Bible in 90 Days Plan

¹Now Paul also came to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek,

²and he was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium.

³Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

⁵So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.

⁶They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

⁷and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them;

⁸and passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹So after setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis;

¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city.

¹³And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

¹⁴A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira, and a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.

¹⁵Now when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave woman who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling.

¹⁷She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.”

¹⁸Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was suddenly gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities,

²⁰and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble,

²¹and they are proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are Romans.”

²²The crowd joined in an attack against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.

²³When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;

²⁴and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains were unfastened.

²⁷When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas;

³⁰and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

³²And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house.

³³And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

³⁴And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.

³⁵Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.”

³⁶And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process—men who are Romans—they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come in person and lead us out.”

³⁸The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. And they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans,

³⁹and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them to leave the city.

⁴⁰They left the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and departed.

¹Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

²And according to Paul’s custom, he visited them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

³explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.”

⁴And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a significant number of the leading women.

⁵But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and they attacked the house of Jason and were seeking to bring them out to the people.

⁶When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also;

⁷and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.”

⁸They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things.

⁹And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them.

¹⁰The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.

¹¹Now these people were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

¹²Therefore, many of them believed, along with a significant number of prominent Greek women and men.

¹³But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

¹⁴Then immediately the brothers sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there.

¹⁵Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.

¹⁶Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he observed that the city was full of idols.

¹⁷So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be present.

¹⁸And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers as well were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What could this scavenger of tidbits want to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

¹⁹And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?

²⁰For you are bringing some strange things to our ears; so we want to know what these things mean.”

²¹(Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)

²²So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects.

²³For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore, what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.

²⁴The God who made the world and everything that is in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands;

²⁵nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

²⁶and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,

²⁷that they would seek God, if perhaps they might feel around for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

²⁸for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’

²⁹Therefore, since we are the descendants of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by human skill and thought.

³⁰So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent,

³¹because He has set a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all people by raising Him from the dead.”

³²Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to scoff, but others said, “We shall hear from you again concerning this.”

³³So Paul went out from among them.

³⁴But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

¹After these events Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.

²And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them,

³and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers by trade.

⁴And Paul was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

⁵But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

⁶But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

⁸Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household; and many of the Corinthians, as they listened to Paul, were believing and being baptized.

⁹And the Lord said to Paul by a vision at night, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;

¹⁰for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

¹¹And he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,

¹³saying, “This man is inciting the people to worship God contrary to the law.”

¹⁴But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or vicious, unscrupulous act, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you;

¹⁵but if there are questions about teaching and persons and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.”

¹⁶And he drove them away from the judgment seat.

¹⁷But they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And yet Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

¹⁸Now Paul, when he had remained many days longer, took leave of the brothers and sisters and sailed away to Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. Paul first had his hair cut at Cenchrea, for he was keeping a vow.

¹⁹They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

²⁰When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent,

²¹but took leave of them and said, “I will return to you again if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

²²When he had landed in Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch.

²³And after spending some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was proficient in the Scriptures.

²⁵This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was accurately speaking and teaching things about Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John;

²⁶and he began speaking boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately to him.

²⁷And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,

²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

¹Now it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples.

²He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.”

³And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.”

⁴Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

⁵When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

⁶And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.

⁷There were about twelve men in all.

⁸And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

⁹But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took the disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

¹²so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.

¹³But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!”

¹⁴Now there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this.

¹⁵But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?”

¹⁶And the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

¹⁸Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.

¹⁹And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of the books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.

²⁰So the word of the Lord was growing and prevailing mightily.

²¹Now after these things were finished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

²²And after he sent into Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time a major disturbance occurred in regard to the Way.

²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing considerable business to the craftsmen;

²⁵he gathered these men together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business.

²⁶You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made by hands are not gods at all.

²⁷Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as worthless, and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

²⁸When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began shouting, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

²⁹The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s Macedonian traveling companions.

³⁰And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, the disciples would not let him.

³¹Also some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent word to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater.

³²So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together.

³³Some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵After quieting the crowd, the town clerk *said, “Men of Ephesus, what person is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from the sky?

³⁶So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash.

³⁷For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; have them bring charges against one another.

³⁹But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly.

⁴⁰For indeed, we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real reason for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.”

⁴¹After saying this he dismissed the assembly.

¹After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had encouraged them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia.

²When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.

³And there he spent three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia.

⁴And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

⁵Now these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas.

⁶We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and reached them at Troas within five days; and we stayed there for seven days.

⁷On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

⁸There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were gathered together.

⁹And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor, and was picked up dead.

¹⁰But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “Do not be troubled, for he is still alive.”

¹¹When Paul had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.

¹²They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.

¹³But we went ahead to the ship and set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for that was what he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.

¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.

¹⁵Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day we came to Miletus.

¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to lose time in Asia; for he was hurrying, if it might be possible for him to be in Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷From Miletus he sent word to Ephesus and called to himself the elders of the church.

¹⁸And when they came to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews;

²⁰how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was beneficial, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,

²¹solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²²And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

²³except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that chains and afflictions await me.

²⁴But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵“And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.

²⁶Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all people.

²⁷For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.

²⁸Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

²⁹I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

³⁰and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.

³¹Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.

³²And now I entrust you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

³³I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes.

³⁴You yourselves know that these hands served my own needs and the men who were with me.

³⁵In everything I showed you that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’  ”

³⁶When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

³⁷And they all began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,

³⁸grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.

¹Now when we had parted from them and had set sail, we ran a straight course to Cos, and on the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara;

²and having found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail.

³When we came in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to Syria and landed at Tyre; for the ship was to unload its cargo there.

⁴After looking up the disciples, we stayed there for seven days; and they kept telling Paul, through the Spirit, not to set foot in Jerusalem.

⁵When our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, escorted us until we were out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another.

⁶Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.

⁷When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting the brothers and sisters, we stayed with them for a day.

⁸On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him.

⁹Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.

¹⁰As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

¹¹And he came to us and took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ”

¹²When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴And since he would not be persuaded, we became quiet, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

¹⁵After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of Cyprus, a disciple of long standing with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us gladly.

¹⁸And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

¹⁹After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰And when they heard about them, they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;

²¹and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.

²²So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

²³Therefore, do as we tell you: we have four men who have a vow upon themselves;

²⁴take them along and purify yourself together with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and then everyone will know that there is nothing to what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also conform, keeping the Law.

²⁵But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶Then Paul took along the men, and the next day, after purifying himself together with them, he went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

²⁷When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him,

²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place!”

²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰Then the whole city was provoked and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

³¹While they were intent on killing him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.

³²He immediately took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be bound with two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done.

³⁴But among the crowd, some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks.

³⁵When Paul got to the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob;

³⁶for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “Away with him!”

³⁷As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he *said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek?

³⁸Then you are not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the stairs, motioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying,

¹“Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,

⁵as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brothers, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.

⁶“But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,

⁷and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’

⁸And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹And those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.

¹⁰And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’

¹¹But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.

¹²“Now a certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

¹³came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I looked up at him.

¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear a message from His mouth.

¹⁵For you will be a witness for Him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins by calling on His name.’

¹⁷“It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance,

¹⁸and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’

¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You.

²⁰And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’

²¹And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’  ”

²²They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “Away with such a man from the earth, for he should not be allowed to live!”

²³And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,

²⁴the commander ordered that he be brought into the barracks, saying that he was to be interrogated by flogging so that he would find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way.

²⁵But when they stretched him out with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.”

²⁷The commander came and said to Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.”

²⁸The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.”

²⁹Therefore, those who were about to interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.

³⁰Now on the next day, wanting to know for certain why Paul had been accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Council to assemble, and he brought Paul down and placed him before them.

¹Now looking intently at the Council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with an entirely good conscience before God up to this day.”

²But the high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law, order me to be struck?”

⁴But those present said, “Are you insulting God’s high priest?”

⁵And Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he is high priest; for it is written: ‘YOU SHALL NOT SPEAK EVIL OF A RULER OF YOUR PEOPLE.’ ”

⁶But Paul, perceiving that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, began crying out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!”

⁷When he said this, a dissension occurred between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

⁸For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

⁹And a great uproar occurred; and some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and started arguing heatedly, saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?”

¹⁰And when a great dissension occurred, the commander was afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, and he ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹But on the following night, the Lord stood near him and said, “Be courageous! For as you have testified to the truth about Me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome also.”

¹²When it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and put themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³There were more than forty who formed this plot.

¹⁴They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have put ourselves under an oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵Now therefore, you and the Council notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly; and as for us, we are ready to kill him before he comes near the place.”

¹⁶But the son of Paul’s sister heard about their ambush, and he came and entered the barracks and told Paul.

¹⁷Paul called one of the centurions to himself and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.”

¹⁸So he took him and led him to the commander and *said, “Paul the prisoner called me over to him and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹The commander took him by the hand, and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?”

²⁰And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him.

²¹So do not listen to them, for more than forty of them are in hiding to ambush him, and these men have put themselves under an oath not to eat or drink until they kill him; and now they are ready and waiting for assurance from you.”

²²Then the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

²³And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen.”

²⁴They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor.

²⁵And he wrote a letter with the following content:

²⁶“Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings.

²⁷When this man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, I came up to them with the troops and rescued him, after learning that he was a Roman.

²⁸And wanting to ascertain the basis for the charges they were bringing against him, I brought him down to their Council;

²⁹and I found that he was being accused regarding questions in their Law, but was not charged with anything deserving death or imprisonment.

³⁰When I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to bring charges against him before you.”

³¹So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.

³²But on the next day they let the horsemen go on with him, and they returned to the barracks.

³³When these horsemen had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him.

³⁴Now when he had read it, he also asked from what province Paul was, and when he learned that he was from Cilicia,

³⁵he said, “I will give you a hearing when your accusers arrive as well,” giving orders for Paul to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.

¹Now after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges against Paul to the governor.

²After Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began accusing him, saying to the governor, “Since we have attained great peace through you, and since reforms are being carried out for this nation by your foresight,

³we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness.

⁴But, that I may not weary you further, I beg you to grant us a brief hearing, by your kindness.

⁵For we have found this man a public menace and one who stirs up dissensions among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

⁶And he even tried to desecrate the temple, so indeed we arrested him.

⁷

⁸By interrogating him yourself concerning all these matters, you will be able to ascertain the things of which we are accusing him.”

⁹The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

¹⁰And when the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,

¹¹since you can take note of the fact that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

¹²And neither in the temple did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself.

¹³Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me.

¹⁴But I confess this to you, that in accordance with the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets;

¹⁵having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

¹⁶In view of this I also do my best to maintain a blameless conscience both before God and before other people, always.

¹⁷Now after several years I came to bring charitable gifts to my nation and to present offerings,

¹⁸in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia—

¹⁹who ought to have been present before you and to have been bringing charges, if they should have anything against me.

²⁰Or else have these men themselves declare what violation they discovered when I stood before the Council,

²¹other than in regard to this one declaration which I shouted while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today!’ ”

²²But Felix, having quite accurate knowledge about the Way, adjourned them, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.”

²³He gave orders to the centurion for Paul to be kept in custody and yet have some freedom, and not to prevent any of his friends from providing for his needs.

²⁴Now some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla his wife, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and responded, “Go away for now, and when I have an opportunity, I will summon you.”

²⁶At the same time he was also hoping that money would be given to him by Paul; therefore he also used to send for him quite often and talk with him.

²⁷But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul imprisoned.

¹Festus, then, after arriving in the province, went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea three days later.

²And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with Festus,

³requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, setting an ambush to kill him on the way).

⁴Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody in Caesarea, and that he himself was about to leave shortly.

⁵“Therefore,” he *said, “have the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, have them bring charges against him.”

⁶After Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought.

⁷After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many, and serious, charges against him which they could not prove,

⁸while Paul said in his own defense, “I have not done anything wrong either against the Law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.”

⁹But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?”

¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know.

¹¹If, therefore, I am in the wrong and have committed something deserving death, I am not trying to avoid execution; but if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

¹²Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.”

¹³Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea, paying their respects to Festus.

¹⁴And while they were spending many days there, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix;

¹⁵and when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.

¹⁶I replied to them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any person before the accused meets his accusers face to face, and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges.

¹⁷So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered that the man be brought.

¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they did not begin bringing any charges against him of crimes that I suspected,

¹⁹but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.

²⁰And being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these matters.

²¹But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.”

²²Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

²³So, on the next day when Agrippa and Bernice came amid great pomp and entered the auditorium, accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them.

²⁴And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

²⁵But I found that he had committed nothing deserving death; and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.

²⁶Yet, I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore, I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write.

²⁷For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him as well.”

¹Now Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” Then Paul extended his hand and proceeded to make his defense:

²“Regarding all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today,

³especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“So then, all Jews know my way of life since my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and in Jerusalem,

⁵since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion.

⁶And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers;

⁷the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. For this hope, O king, I am being accused by Jews.

⁸Why is it considered incredible among you people if God raises the dead?

⁹“So I thought to myself that I had to act in strong opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, after receiving authority from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being put to death.

¹¹And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was extremely enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.

¹²“While so engaged, as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,

¹³at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who were journeying with me.

¹⁴And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

¹⁶But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you as a servant and a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you,

¹⁷rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

¹⁸to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from thepower of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

¹⁹“For that reason, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,

²⁰but continually proclaimed to those in Damascus first, and in Jerusalem, and then all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they are to repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with repentance.

²¹For these reasons some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to murder me.

²²So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place,

²³as to whether the Christ was to suffer, and whether, as first from the resurrection of the dead, He would proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴While Paul was stating these things in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you insane.”

²⁵But Paul *said, “I am not insane, most excellent Festus; on the contrary, I am speaking out with truthful and rational words.

²⁶For the king knows about these matters, and I also speak to him with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner.

²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you believe.”

²⁸Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a short time you are going to persuade me to make a Christian of myself.”

²⁹And Paul said, “I would wish to God that even in a short or long time not only you, but also all who hear me this day would become such as I myself am, except for these chains.”

³⁰The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them,

³¹and when they had gone out, they began talking to one another, saying, “This man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment.”

³²And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

¹Now when it was decided that we would sail for Italy, they proceeded to turn Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the Augustan cohort, named Julius.

²And we boarded an Adramyttian ship that was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, and put out to sea accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica.

³The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care.

⁴From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.

⁵When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it.

⁷When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone;

⁸and with difficulty sailing past it, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

⁹When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul started admonishing them,

¹⁰saying to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

¹¹But the centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul.

¹²The harbor was not suitable for wintering, so the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

¹³When a moderate south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete, closer to shore.

¹⁴But before very long a violent wind, called Euraquilo, rushed down from the land;

¹⁵and when the ship was caught in it and could not head up into the wind, we gave up and let ourselves be driven by the wind.

¹⁶Running under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, we were able to get the ship’s boat under control only with difficulty.

¹⁷After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and let themselves be driven along in this way.

¹⁸The next day as we were being violently tossed by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo;

¹⁹and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.

²⁰Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was slowly abandoned.

²¹When many had lost their appetites, Paul then stood among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice and not have set sail from Crete, and thereby spared yourselves this damage and loss.

²²And yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

²³For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong, whom I also serve, came to me,

²⁴saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has graciously granted you all those who are sailing with you.’

²⁵Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.

²⁶But we must run aground on a certain island.”

²⁷But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were approaching some land.

²⁸And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms.

²⁹Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and prayed for daybreak.

³⁰But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,

³¹Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”

³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.

³³Until the day was about to dawn, Paul kept encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken in nothing.

³⁴Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your survival, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.”

³⁵Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and he broke it and began to eat.

³⁶All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food.

³⁷We were 276 people on the ship in all.

³⁸When they had eaten enough, they began lightening the ship by throwing the wheat out into the sea.

³⁹Now when day came, they could not recognize the land; but they did notice a bay with a beach, and they resolved to run the ship onto it if they could.

⁴⁰And casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders; and they hoisted the foresail to the wind and were heading for the beach.

⁴¹But they struck a reef where two seas met and ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck firmly and remained immovable, while the stern started to break up due to the force of the waves.

⁴²The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape;

⁴³but the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from accomplishing their intention, and commanded that those who could swim were to jump overboard first and get to land,

⁴⁴and the rest were to follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that they all were brought safely to land.

¹When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta.

²The natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold.

³But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand.

⁴When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”

⁵However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.

⁶Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷Now in the neighboring parts of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days.

⁸And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after he prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him.

⁹After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured.

¹⁰They also showed us many honors, and when we were about to set sail, they supplied us with everything we needed.

¹¹After three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead.

¹²After we put in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.

¹³From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and a day later a south wind came up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

¹⁴There we found some brothers and sisters, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and that is how we came to Rome.

¹⁵And from there the brothers and sisters, when they heard about us, came as far as the Market of Appius and the Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

¹⁷After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.

¹⁸And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there were no grounds for putting me to death.

¹⁹But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation.

²⁰For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, since I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.”

²¹They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor has any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you.

²²But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for regarding this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.”

²³When they had set a day for Paul, people came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.

²⁴Some were being persuaded by the things said by Paul, but others would not believe.

²⁵And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul said one parting statement: “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,

²⁶saying, ‘GO TO THIS PEOPLE AND SAY, “YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, AND WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, AND WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

²⁷FOR THE HEARTS OF THIS PEOPLE HAVE BECOME INSENSITIVE, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY HARDLY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES; OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.” ’

²⁸Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.”

²⁹

³⁰Now Paul stayed two full years in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him,

³¹preaching the kingdom of God and teaching things about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.