Festus. I’m reporting what is absolutely true. ²⁶ Indeed, the king knows about these things, and I can speak to him freely. For I’m certain that none of these things has escaped his notice, since this wasn’t done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you believe them!”

²⁸ Agrippa asked Paul, “Can you so quickly persuade me to become a Christian?”

²⁹ Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I wish to God that not only you but everyone listening to me today would become what I am—except for these chains!”

³⁰ Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and those who were sitting with him got up. ³¹ As they were leaving, they began to say to each other, “This man hasn’t been doing anything to deserve death or imprisonment.”

³² Agrippa told Festus, “This man could have been set free if he hadn’t appealed to the emperor.”

Paul Sails for Rome

27 When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were transferred to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the emperor’s division. ² After boarding a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to the ports on the coast of Asia, we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.

³ The next day, we arrived at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly, allowing him to visit his friends there and to receive any care he needed. ⁴ After putting out from there, we sailed on the sheltered side of Cyprus because the winds were against us. ⁵ We sailed along the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia and reached Myra in Lycia. ⁶ There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on it. ⁷ We sailed slowly for a number of days and with difficulty arrived off Cnidus. Then, because the wind was against us, we sailed on the sheltered side of Crete off Cape Salome. ⁸ Sailing past it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. ⁹ Much time had been lost, and because navigation had become dangerous and the day of fasting had already past, Paul began to warn those on the ship,^{[eo] 10} “Men, I see that during this voyage there will be hardship and a heavy loss not only of the cargo and ship, but also of our lives.”

¹¹ But the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and the owner of the ship and not by what Paul said. ¹² Since the harbor was not a good place to spend the winter, most of the men favored putting out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix and spend the winter there. It is a Cretian harbor that faces southwest and northwest. ¹³ When a gentle breeze began to blow from the south, they thought they could make it to Phoenix,^[ep] so they hoisted anchor and began sailing along the shore of Crete.

¹⁴ But it was not long before a violent wind (called a northeaster) swept down from the island.^{[eq] 15} The ship was caught so that it couldn’t face the wind, and we gave up and were swept along. ¹⁶ As we drifted to the sheltered side of a small island called Cauda,^[er] we barely managed to secure the ship’s lifeboat. ¹⁷ The ship’s crew^[es] pulled it up on deck and used ropes to brace the ship. Fearing that they would hit the large sandbank near Libya,^[et] they lowered the sail and drifted along. ¹⁸ The next day, because we were being tossed so violently by the storm, they began to throw the cargo overboard. ¹⁹ On the third day they threw the ship’s equipment overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ For a number of days neither the sun nor the stars were to be seen, and the storm continued to rage until at last all hope of our being saved vanished.

²¹ After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood among his shipmates^[eu] and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete. You would have avoided this hardship and damage. ²² But now I urge you to have courage, because there will be no loss of life among you, but only loss^[ev] of the ship. ²³ For just last night an angel of God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, stood by me ²⁴ and said, ‘Stop being afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor. Indeed, God has given to you the lives of^[ew] everyone who is sailing with you.’ ²⁵ So take courage, men, because I trust God that it will turn out just as he told me. ²⁶ However, we will have to run aground on some island.”

The Shipwreck

²⁷ It was the fourteenth night, and we were drifting through the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors suspected that land was near. ²⁸ After taking soundings, they found the depth to be twenty fathoms. A little later, they took soundings again and found it was fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ Fearing that we might run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and began praying for daylight to come. ³⁰ Meanwhile, the sailors had begun trying to escape from the ship. They lowered the lifeboat into the sea and pretended that they were going to lay out the anchors from the bow. ³¹ Paul told the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain onboard, you cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and set it adrift.

³³ Right up to daybreak Paul kept urging all of them to eat something. He said, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, not eating anything. ³⁴ So I urge you to eat something, for it will help you survive, since none of you will lose so much as^[ex] a hair from his head.” ³⁵ After he said this, he took some bread, thanked God in front of everyone, broke it, and began to eat. ³⁶ Everyone was encouraged and had something to eat. ³⁷ There were 276^[ey] of us on the ship. ³⁸ After they had eaten all they wanted, they began to lighten the ship by dumping its cargo of^[ez] wheat into the sea.

³⁹ When day came, they didn’t recognize the land, but they could see a bay with a beach on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if possible. ⁴⁰ So they cut the anchors free and left them in the sea. At the same time they untied the ropes that held the steering oars, raised the foresail to the wind, and headed for the beach. ⁴¹ But they struck a sandbar and ran the ship aground. The bow stuck and couldn’t be moved, while the stern was broken to pieces by the force of the waves. ⁴² The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners to keep them from swimming ashore and escaping, ⁴³ but the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. ⁴⁴ The rest were to follow, some on planks and others on various pieces of the ship. In this way everyone got to shore safely.

Paul on the Island of Malta

28 When we were safely on shore, we learned that the island was called Malta. ² The people who lived there were unusually kind to us. It had started to rain and was cold, so they started a bonfire and invited us to join them^[fa] around it. ³ Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and put it on the fire. A poisonous snake was forced out by the heat and attached itself to Paul’s^[fb] hand. ⁴ When the people who lived there saw the snake hanging from his hand, they told one another, “This man must be a murderer! He may have escaped from the sea, but Justice^[fc] won’t let him live.” ⁵ But he shook the snake into the fire and wasn’t harmed. ⁶ They were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

⁷ The governor of the island, whose name was Publius, owned estates in that part of the island. He welcomed us and entertained us with great hospitality for three days. ⁸ The father of Publius happened to be sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, prayed, and healed him by placing his hands on him. ⁹ After that had happened, the rest of the sick people on the island went to him and were healed. ¹⁰ The islanders^[fd] honored us in many ways, and when we were about to sail again,^[fe] they supplied us with everything we needed.

Paul Sails from Malta to Rome

¹¹ Three months later, we continued our sailing onboard an Alexandrian ship that had spent the winter at the island. It had the Twin Brothers^[ff] as its figurehead. ¹² We stopped at Syracuse and stayed there for three days. ¹³ Then we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. A day later, a south wind began to blow, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. ¹⁴ There we found some brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. After this, we arrived in Rome. ¹⁵ The brothers there heard about us and came as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and felt encouraged. ¹⁶ When we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself with the soldier who was guarding him.