But when the Jews of Thessalonica had news that Paul was preaching the word at Beroea, they came there, troubling the people and working them up.
So the brothers sent Paul straight away to the sea: but Silas and Timothy kept there still.
But those who went with Paul took him as far as Athens, and then went away, with orders from him to Silas and Timothy to come to him quickly.
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was troubled, for he saw all the town full of images of the gods.
So he had discussions in the Synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and every day in the market-place with those who were there.
And some of those who were supporters of the theories of the Epicureans and the Stoics, had a meeting with him. And some said, What is this talker of foolish words saying? And others, He seems to be a preacher of strange gods: because he was preaching of Jesus and his coming back from the dead.
And they took him to Mars' Hill, saying, Will you make clear to us what is this new teaching of yours?
For you seem to us to say strange things, and we have a desire to get the sense of them.
(Now all the Athenians and the men from other lands who come there were giving all their time to talking or hearing of anything new.)
And Paul got to his feet on Mars' Hill and said, O men of Athens, I see that you are overmuch given to fear of the gods.
For when I came by, I was looking at the things to which you give worship, and I saw an altar with this writing on it, TO THE GOD OF WHOM THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE. Now, what you, without knowledge, give worship to, I make clear to you.
The God who made the earth and everything in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, is not housed in buildings made with hands;
And he is not dependent on the work of men's hands, as if he had need of anything, for he himself gives to all life and breath and all things;
And he has made of one blood all the nations of men living on all the face of the earth, ordering their times and the limits of their lands,
So that they might make search for God, in order, if possible, to get knowledge of him and make discovery of him, though he is not far from every one of us:
For in him we have life and motion and existence; as certain of your verse writers have said, For we are his offspring.
If then we are the offspring of God, it is not right for us to have the idea that God is like gold or silver or stone, formed by the art or design of man.
Those times when men had no knowledge were overlooked by God; but now he gives orders to all men in every place to undergo a change of heart:
Because a day has been fixed in which all the world will be judged in righteousness by the man who has been marked out by him for this work; of which he has given a sign to all men by giving him back from the dead.
Now on hearing about the coming back from death, some of them made sport of it, but others said, Let us go more fully into this another time.
And so Paul went away from among them.
But some men gave him their support: among whom was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
After these things, he went away from Athens, and came to Corinth.
And there he came across a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by birth, who not long before had come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had given orders that all Jews were to go away from Rome: and he came to them;
And because he was of the same trade, he was living with them, and they did their work together; for by trade they were tent-makers.
And every sabbath he had discussions in the Synagogue, turning Jews and Greeks to the faith.
And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was completely given up to the word, preaching to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
And when they put themselves against him, and said evil words, he said, shaking his clothing, Your blood be on your heads, I am clean: from now I will go to the Gentiles.
And moving from there, he went into the house of a man named Titus Justus, a God-fearing man, whose house was very near the Synagogue.
And Crispus, the ruler of the Synagogue, with all his family, had faith in the Lord; and a great number of the people of Corinth, hearing the word, had faith and were given baptism.
And the Lord said to Paul in the night, in a vision, Have no fear and go on preaching:
For I am with you, and no one will make an attack on you to do you damage: for I have a number of people in this town.
And he was there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
But when Gallio was ruler of Achaia, all the Jews together made an attack on Paul, and took him to the judge's seat,
Saying, This man is teaching the people to give worship to God in a way which is against the law.
But when Paul was about to say something, Gallio said to the Jews, If this was anything to do with wrongdoing or crime, there would be a reason for me to give you a hearing:
But if it is a question of words or names or of your law, see to it yourselves; I will not be a judge of such things.
And he sent them away from the judge's seat.
And they all made an attack on Sosthenes, the ruler of the Synagogue, and gave him blows before the judge's seat; but Gallio gave no attention to these things.
And Paul, after waiting some days, went away from the brothers and went by ship to Syria, Priscilla and Aquila being with him; and he had had his hair cut off in Cenchrea, for he had taken an oath.
And they came down to Ephesus and he left them there: and he himself went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews.
And being requested by them to be there for a longer time, he said, No;
And went from them, saying, I will come back to you if God lets me; and he took ship from Ephesus.
And when he had come to land at Caesarea, he went to see the church, and then went down to Antioch.
And having been there for some time, he went through the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, making the disciples strong in the faith.
Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, and a man of learning, came to Ephesus; and he had great knowledge of the holy Writings.
This man had been trained in the way of the Lord; and burning in spirit, he gave himself up to teaching the facts about Jesus, though he had knowledge only of John's baptism:
And he was preaching in the Synagogue without fear. But Priscilla and Aquila, hearing his words, took him in, and gave him fuller teaching about the way of God.
And when he had a desire to go over into Achaia, the brothers gave him help, and sent letters to the disciples requesting them to take him in among them: and when he had come, he gave much help to those who had faith through grace:
For he overcame the Jews in public discussion, making clear from the holy Writings that the Christ was Jesus.
And it came about that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having gone through the higher country, came to Ephesus, where there were certain disciples:
And he said to them, Did you get the holy Spirit when you had faith? And they said to him, No, we have had no knowledge of the Holy Spirit.
And he said, What sort of baptism did you have? And they said, The baptism of John.
And Paul said, John gave a baptism which goes with a change of heart, saying to the people that they were to have faith in him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.
And hearing this, they had baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had put his hands on them, the Holy spirit came on them; and they had the power of talking in tongues, and acting like prophets.
And there were about twelve of these men.
And he went into the Synagogue, and for three months he was preaching there without fear, reasoning and teaching about the kingdom of God.
But because some of the people were hard-hearted and would not give hearing, saying evil words about the Way before the people, he went away from them, and kept the disciples separate, reasoning every day in the school of Tyrannus.
And this went on for two years, so that all those who were living in Asia had knowledge of the word of the Lord, greeks as well as Jews.
And God did special works of power by the hands of Paul:
So that bits of linen and clothing from his body were taken to people who were ill, and their diseases went away from them and the evil spirits went out.
But some of the Jews who went from place to place driving out evil spirits, took it on themselves to make use of the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, I give you orders, by Jesus, whom Paul is preaching.
And there were seven sons of a man named Sceva, a Jew and a chief priest, who did this.
And the evil spirit, answering, said to them, I have knowledge of Jesus, and of Paul, but who are you?
And the man in whom the evil spirit was, jumping on them, was stronger than the two of them, and overcame them, so that they went running from that house, wounded and without their clothing.
And this came to the ears of all those, Jews and Greeks, who were living at Ephesus; and fear came on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was made great.
And a number of those who had faith came and made a public statement of their sins and all their acts.
And a great number of those who were experts in strange arts took their books and put them on the fire in front of everyone: and when the books were valued they came to fifty thousand bits of silver.
So the word of the Lord was increased very greatly and was full of power.
Now after these things were ended, Paul came to a decision that when he had gone through macedonia and Achaia he would go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I have a desire to see Rome.
And having sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, into Macedonia, he himself went on living in Asia for a time.
And about that time a great outcry took place about the Way.
For there was a certain man named Demetrius, a silver-worker, who made silver boxes for the images of Diana, and gave no small profit to the workmen;
Whom he got together, with other workmen of the same trade, and said to them, Men, it is clear that from this business we get our wealth.
And you see, for it has come to your ears, that not only at Ephesus, but almost all through Asia, this Paul has been teaching numbers of people and turning them away, saying that those are not gods who are made by men's hands:
And there is danger, not only that our trade may be damaged in the opinion of men, but that the holy place of the great goddess Diana may be no longer honoured, and that she to whom all Asia and the world give worship, will be put down from her high position.
And hearing this, they were very angry, crying out and saying, Great is Diana of Ephesus.
And the town was full of noise and trouble, and they all came running into the theatre, having taken by force Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia who were journeying in company with Paul.
And when Paul was about to go in to the people, the disciples did not let him.
And some of the rulers of Asia, being his friends, sent to him, requesting him seriously not to put himself in danger by going into the theatre.
And some said one thing, and some another: for there was no order in the meeting; and most of them had no idea why they had come together.
Then they took Alexander out from among the people, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander, making a sign with his hand, was about to make a statement to the people in answer:
But when they saw that he was a Jew, all of them with one voice went on crying out for about two hours, Great is Diana of Ephesus.
And when the chief secretary had got the people quiet, he said, Men of Ephesus, is any man without knowledge that the town of Ephesus is the keeper of the holy place of the great Diana, who was sent down from Jupiter?
So then, because these things may not be doubted, it would be better for you to be quiet, and do nothing unwise.
For you have taken these men, who are not doing damage to the holy place or talking against our goddess.
If, then, Demetrius and the workmen who are with him have a protest to make against any man, the law is open to them, and there are judges; let them put up a cause at law against one another.
But if any other business is in question, let it be taken up in the regular meeting.
For, truly, we are in danger of being made responsible for this day's trouble, there being no cause for it: and we are not able to give any reason for this coming together.
And when he had said this, he sent the meeting away.
And after the noise had come to an end, Paul, having sent for the disciples and given them comfort, went away from them to Macedonia.
And when he had gone through those parts and given them much teaching, he came into Greece.
And when he had been there three months, because the Jews had made a secret design against him when he was about to take ship for Syria, he made a decision to go back through Macedonia.
And Sopater of Beroea, the son of Pyrrhus, and Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia, went with him as far as Asia.
But these had gone before, and were waiting for us at Troas.
And we went away from Philippi by ship after the days of unleavened bread, and came to them at Troas in five days; and we were there for seven days.
And on the first day of the week, when we had come together for the holy meal, Paul gave them a talk, for it was his purpose to go away on the day after; and he went on talking till after the middle of the night.
And there were a number of lights in the room where we had come together.
And a certain young man named Eutychus, who was seated in the window, went into a deep sleep; and while Paul went on talking, being overcome by sleep, he had a fall from the third floor, and was taken up dead.
And Paul went down and, falling on him, took him in his arms and said, Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.
And when he had gone up, and had taken the broken bread, he went on talking to them for a long time, even till dawn, and then he went away.
And they took the boy in, living, and were greatly comforted.
But we, going before him by ship, went to Assos with the purpose of taking Paul in there: for so he had given orders, because he himself was coming by land.
And when he came up with us at Assos, we took him in the ship and went on to Mitylene.
And going from there by sea, we came on the day after opposite Chios, and touching at Samos on the day after that, we came on the third day to Miletus.
For Paul's purpose was to go past Ephesus, so that he might not be kept in Asia; for he was going quickly, in order, if possible, to be at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the rulers of the church.
And when they had come, he said to them, You yourselves have seen what my life has been like all the time from the day when I first came into Asia,
Doing the Lord's work without pride, through all the sorrow and troubles which came on me because of the evil designs of the Jews:
And how I kept back nothing which might be of profit to you, teaching you publicly and privately,
Preaching to Jews and to greeks the need for a turning of the heart to God, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And now, as you see, I am going to Jerusalem, a prisoner in spirit, having no knowledge of what will come to me there:
Only that the holy Spirit makes clear to me in every town that prison and pains are waiting for me.
But I put no value on my life, if only at the end of it I may see the work complete which was given to me by the Lord Jesus, to be a witness of the good news of the grace of God.
And now I am conscious that you, among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom, will not see my face again.
And so I say to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all men.
For I have not kept back from you anything of the purpose of God.
Give attention to yourselves, and to all the flock which the Holy spirit has given into your care, to give food to the church of God, for which he gave his blood.
I am conscious that after I am gone, evil wolves will come in among you, doing damage to the flock;
And from among yourselves will come men who will give wrong teaching, turning away the disciples after them.
So keep watch, having in mind that for three years without resting I was teaching every one of you, day and night, with weeping.
And now, I give you into the care of God and the word of his grace, which is able to make you strong and to give you your heritage among all the saints.
I have had no desire for any man's silver or gold or clothing.
You yourselves have seen that with these hands I got what was necessary for me and those who were with me.
In all things I was an example to you of how, in your lives, you are to give help to the feeble, and keep in memory the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, There is a greater blessing in giving than in getting.
And having said these words, he went down on his knees in prayer with them all.
And they were all weeping, falling on Paul's neck and kissing him,
Being sad most of all because he had said that they would not see his face again. And so they went with him to the ship.
And after parting from them, we put out to sea and came straight to Cos, and the day after to Rhodes, and from there to Patara:
And as there was a ship going to Phoenicia, we went in it.
And when we had come in view of Cyprus, going past it on our left, we went on to Syria, and came to land at Tyre: for there the goods which were in the ship had to be taken out.
And meeting the disciples we were there for seven days: and they gave Paul orders through the spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.
And when these days came to an end, we went on our journey; and they all, with their wives and children, came with us on our way till we were out of the town: and after going on our knees in prayer by the sea,
We said our last words to one another, and got into the ship, and they went back to their houses.
And journeying by ship from Tyre we came to Ptolemais; and there we had talk with the brothers and were with them for one day.
And on the day after, we went away and came to Caesarea, where we were guests in the house of Philip, the preacher, who was one of the seven.
And he had four daughters, virgins, who were prophets.
And while we were waiting there for some days, a certain prophet, named Agabus, came down from Judaea.
And he came to us, and took the band of Paul's clothing, and putting it round his feet and hands, said, The holy Spirit says these words, So will the Jews do to the man who is the owner of this band, and they will give him up into the hands of the Gentiles.
And hearing these things, we and those who were living in that place made request to him not to go to Jerusalem.
Then Paul said, What are you doing, weeping and wounding my heart? for I am ready, not only to be a prisoner, but to be put to death at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
And as he might not be moved we did no more, saying, Let the purpose of God be done.
And after these days we got ready and went up to Jerusalem.
And some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us, taking a certain Mnason of Cyprus, one of the early disciples, in whose house we were to be living.
And when we came to Jerusalem, the brothers were pleased to see us.
And on the day after, Paul went with us to James, and all the rulers of the church were present.
And when he had said how glad he was to see them, he gave them a detailed account of the things which God had done through his work among the Gentiles.
And hearing it, they gave praise to God; and they said to him, You see, brother, what thousands there are among the Jews, who have the faith; and they all have a great respect for the law:
And they have had news of you, how you have been teaching all the Jews among the gentiles to give up the law of Moses, and not to give circumcision to their children, and not to keep the old rules.
What then is the position? They will certainly get news that you have come.
Do this, then, which we say to you: We have four men who have taken an oath;
Go with these, and make yourself clean with them, and make the necessary payments for them, so that they may be free from their oath: and everyone will see that the statements made about you are not true, but that you put yourself under rule, and keep the law.
But as to the Gentiles who have the faith, we sent a letter, giving our decision that they were to keep themselves from offerings made to false gods, and from blood, and from the flesh of animals put to death in ways against the law, and from the evil desires of the body.
Then Paul took the men, and on the day after, making himself clean with them, he went into the Temple, giving out the statement that the days necessary for making them clean were complete, till the offering was made for every one of them.
And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the Temple, got the people together and put their hands on him,
Crying out, Men of Israel, come to our help: this is the man who is teaching all men everywhere against the people and the law and this place: and in addition, he has taken greeks into the Temple, and made this holy place unclean.
For they had seen him before in the town with Trophimus of Ephesus, and had the idea that Paul had taken him with him into the Temple.
And all the town was moved, and the people came running together and put their hands on Paul, pulling him out of the Temple: and then the doors were shut.
And while they were attempting to put him to death, news came to the chief captain of the band that all Jerusalem was out of control.
And straight away he took some armed men and went quickly down to them: and the Jews, seeing them, gave no more blows to Paul.
Then the chief captain came near and took him, and gave orders for him to be put in chains, questioning them as to who he was and what he had done.
And some said one thing and some another, among the people: and as he was not able to get a knowledge of the facts because of the noise, he gave orders for Paul to be taken into the army building.
And when he came on to the steps, he was lifted up by the armed men, because of the force of the people;
For a great mass of people came after them, crying out, Away with him!
And when Paul was about to be taken into the building, he said to the chief captain, May I say something to you? And he said, Have you a knowledge of Greek?
Are you by chance the egyptian who, before this, got the people worked up against the government and took four thousand men of the Assassins out into the waste land?
But Paul said, I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is not an unimportant town: I make a request to you to let me say a word to the people.
And when he let him do so, Paul, from the steps, made a sign with his hand to the people, and when they were all quiet, he said to them in the Hebrew language,
My brothers and fathers, give ear to the story of my life which I now put before you.
And, hearing him talking in the Hebrew language, they became the more quiet, and he said,
I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia by birth, but I had my education in this town at the feet of Gamaliel, being trained in the keeping of every detail of the law of our fathers; given up to the cause of God with all my heart, as you are today.
And I made attacks on this Way, even to death, taking men and women and putting them in prison.
Of which the high priest will be a witness, and all the rulers, from whom I had letters to the brothers; and I went into Damascus, to take those who were there as prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment.
And it came about that while I was on my journey, coming near to Damascus, about the middle of the day, suddenly I saw a great light from heaven shining round me.
And when I went down on the earth, a voice came to my ears saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly?
And I, answering, said, Who are you; Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are attacking.
And those who were with me saw the light, but the voice of him who was talking to me came not to their ears.
And I said, What have I to do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Get up, and go into Damascus; and it will be made clear to you what you have to do.
And because I was unable to see because of the glory of that light, those who were with me took me by the hand, and so I came to Damascus.
And one Ananias, a God-fearing man, who kept the law, and of whom all the Jews in that place had a high opinion,
Came to my side and said, Brother Saul, let your eyes be open. And in that very hour I was able to see him.
And he said, You have been marked out by the God of our fathers to have knowledge of his purpose, and to see the upright One and to give ear to the words of his mouth.
For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and of what has come to your ears.
And now, why are you waiting? get up, and have baptism, for the washing away of your sins, giving worship to his name.
And it came about that when I had come back to Jerusalem, while I was at prayer in the Temple, my senses became more than naturally clear,
And I saw him saying to me, Go out of Jerusalem straight away because they will not give hearing to your witness about me.
And I said, Lord, they themselves have knowledge that I went through the synagogues putting in prison and whipping all those who had faith in you:
And when Stephen your witness was put to death, I was there, giving approval, and looking after the clothing of those who put him to death.
And he said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.
And they gave him a hearing as far as this word; then with loud voices they said, Away with this man from the earth; it is not right for him to be living.
And while they were crying out, and pulling off their clothing, and sending dust into the air,
The chief captain gave orders for him to be taken into the army building, saying that he would put him to the test by whipping, so that he might have knowledge of the reason why they were crying out so violently against him.
And when they had put leather bands round him, Paul said to the captain who was present, Is it the law for you to give blows to a man who is a Roman and has not been judged?
And hearing this, the man went to the chief captain and gave him an account of it, saying, What are you about to do? for this man is a Roman.
And the chief captain came to him and said, Give me an answer, are you a Roman? And he said, Yes.
And the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And Paul said, But I had them by birth.
Then those who were about to put him to the test went away: and the chief captain was in fear, seeing that he was a Roman, and that he had put chains on him.
But on the day after, desiring to have certain knowledge of what the Jews had to say against him, he made him free, and gave orders for the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to come together, and he took Paul and put him before them.
And Paul, looking fixedly at the Sanhedrin, said, My brothers, my life has been upright before God till this day.
And the high priest, Ananias, gave orders to those who were near him to give him a blow on the mouth.
Then Paul said to him, God will give blows to you, you whitewashed wall: are you here to be my judge by law, and by your orders am I given blows against the law?
And those who were near said, Do you say such words against God's high priest?
And Paul said, Brother, I had no idea that he was the high priest: for it has been said, You may not say evil about the ruler of your people.
But when Paul saw that half of them were Sadducees and the rest Pharisees, he said in the Sanhedrin, Brothers, I am a Pharisee, and the son of Pharisees: I am here to be judged on the question of the hope of the coming back from the dead.
And when he had said this, there was an argument between the pharisees and the Sadducees, and a division in the meeting.
For the Sadducees say that there is no coming back from the dead, and no angels or spirits: but the Pharisees have belief in all these.
And there was a great outcry: and some of the scribes on the side of the Pharisees got up and took part in the discussion, saying, We see no evil in this man: what if he has had a revelation from an angel or a spirit?
And when the argument became very violent, the chief captain, fearing that Paul would be pulled in two by them, gave orders to the armed men to take him by force from among them, and take him into the army building.
And the night after, the Lord came to his side and said, Be of good heart, for as you have been witnessing for me in Jerusalem, so will you be my witness in Rome.
And when it was day, the Jews came together and put themselves under an oath that they would take no food or drink till they had put Paul to death.
And more than forty of them took this oath.
And they came to the chief priests and the rulers and said, We have taken a great oath to take no food till we have put Paul to death
So now, will you and the Sanhedrin make a request to the military authorities to have him sent down to you, as if you were desiring to go into the business in greater detail; and we, before ever he gets to you, will be waiting to put him to death.
But Paul's sister's son had word of their design, and he came into the army building and gave news of it to Paul.
And Paul sent for a captain and said, Take this young man to your chief, for he has news for him.
So he took him to the chief captain and said, Paul, the prisoner, made a request to me to take this young man to you, for he has something to say to you.
And the chief took him by the hand and, going on one side, said to him privately, What is it you have to say to me?
And he said, The Jews are in agreement together to make a request to you for Paul to be taken, on the day after this, into the Sanhedrin, to be questioned in greater detail.
But do not give way to them, for more than forty of them are waiting for him, having taken an oath not to take food or drink till they have put him to death: and now they are ready, waiting for your order.
So the chief captain let the young man go, saying to him, Do not say to anyone that you have given me word of these things.
And he sent for two captains and said, Make ready two hundred men, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, to go to Caesarea, at the third hour of the night:
And get beasts so that they may put Paul on them, and take him safely to Felix, the ruler.
And he sent a letter in these words:
Claudius Lysias, to the most noble ruler, Felix, peace be with you.
This man was taken by the Jews, and was about to be put to death by them, when I came on them with the army and took him out of danger, having knowledge that he was a Roman.
And, desiring to get at the reason for their attack on him, I took him down to their Sanhedrin:
Then it became clear to me that it was a question of their law, and that nothing was said against him which might be a reason for prison or death.
And when news was given to me that a secret design was being made against the man, I sent him straight away to you, giving orders to those who are against him to make their statements before you.
So the armed men, as they were ordered, took Paul and came by night to Antipatris.
But on the day after, they sent the horsemen on with him, and went back to their place:
And they, when they came to Caesarea, gave the letter to the ruler, and took Paul before him.
And after reading it, he said, What part of the country do you come from? And, hearing that he was from Cilicia,
I will give hearing to your cause, he said, when those who are against you have come. And he gave orders for him to be kept in Herod's Praetorium.
And after five days, the high priest, Ananias, came with certain of the rulers, and an expert talker, one Tertullus; and they made a statement to Felix against Paul.
And when he had been sent for, Tertullus, starting his statement, said, Because by you we are living in peace, and through your wisdom wrongs are put right for this nation,
In all things and in all places we are conscious of our great debt to you, most noble Felix.
But, so that I may not make you tired, I make a request to you of your mercy, to give hearing to a short statement.
For this man, in our opinion, is a cause of trouble, a maker of attacks on the government among Jews through all the empire, and a chief mover in the society of the Nazarenes:
Who, in addition, was attempting to make the temple unclean: whom we took,
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And from whom you will be able, by questioning him yourself, to get knowledge of all the things which we say against him.
And the Jews were in agreement with his statement, saying that these things were so.
Then when the ruler had given him a sign to make his answer, Paul said, Because I have knowledge that you have been a judge over this nation for a number of years, I am glad to make my answer:
Seeing that you are able to make certain of the fact that it is not more than twelve days from the time when I came up to Jerusalem for worship;
And they have not seen me in argument with any man in the Temple, or working up the feelings of the people, in the synagogues or in the town:
And they are not able to give facts in support of the things which they say against me now.
But this I will say openly to you, that I do give worship to the God of our fathers after that Way, which to them is not the true religion: but I have belief in all the things which are in the law and in the books of the prophets:
Hoping in God for that which they themselves are looking for, that there will be a coming back from the dead for upright men and wrongdoers.
And in this, I do my best at all times to have no reason for shame before God or men.
Now after a number of years I came to give help and offerings to my nation:
And having been made clean, I was in the Temple, but not with a great number of people, and not with noise: but there were certain Jews from Asia,
And it would have been better if they had come here to make a statement, if they have anything against me.
Or let these men here present say what wrongdoing was seen in me when I was before the Sanhedrin,
But only this one thing which I said among them in a loud voice, I am this day being judged on the question of the coming back from the dead.
But Felix, who had a more detailed knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, When Lysias, the chief captain, comes down, I will give attention to your business.
And he gave orders to the captain to keep Paul under his control, and to let him have everything he had need of; and not to keep his friends from coming to see him.
But after some days, Felix came with Drusilla his wife, who was of the Jews by birth, and sent for Paul, and gave hearing to him about faith in Christ Jesus.
And while he was talking about righteousness and self-control and the judging which was to come, Felix had great fear and said, Go away for the present, and when the right time comes I will send for you.
For he was hoping that Paul would give him money: so he sent for him more frequently and had talk with him.
But after two years Porcius Festus took the place of Felix, who, desiring to have the approval of the Jews, kept Paul in chains.
So Festus, having come into that part of the country which was under his rule, after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.
And the chief priests and the chief men of the Jews made statements against Paul,
Requesting Festus to give effect to their design against him, and send him to Jerusalem, when they would be waiting to put him to death on the way.
But Festus, in answer, said that Paul was being kept in prison at Caesarea, and that in a short time he himself was going there.
So, he said, let those who have authority among you go with me, and if there is any wrong in the man, let them make a statement against him.
And when he had been with them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; and on the day after, he took his place on the judge's seat, and sent for Paul.
And when he came, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem came round him, and made all sorts of serious statements against him, which were not supported by the facts.
Then Paul, in his answer to them, said, I have done no wrong against the law of the Jews, or against the Temple, or against Caesar.
But Festus, desiring to get the approval of the Jews, said to Paul, Will you go up to Jerusalem, and be judged before me there in connection with these things?
And Paul said, I am before the seat of Caesar's authority where it is right for me to be judged: I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you are well able to see.
If, then, I am a wrongdoer and there is a cause of death in me, I am ready for death: if it is not as they say against me, no man may give me up to them. Let my cause come before Caesar.
Then Festus, having had a discussion with the Jews, made answer, You have said, Let my cause come before Caesar; to Caesar you will go.
Now when some days had gone by, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea and went to see Festus.
And as they were there for some days, Festus gave them Paul's story, saying, There is a certain man here who was put in prison by Felix:
Against whom the chief priests and the rulers of the Jews made a statement when I was at Jerusalem, requesting me to give a decision against him.
To whom I gave answer that it is not the Roman way to give a man up, till he has been face to face with those who are attacking him, and has had a chance to give an answer to the statements made against him.
So, when they had come together here, straight away, on the day after, I took my place on the judge's seat and sent for the man.
But when they got up they said nothing about such crimes as I had in mind:
But had certain questions against him in connection with their religion, and about one Jesus, now dead, who, Paul said, was living.
And as I had not enough knowledge for the discussion of these things, I made the suggestion to him to go to Jerusalem and be judged there.
But when Paul made a request that he might be judged by Caesar, I gave orders for him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.
And Agrippa said to Festus, I have a desire to give the man a hearing myself. Tomorrow, he said, you may give him a hearing.
So on the day after, when Agrippa and Bernice in great glory had come into the public place of hearing, with the chief of the army and the chief men of the town, at the order of Festus, Paul was sent for.
And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all those who are present here with us, you see this man, about whom all the Jews have made protests to me, at Jerusalem and in this place, saying that it is not right for him to be living any longer.
But, in my opinion, there is no cause of death in him, and as he himself has made a request to be judged by Caesar, I have said that I would send him.
But I have no certain account of him to send to Caesar. So I have sent for him to come before you, and specially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the business has been gone into, I may have something to put in writing.
For it seems to me against reason to send a prisoner without making clear what there is against him.
And Agrippa said to Paul, You may put your cause before us. Then Paul, stretching out his hand, made his answer, saying:
In my opinion I am happy, King Agrippa, to be able to give my answer before you today to all these things which the Jews say against me:
The more so, because you are expert in all questions to do with the Jews and their ways: so I make my request to you to give me a hearing to the end.
All the Jews have knowledge of my way of life from my early years, as it was from the start among my nation, and at Jerusalem;
And they are able to say, if they would give witness, that I was living as a Pharisee, in that division of our religion which is most regular in the keeping of the law.
And now I am here to be judged because of the hope given by God's word to our fathers;
For the effecting of which our twelve tribes have been working and waiting night and day with all their hearts. And in connection with this hope I am attacked by the Jews, O king!
Why, in your opinion, is it outside belief for God to make the dead come to life again?
For I, truly, was of the opinion that it was right for me to do a number of things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
And this I did in Jerusalem: and numbers of the saints I put in prison, having had authority given to me from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my decision against them.
And I gave them punishment frequently, in all the Synagogues, forcing them to say things against God; and burning with passion against them, I went after them even into far-away towns.
Then, when I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and orders of the chief priests,
In the middle of the day, on the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who were journeying with me.
And when we had all gone down on the earth, a voice came to me, saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly? It is hard for you to go against the impulse which is driving you.
And I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are attacking.
But get up on your feet: for I have come to you for this purpose, to make you a servant and a witness of the things in which you have seen me, and of those in which you will see me;
And I will keep you safe from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,
To make their eyes open, turning them from the dark to the light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may have forgiveness of sins and a heritage among those who are made holy by faith in me.
So, then, King Agrippa, I did not go against the vision from heaven;
But I went about, first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, and through all the country of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, preaching a change of heart, so that they, being turned to God, might give, in their works, the fruits of a changed heart.
For this reason, the Jews took me in the Temple, and made an attempt to put me to death.
And so, by God's help, I am here today, witnessing to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come about;
That the Christ would go through pain, and being the first to come back from the dead, would give light to the people and to the Gentiles.
And when he made his answer in these words, Festus said in a loud voice, Paul, you are off your head; your great learning has made you unbalanced.
Then Paul said, I am not off my head, most noble Festus, but my words are true and wise.
For the king has knowledge of these things, to whom I am talking freely; being certain that all this is common knowledge to him; for it has not been done in secret.
King Agrippa, have you faith in the prophets? I am certain that you have.
And Agrippa said to Paul, A little more and you will be making me a Christian.
And Paul said, It is my prayer to God that, in little or great measure, not only you, but all those hearing me today might be even as I am, but for these chains.
And the king and the ruler and Bernice and those who were seated with them got up;
And when they had gone away they said to one another, This man has done nothing which might give cause for death or prison.
And Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been made free, if he had not put his cause before Caesar.
And when the decision had been made that we were to go by sea to Italy, they gave Paul and certain other prisoners into the care of a captain named Julius, of the Augustan band.
And we went to sea in a ship of Adramyttium which was sailing to the sea towns of Asia, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.
And on the day after, we came to Sidon; and Julius was kind to Paul, and let him go to see his friends and take a rest.
And sailing again from there, we went on under cover of Cyprus, because the wind was against us.
And having gone across the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia we came to Myra, in Lycia.
And there the captain came across a ship of Alexandria, sailing for Italy, and put us in it.
And when we had gone on slowly for a long time, and had had hard work getting across to Cnidus, for the wind was against us, we went under cover of Crete, in the direction of Salmone;
And sailing down the side of it, as well as we were able, we came to a certain place named fair Havens, near which was the town of Lasea.
And as a long time had gone by, and the journey was now full of danger, because it was late in the year, Paul put the position before them,
Saying, Friends, I see that this journey will be one of great damage and loss, not only to the goods and the ship, but to ourselves.
But the captain gave more attention to the master and the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
And as the harbour was not a good one in which to be for the winter, the greater number of them were for going out to sea, in order, if possible, to put in for the winter at Phoenix, a harbour of Crete, looking to the north-east and south-east.
And when the south wind came softly, being of the opinion that their purpose might be effected, they let the ship go and went sailing down the side of Crete, very near to the land.
But after a little time, a very violent wind, named Euraquilo, came down from it with great force.
And when the ship got into the grip of it, and was not able to make headway into the wind, we gave way, and went before it.
And, sailing near the side of a small island named Cauda, we were able, though it was hard work, to make the ship's boat safe:
And having got it up, they put cords under and round the ship; but fearing that they might be pushed on to the Syrtis, they let down the sails and so went running before the wind.
And, still fighting the storm with all our strength, the day after they made a start at getting the goods out of the ship;
And on the third day, they let all the sailing apparatus go over the side.
And as we had not seen the sun or stars for a long time, and a great storm was on us, all hope of salvation was gone.
And when they had been without food for a long time, Paul got up among them and said, Friends, it would have been better if you had given attention to me and not gone sailing out from Crete, to undergo this damage and loss.
But now, I say to you, be of good heart, for there will be no loss of life, but only of the ship.
For this night there came to my side an angel of the God who is my Master and whose servant I am,
Saying, Have no fear, Paul, for you will come before Caesar, and God has given to you all those who are sailing with you.
And so, O men, be of good heart, for I have faith in God that it will be as he said to me.
But we will be sent on to a certain island.
But when the fourteenth day came, while we were going here and there in the Adriatic sea, about the middle of the night the sailors had an idea that they were getting near land;
And they let down the lead, and saw that the sea was a hundred and twenty feet deep; and after a little time they did it again and it was ninety feet.
Then, fearing that by chance we might come on to the rocks, they let down four hooks from the back of the ship, and made prayers for the coming of day.
Then the sailors made attempts secretly to get away from the ship, letting down a boat as if they were about to put down hooks from the front of the ship;
But Paul said to the captain and his men, If you do not keep these men in the ship, you will not be safe.
Then the armed men, cutting the cords of the boat, let her go.
And when dawn was near, Paul gave them all orders to take food, saying, This is the fourteenth day you have been waiting and taking no food.
So I make request to you to take food; for this is for your salvation: not a hair from the head of any of you will come to destruction.
Most of the teaching of Jesus are recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Complete Sayings of Jesus presents every word spoken by Jesus in one place and provides an index to assist in finding specific ocassions, places and/or events. It is a must read aid for serious Bible study.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, saith the Lord. These are the words of Christ; and they direct us to imitate his life and character. The Imitation of Christ is guide to following the example of Jesus Christ. Let it be our most earnest study to dwell upon the life and example of Jesus.
The Apocrypha books are 14 books that were included between the old and new testaments in the original King James Version of the bible and many others. Church leaders agreed that these books were valuable for instruction in life and manners, but did not all agree that they should be considered cannon.
The Childrens Bible provides bible lessons from the Old and New testaments. There are 216 stories written in plain english. The stories are easy to read and understand but they are not just for childern. It is a pleasure to read and enjoy these important stories.
Let us love one another, for love comes from God and every one who loves is a child of God and knows God. He who loves not man does not know God, for God is love. God showed his love for us, for he sent his only Son into the world that through him we might have life. Love the stranger.
In Mark 12:30 Jesus said;
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this [is] the first commandment.
And the second Mark 12:31 [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
The Gospel of The Birth of Mary was attributed to St. Matthew and was received as genuine and authentic by early Christians. It is to be found in the works of Jerome, a Father of the Church in the 4th century and is translated from his collection.
The Book of Enoch is ascribed to the great-grandfather of Noah and is included in the cannon of some churches. It describes the fall of the angels (watchers), visions of heaven and hell and the birth of Noah. Quotes from the book of Enoch are found in the New Testament.
The First Book of Adam and Eve. Books 1 begins immediately after the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. We learn about the fall but also of the promise to save Adam and his decendents. The story depicts mans struggle against evil, the devil and sin.
The Second Book of Adam and Eve. Discusses Adam's sorrow and death. The history of the patriarchs who lived before the Flood until the birth of Noah; the children of Seth on Mount Hermon and Cain's death. It ends with the testament and translation of Enoch.
The Infancy of Jesus Christ (Infancy Gospel of Thomas) relates the life of Jesus from the ages of five to twelve. It is believed that the document was transcribed from oral traditions some time prior to the second century. The ancient writing is possibly Gnostic and many early church leaders considered it heretical.
Daily Bible study is essential. The Bible Verse of the Day provides a collection of enlightening and inspiration bible verses. Improve your knowledge and understanding of the Bible and your life by studying the words of the holy scripture. Explore the King James Bible (kjv) and discover new insights.
The World English Bible was produced to provide speakers of modern English with a version of the Bible that is easily understood. The Bible is in the public domain and available world-wide. It is an accurate modern translation of the original King James Bible, including the Apocryphal books.
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