Acts 20-28

Common English Bible

Paul visits Macedonia and Greece

20 When the riot was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, said good-bye, and left for the province of Macedonia. ² He traveled through that region with a message of encouragement. When he came to Greece, ³ he stayed for three months. Because the Jews hatched a plot against Paul as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided instead to return through Macedonia. ⁴ He was accompanied by Sopater, Pyrrhus’ son from Beroea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. ⁵ They went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. ⁶ We sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread and met them five days later in Troas, where we stayed for a week.

Meeting with believers in Troas

⁷ On the first day of the week, as we gathered together for a meal, Paul was holding a discussion with them. Since he was leaving the next day, he continued talking until midnight. ⁸ There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we had gathered. ⁹ A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window. He was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third floor and died. ¹⁰ Paul went down, fell on him and embraced him, then said, “Don’t be alarmed. He’s alive!” ¹¹ Then Paul went back upstairs and ate. He talked for a long time—right up until daybreak—then he left. ¹² They took the young man away alive, and they were greatly comforted.

Farewell to the Ephesian leaders

¹³ We went on to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we intended to take Paul on board. Paul had arranged this, since he intended to make his way there by land. ¹⁴ When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. ¹⁵ The next day we sailed from there and arrived opposite Chios. On the day after, we sailed to Samos, and on the following day we came to Miletus. ¹⁶ Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he wouldn’t need to spend too much time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by Pentecost Day.

¹⁷ From Miletus he sent a message to Ephesus calling for the church’s elders to meet him. ¹⁸ When they arrived, he said to them, “You know how I lived among you the whole time I was with you, beginning with the first day I arrived in the province of Asia. ¹⁹ I served the Lord with great humility and with tears in the midst of trials that came upon me because of the Jews’ schemes. ²⁰ You know I held back nothing that would be helpful so that I could proclaim to you and teach you both publicly and privately in your homes. ²¹ You know I have testified to both Jews and Greeks that they must change their hearts and lives as they turn to God and have faith in our Lord Jesus. ²² Now, compelled by the Spirit, I’m going to Jerusalem. I don’t know what will happen to me there. ²³ What I do know is that the Holy Spirit testifies to me from city to city that prisons and troubles await me. ²⁴ But nothing, not even my life, is more important than my completing my mission. This is nothing other than the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus: to testify about the good news of God’s grace.

²⁵ “I know that none of you will see me again—you among whom I traveled and proclaimed the kingdom. ²⁶ Therefore, today I testify to you that I’m not responsible for anyone’s fate. ²⁷ I haven’t avoided proclaiming the entire plan of God to you. ²⁸ Watch yourselves and the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as supervisors, to shepherd God’s church, which he obtained with the death of his own Son.^{[a] 29} I know that, after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and won’t spare the flock. ³⁰ Some of your own people will distort the word in order to lure followers after them. ³¹ Stay alert! Remember that for three years I constantly and tearfully warned each one of you. I never stopped warning you! ³² Now I entrust you to God and the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all whom God has made holy. ³³ I haven’t craved anyone’s silver, gold, or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that I have provided for my own needs and for those of my companions with my own hands. ³⁵ In everything I have shown you that, by working hard, we must help the weak. In this way we remember the Lord Jesus’ words: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ After he said these things, he knelt down with all of them to pray. ³⁷ They cried uncontrollably as everyone embraced and kissed Paul. ³⁸ They were especially grieved by his statement that they would never see him again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

Paul travels to Jerusalem

21 After we tore ourselves away from them, we set sail on a straight course to Cos, reaching Rhodes the next day, and then Patara. ² We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, boarded, and put out to sea. ³ We spotted Cyprus, but passed by it on our left. We sailed on to the province of Syria and landed in Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴ We found the disciples there and stayed with them for a week. Compelled by the Spirit, they kept telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem. ⁵ When our time had come to an end, we departed. All of them, including women and children, accompanied us out of town where we knelt on the beach and prayed. ⁶ We said good-bye to each other, then we boarded the ship and they returned to their homes.

⁷ Continuing our voyage, we sailed from Tyre and arrived in Ptolemais. We greeted the brothers and sisters there and spent a day with them. ⁸ The next day we left and came to Caesarea. We went to the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven, and stayed with him. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who were involved in the work of prophecy. ¹⁰ After staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In Jerusalem the Jews will bind the man who owns this belt, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” ¹² When we heard this, we and the local believers urged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³ Paul replied, “Why are you doing this? Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I’m ready not only to be arrested but even to die in Jerusalem for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴ Since we couldn’t talk him out of it, the only thing we could say was, “The Lord’s will be done.”

¹⁵ After this, we got ready and made our way up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and led us to Mnason’s home, where we were guests. He was from Cyprus and had been a disciple a long time. ¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters welcomed us warmly.

Meeting the Jerusalem church leaders

¹⁸ On the next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James. All of the elders were present. ¹⁹ After greeting them, he gave them a detailed report of what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. ²⁰ Those who heard this praised God. Then they said to him, “Brother, you see how many thousands of Jews have become believers, and all of them keep the Law passionately. ²¹ They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to reject Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to live according to our customs. ²² What about this? Without a doubt, they will hear that you have arrived. ²³ You must therefore do what we tell you. Four men among us have made a solemn promise. ²⁴ Take them with you, go through the purification ritual with them, and pay the cost of having their heads shaved. Everyone will know there is nothing to those reports about you but that you too live a life in keeping with the Law. ²⁵ As for the Gentile believers, we wrote a letter about what we decided, that they avoid food offered to idols, blood, the meat from strangled animals, and sexual immorality.” ²⁶ The following day Paul took the men with him and went through the purification ritual with them. He entered the temple and publicly announced the completion of the days of purification, when the offering would be presented for each one of them.

Paul seized by the people

²⁷ When the seven days of purification were almost over, the Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the temple. Grabbing him, they threw the whole crowd into confusion by shouting, ²⁸ “Fellow Israelites! Help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, the Law, and this place. Not only that, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” (²⁹ They said this because they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him earlier, and they assumed Paul had brought him into the temple.) ³⁰ The entire city was stirred up. The people came rushing, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple. Immediately the gates were closed. ³¹ While they were trying to kill him, a report reached the commander of a company of soldiers that all Jerusalem was in a state of confusion. ³² Without a moment’s hesitation, he took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the mob. When the mob saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ When the commander arrived, he arrested Paul and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Only then did he begin to ask who Paul was and what he had done.

³⁴ Some in the crowd shouted one thing, others shouted something else. Because of the commotion, he couldn’t learn the truth, so he ordered that Paul be taken to the military headquarters. ³⁵ When Paul reached the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers in order to protect him from the violence of the crowd. ³⁶ The mob that followed kept screaming, “Away with him!”

³⁷ As Paul was about to be taken into the military headquarters, he asked the commander, “May I speak with you?”

He answered, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸ Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists into the desert some time ago?”

³⁹ Paul replied, “I’m a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please, let me speak to the people.” ⁴⁰ With the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and gestured to the people. When they were quiet, he addressed them in Aramaic.

Paul’s defense before his accusers

22 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” ² When they heard him address them in Aramaic, they became even more quiet. ³ Paul continued, “I’m a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but raised in this city. Under Gamaliel’s instruction, I was trained in the strict interpretation of our ancestral Law. I am passionately loyal to God, just like you who are gathered here today. ⁴ I harassed those who followed this Way to their death, arresting and delivering both men and women into prison. ⁵ The high priest and the whole Jerusalem Council can testify about me. I received letters from them, addressed to our associates in Damascus, then went there to bring those who were arrested to Jerusalem so they could be punished.

⁶ “During that journey, about noon, as I approached Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven encircled me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice asking me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me?’ ⁸ I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are harassing,’ he replied. ⁹ My traveling companions saw the light, but they didn’t hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. ¹⁰ I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up,’ the Lord replied, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told everything you have been appointed to do.’ ¹¹ I couldn’t see because of the brightness of that light, so my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.

¹² “There was a certain man named Ananias. According to the standards of the Law, he was a pious man who enjoyed the respect of all the Jews living there. ¹³ He came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ he said. Instantly, I regained my sight and I could see him. ¹⁴ He said, ‘The God of our ancestors has selected you to know his will, to see the righteous one, and to hear his voice. ¹⁵ You will be his witness to everyone concerning what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ What are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins as you call on his name.’

¹⁷ “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I had a visionary experience. ¹⁸ I saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Hurry!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem at once because they won’t accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹ I responded, ‘Lord, these people know I used to go from one synagogue to the next, beating those who believe in you and throwing them into prison. ²⁰ When Stephen your witness was being killed, I stood there giving my approval, even watching the clothes that belonged to those who were killing him.’ ²¹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

²² The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, “Away with this man! He’s not fit to live!” ²³ As they were screaming, throwing off their garments, and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander directed that Paul be taken into the military headquarters. He ordered that Paul be questioned under the whip so that he could find out why they were shouting at him like this.

²⁵ As they were stretching him out and tying him down with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Can you legally whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t been found guilty in court?”

²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. He asked, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷ The commander went to Paul and demanded, “Tell me! Are you a Roman citizen?”

He said, “Yes.”

²⁸ The commander replied, “It cost me a lot of money to buy my citizenship.”

Paul said, “I’m a citizen by birth.” ²⁹ At once those who were about to examine him stepped away. The commander was alarmed when he realized he had bound a Roman citizen.

Paul appears before the Jewish council

³⁰ The commander still wanted to know the truth about why Paul was being accused by the Jews. Therefore, the next day he ordered the chief priests and the entire Jerusalem Council to assemble. Then he took Paul out of prison and had him stand before them.

23 Paul stared at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with an altogether clear conscience right up to this very day.” ² The high priest Ananias ordered those standing beside Paul to strike him in the mouth. ³ Then Paul said to him, “God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit and judge me according to the Law, yet disobey the Law by ordering that I be struck.”

⁴ Those standing near him asked, “You dare to insult God’s high priest?”

⁵ Paul replied, “Brothers, I wasn’t aware that he was the high priest. It is written, You will not speak evil about a ruler of your people.”^[b]

⁶ Knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, Paul exclaimed in the council, “Brothers, I’m a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I am on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead!”

⁷ These words aroused a dispute between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ This is because Sadducees say that there’s no resurrection, angel, or spirit, but Pharisees affirm them all. ⁹ Council members were shouting loudly. Some Pharisees who were legal experts stood up and insisted forcefully, “We find nothing wrong with this man! What if a spirit or angel has spoken to him?” ¹⁰ The dispute became so heated that the commander feared they might tear Paul to pieces. He ordered soldiers to go down and remove him by force from their midst. Then they took him back to the military headquarters.

¹¹ The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Be encouraged! Just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so too you must testify in Rome.”

A murder plot discovered

¹² The next morning some Jewish leaders formulated a plot and solemnly promised that they wouldn’t eat or drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³ More than forty people were involved in the conspiracy. ¹⁴ They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have solemnly promised to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ You and the council must explain to the commander that you need Paul brought down to you. Pretend that you want to examine his case more closely. We’re prepared to kill him before he arrives.”

¹⁶ Paul’s sister had a son who heard about the ambush and he came to the military headquarters and reported it to Paul. ¹⁷ Paul called for one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander because he has something to report to him.”

¹⁸ He took him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”

¹⁹ The commander took him by the hand and withdrew to a place where they could speak privately. He asked, “What do you have to report to me?”

²⁰ He replied, “The Jewish leaders have conspired to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow. They will pretend that they want to investigate his case more closely. ²¹ Don’t fall for it! More than forty of them are waiting to ambush him. They have solemnly promised not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now, awaiting your consent.”

²² The commander dismissed the young man, ordering him, “Don’t tell anyone that you brought this to my attention.”

²³ The commander called two centurions and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. ²⁴ Have horses ready for Paul to ride, so they may take him safely to Governor Felix.” ²⁵ He wrote the following letter:

³¹ Following their orders, the soldiers took Paul during the night and brought him to Antipatris. ³² The following day they let the horsemen continue on with Paul while they returned to the military headquarters in Jerusalem. ³³ The horsemen entered Caesarea, delivered the letter to the governor, and brought Paul before him. ³⁴ After he read the letter, he asked Paul about his home province. When he learned that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ the governor said, “I will hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept in custody in Herod’s palace.

Paul’s trial before Felix

24 Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. They pressed charges against Paul before the governor. ² After the governor summoned Paul, Tertullus began to make his case against him. He declared, “Under your leadership, we have experienced substantial peace, and your administration has brought reforms to our nation. ³ Always and everywhere, most honorable Felix, we acknowledge this with deep gratitude. ⁴ I don’t want to take too much of your time, so I ask that you listen with your usual courtesy to our brief statement of the facts. ⁵ We have found this man to be a troublemaker who stirs up riots among all the Jews throughout the empire. He’s a ringleader of the Nazarene faction ⁶ and even tried to defile the temple. That’s when we arrested him.^{[c] 8} By examining him yourself, you will be able to verify the allegations we are bringing against him.” ⁹ The Jews reinforced the action against Paul, affirming the truth of these accusations.

¹⁰ The governor nodded at Paul, giving him permission to speak.

He responded, “I know that you have been judge over this nation for many years, so I gladly offer my own defense. ¹¹ You can verify that I went up to worship in Jerusalem no more than twelve days ago. ¹² They didn’t find me arguing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd, whether in the synagogue or anywhere else in the city. ¹³ Nor can they prove to you the allegations they are now bringing against me. ¹⁴ I do admit this to you, that I am a follower of the Way, which they call a faction. Accordingly, I worship the God of our ancestors and believe everything set out in the Law and written in the Prophets. ¹⁵ The hope I have in God I also share with my accusers, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. ¹⁶ On account of this, I have committed myself to maintaining a clear conscience before God and with all people. ¹⁷ After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring gifts for the poor of my nation and to offer sacrifices. ¹⁸ When they found me in the temple, I was ritually pure. There was no crowd and no disturbance. ¹⁹ But there were some Jews from the province of Asia. They should be here making their accusations, if indeed they have something against me. ²⁰ In their absence, have these people who are here declare what crime they found when I stood before the Jerusalem Council. ²¹ Perhaps it concerns this one statement that I blurted out when I was with them: ‘I am on trial before you today because of the resurrection of the dead.’”

²² Felix, who had an accurate understanding of the Way, adjourned the meeting. He said, “When Lysias the commander arrives from Jerusalem, I will decide this case.” ²³ He arranged for a centurion to guard Paul. He was to give Paul some freedom, and his friends were not to be hindered in their efforts to provide for him.

Paul in custody

²⁴ After several days, Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and summoned Paul. He listened to him talk about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ When he spoke about upright behavior, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became fearful and said, “Go away for now! When I have time, I’ll send for you.” ²⁶ At the same time, he was hoping that Paul would offer him some money, so he often sent for him and talked with him.

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

Paul appeals to Caesar

25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ² The chief priests and Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul. Appealing to him, ³ they asked as a favor from Festus that he summon Paul to Jerusalem. They were planning to ambush and kill him along the way. ⁴ But Festus responded by keeping Paul in Caesarea, since he was to return there very soon himself. ⁵ “Some of your leaders can come down with me,” he said. “If he’s done anything wrong, they can bring charges against him.”

⁶ He stayed with them for no more than eight or ten days, then went down to Caesarea. The following day he took his seat in the court and ordered that Paul be brought in. ⁷ When he arrived, many Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him. They brought serious charges against him, but they couldn’t prove them. ⁸ In his own defense, Paul said, “I’ve done nothing wrong against the Jewish Law, against the temple, or against Caesar.”

⁹ Festus, wanting to put the Jews in his debt, asked Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to stand trial before me concerning these things?”

¹⁰ Paul replied, “I’m standing before Caesar’s court. I ought to be tried here. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you well know. ¹¹ If I’m guilty and have done something that deserves death, then I won’t try to avoid death. But if there is nothing to their accusations against me, no one has the authority to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

¹² After Festus conferred with his advisors, he responded, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go.”

King Agrippa informed about Paul

¹³ After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea to welcome Festus. ¹⁴ Since they were staying there for many days, Festus discussed the case against Paul with the king. He said, “There is a man whom Felix left in prison. ¹⁵ When I was in Jerusalem, the Jewish chief priests and elders brought charges against him and requested a guilty verdict in his case. ¹⁶ I told them it is contrary to Roman practice to hand someone over before they have faced their accusers and had opportunity to offer a defense against the charges. ¹⁷ When they came here, I didn’t put them off. The very next day I took my seat in the court and ordered that the man be brought before me. ¹⁸ When the accusers took the floor, they didn’t charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. ¹⁹ Instead, they quibbled with him about their own religion and about some dead man named Jesus, who Paul claimed was alive. ²⁰ Since I had no idea how to investigate these matters, I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem to stand trial there on these issues. ²¹ However, Paul appealed that he be held in custody pending a decision from His Majesty the emperor, so I ordered that he be held until I could send him to Caesar.”

²² Agrippa said to Festus, “I want to hear the man myself.”

“Tomorrow,” Festus replied, “you will hear him.”

²³ The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great fanfare. They entered the auditorium with the military commanders and the city’s most prominent men. Festus then ordered that Paul be brought in. ²⁴ Festus said, “King Agrippa and everyone present with us: You see this man! The entire Jewish community, both here and in Jerusalem, has appealed to me concerning him. They’ve been calling for his immediate death. ²⁵ I’ve found that he has done nothing deserving death. When he appealed to His Majesty, I decided to send him to Rome. ²⁶ I have nothing definite to write to our lord emperor. Therefore, I’ve brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this investigation, I might have something to write. ²⁷ After all, it would be foolish to send a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.”

Paul’s defense before Agrippa

26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.”

So Paul gestured with his hand and began his defense. ² “King Agrippa, I consider myself especially fortunate that I stand before you today as I offer my defense concerning all the accusations the Jews have brought against me. ³ This is because you understand well all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I ask you to listen to me patiently. ⁴ Every Jew knows the way of life I have followed since my youth because, from the beginning, I was among my people and in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known me for a long time. If they wanted to, they could testify that I followed the way of life set out by the most exacting group of our religion. I am a Pharisee. ⁶ Today I am standing trial because of the hope in the promise God gave our ancestors. ⁷ This is the promise our twelve tribes hope to receive as they earnestly worship night and day. The Jews are accusing me, King Agrippa, because of this hope! ⁸ Why is it inconceivable to you that God raises the dead?

⁹ “I really thought that I ought to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazarene in every way possible. ¹⁰ And that’s exactly what I did in Jerusalem. I locked up many of God’s holy people in prison under the authority of the chief priests. When they were condemned to death, I voted against them. ¹¹ In one synagogue after another—indeed, in all the synagogues—I would often torture them, compelling them to slander God. My rage bordered on the hysterical as I pursued them, even to foreign cities.

¹² “On one such journey, I was going to Damascus with the full authority of the chief priests. ¹³ While on the road at midday, King Agrippa, I saw a light from heaven shining around me and my traveling companions. That light was brighter than the sun. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice that said to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me? It’s hard for you to kick against a spear.’^{[d] 15} Then I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are harassing. ¹⁶ Get up! Stand on your feet! I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you as my servant and witness of what you have seen and what I will show you. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you ¹⁸ to open their eyes. Then they can turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are made holy by faith in me.’

¹⁹ “So, King Agrippa, I wasn’t disobedient to that heavenly vision. ²⁰ Instead, I proclaimed first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to the whole region of Judea and to the Gentiles. My message was that they should change their hearts and lives and turn to God, and that they should demonstrate this change in their behavior. ²¹ Because of this, some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to murder me. ²² God has helped me up to this very day. Therefore, I stand here and bear witness to the lowly and the great. I’m saying nothing more than what the Prophets and Moses declared would happen: ²³ that the Christ would suffer and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to my people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ At this point in Paul’s defense, Festus declared with a loud voice, “You’ve lost your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you mad!”

²⁵ But Paul replied, “I’m not mad, most honorable Festus! I’m speaking what is sound and true. ²⁶ King Agrippa knows about these things, and I have been speaking openly to him. I’m certain that none of these things have escaped his attention. This didn’t happen secretly or in some out-of-the-way place. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

²⁸ Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you trying to convince me that, in such a short time, you’ve made me a Christian?”

²⁹ Paul responded, “Whether it is a short or a long time, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today will become like me, except for these chains.”

³⁰ The king stood up, as did the governor, Bernice, and those sitting with them. ³¹ As they left, they were saying to each other, “This man is doing nothing that deserves death or imprisonment.”

³² Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar.”

Paul’s voyage to Rome

27 When it was determined that we were to sail to Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were placed in the custody of a centurion named Julius of the Imperial Company.^{[e] 2} We boarded a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia. So we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, came with us. ³ The next day we landed in Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly and permitted him to go to some friends so they could take care of him. ⁴ From there we sailed off. We passed Cyprus, using the island to shelter us from the headwinds. ⁵ We sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, and landed in Myra in Lycia. ⁶ There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship headed for Italy and put us on board. ⁷ After many days of slow and difficult sailing, we arrived off the coast of Cnidus. The wind wouldn’t allow us to go farther, so we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone. ⁸ We sailed along the coast only with difficulty until we came to a place called Good Harbors,^[f] near the city of Lasea.

⁹ Much time had been lost, and the voyage was now dangerous since the Day of Reconciliation had already passed. Paul warned them, ¹⁰ “Men, I see that our voyage will suffer damage and great loss, not only for the cargo and ship but also for our lives.” ¹¹ But the centurion was persuaded more by the ship’s pilot and captain than by Paul’s advice. ¹² Since the harbor was unsuitable for spending the winter, the majority supported a plan to put out to sea from there. They thought they might reach Phoenix in Crete and spend the winter in its harbor, which faced southwest and northwest.

¹³ When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they could carry out their plan. They pulled up anchor and sailed closely along the coast of Crete. ¹⁴ Before long, a hurricane-strength wind known as a northeaster swept down from Crete. ¹⁵ The ship was caught in the storm and couldn’t be turned into the wind. So we gave in to it, and it carried us along. ¹⁶ After sailing under the shelter of an island called Cauda, we were able to control the lifeboat only with difficulty. ¹⁷ They brought the lifeboat aboard, then began to wrap the ship with cables to hold it together. Fearing they might run aground on the sandbars of the Gulf of Syrtis, they lowered the anchor and let the ship be carried along. ¹⁸ We were so battered by the violent storm that the next day the men began throwing cargo overboard. ¹⁹ On the third day, they picked up the ship’s gear and hurled it into the sea. ²⁰ When neither the sun nor the moon appeared for many days and the raging storm continued to pound us, all hope of our being saved from this peril faded.

²¹ For a long time no one had eaten. Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have complied with my instructions not to sail from Crete. Then we would have avoided this damage and loss. ²² Now I urge you to be encouraged. Not one of your lives will be lost, though we will lose the ship. ²³ Last night an angel from the God to whom I belong and whom I worship stood beside me. ²⁴ The angel said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul! You must stand before Caesar! Indeed, God has also graciously given you everyone sailing with you.’ ²⁵ Be encouraged, men! I have faith in God that it will be exactly as he told me. ²⁶ However, we must run aground on some island.”

²⁷ On the fourteenth night, we were being carried across the Adriatic Sea. Around midnight the sailors began to suspect that land was near. ²⁸ They dropped a weighted line to take soundings and found the water to be about one hundred twenty feet deep. After proceeding a little farther, we took soundings again and found the water to be about ninety feet deep. ²⁹ Afraid that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they hurled out four anchors from the stern and began to pray for daylight. ³⁰ The sailors tried to abandon the ship by lowering the lifeboat into the sea, pretending they were going to lower anchors from the bow. ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and his soldiers, “Unless they stay in the ship, you can’t be saved from peril.” ³² The soldiers then cut the ropes to the lifeboat and let it drift away.

³³ Just before daybreak, Paul urged everyone to eat. He said, “This is the fourteenth day you’ve lived in suspense, and you’ve not had even a bite to eat. ³⁴ I urge you to take some food. Your health depends on it. None of you will lose a single hair from his head.” ³⁵ After he said these things, he took bread, gave thanks to God in front of them all, then broke it and began to eat. ³⁶ Everyone was encouraged and took some food. (³⁷ In all, there were two hundred seventy-six of us on the ship.) ³⁸ When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

³⁹ In the morning light they saw a bay with a sandy beach. They didn’t know what land it was, but they thought they might possibly be able to run the ship aground. ⁴⁰ They cut the anchors loose and left them in the sea. At the same time, they untied the ropes that ran back to the rudders. They raised the foresail to catch the wind and made for the beach. ⁴¹ But they struck a sandbar and the ship ran aground. The bow was stuck and wouldn’t move, and the stern was broken into pieces by the force of the waves. ⁴² The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners to keep them from swimming to shore and escaping. ⁴³ However, the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he stopped them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and head for land. ⁴⁴ He ordered the rest to grab hold of planks or debris from the ship. In this way, everyone reached land safely.

On the Island of Malta

28 After reaching land safely, we learned that the island was called Malta. ² The islanders showed us extraordinary kindness. Because it was rainy and cold, they built a fire and welcomed all of us. ³ Paul gathered a bunch of dry sticks and put them on the fire. As he did, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, latched on to his hand. ⁴ When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He was rescued from the sea, but the goddess Justice hasn’t let him live!” ⁵ Paul shook the snake into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ They expected him to swell up with fever or suddenly drop dead. After waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to claim that he was a god.

⁷ Publius, the island’s most prominent person, owned a large estate in that area. He welcomed us warmly into his home as his guests for three days. ⁸ Publius’ father was bedridden, sick with a fever and dysentery. Paul went to see him and prayed. He placed his hand on him and healed him. ⁹ Once this happened, the rest of the sick on the island came to him and were healed. ¹⁰ They honored us in many ways. When we were getting ready to sail again, they supplied us with what we needed.

Paul makes it to Rome

¹¹ After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had spent the winter at the island. It was an Alexandrian ship with carvings of the twin gods Castor and Pollux as its figurehead. ¹² We landed in Syracuse where we stayed three days. ¹³ From there we sailed to Rhegium. After one day a south wind came up, and we arrived on the second day in Puteoli. ¹⁴ There we found brothers and sisters who urged us to stay with them for a week. In this way we came to Rome. ¹⁵ When the brothers and sisters there heard about us, they came as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he gave thanks to God and was encouraged. ¹⁶ When we entered Rome, Paul was permitted to live by himself, with a soldier guarding him.

Paul meets Jewish leaders in Rome

¹⁷ Three days later, Paul called the Jewish leaders together. When they gathered, he said, “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I’m a prisoner from Jerusalem. They handed me over to the Romans, ¹⁸ who intended to release me after they examined me, because they couldn’t find any reason for putting me to death. ¹⁹ When the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar. Don’t think I appealed to Caesar because I had any reason to bring charges against my nation. ²⁰ This is why I asked to see you and speak with you: it’s because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

²¹ They responded, “We haven’t received any letters about you from Judea, nor have any of our brothers come and reported or said anything bad about you. ²² But we think it’s important to hear what you think, for we know that people everywhere are speaking against this faction.”

²³ On the day scheduled for this purpose, many people came to the place where he was staying. From morning until evening, he explained and testified concerning God’s kingdom and tried to convince them about Jesus through appealing to the Law from Moses and the Prophets. ²⁴ Some were persuaded by what he said, but others refused to believe. ²⁵ They disagreed with each other and were starting to leave when Paul made one more statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke correctly when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,

²⁸ “Therefore, be certain of this: God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen!”^[h]

Paul’s ministry in Rome

³⁰ Paul lived in his own rented quarters for two full years and welcomed everyone who came to see him. ³¹ Unhindered and with complete confidence, he continued to preach God’s kingdom and to teach about the Lord Jesus Christ.