Bible in 90 Days

³⁸ The police officers reported to the judges, who feared for their lives when they heard Paul and Silas were Roman citizens. ³⁹ So they came to the jail and begged them to go, and brought them out and pled with them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ Paul and Silas then returned to the home of Lydia, where they met with the believers and preached to them once more before leaving town.

17 Now they traveled through the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. ² As was Paul’s custom, he went there to preach, and for three Sabbaths in a row he opened the Scriptures to the people, ³ explaining the prophecies about the sufferings of the Messiah and his coming back to life, and proving that Jesus is the Messiah. ⁴ Some who listened were persuaded and became converts—including a large number of godly Greek men and also many important women of the city.^[a]

⁵ But the Jewish leaders were jealous and incited some worthless fellows from the streets to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, planning to take Paul and Silas to the City Council for punishment.

⁶ Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers, and took them before the Council instead. “Paul and Silas have turned the rest of the world upside down, and now they are here disturbing our city,” they shouted, ⁷ “and Jason has let them into his home. They are all guilty of treason, for they claim another king, Jesus, instead of Caesar.”

^8-9 The people of the city, as well as the judges, were concerned at these reports and let them go only after they had posted bail.

¹⁰ That night the Christians hurried Paul and Silas to Berea, and, as usual,^[b] they went to the synagogue to preach. ¹¹ But the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and gladly listened to the message. They searched the Scriptures day by day to check up on Paul and Silas’ statements to see if they were really so. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, including several prominent Greek women and many men also.

¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching in Berea, they went over and stirred up trouble. ¹⁴ The believers acted at once, sending Paul on to the coast, while Silas and Timothy remained behind. ¹⁵ Those accompanying Paul went on with him to Athens and then returned to Berea with a message for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join him.

¹⁶ While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere throughout the city. ¹⁷ He went to the synagogue for discussions with the Jews and the devout Gentiles, and spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.

¹⁸ He also had an encounter with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Their reaction, when he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, was, “He’s a dreamer,” or, “He’s pushing some foreign religion.”

¹⁹ But they invited him to the forum at Mars Hill. “Come and tell us more about this new religion,” they said, ²⁰ “for you are saying some rather startling things and we want to hear more.” ²¹ (I should explain that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest new ideas!)

²² So Paul, standing before them at the Mars Hill forum, addressed them as follows:

“Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious, ²³ for as I was out walking I saw your many altars, and one of them had this inscription on it—‘To the Unknown God.’ You have been worshiping him without knowing who he is, and now I wish to tell you about him.

²⁴ “He made the world and everything in it, and since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples; ²⁵ and human hands can’t minister to his needs—for he has no needs! He himself gives life and breath to everything, and satisfies every need there is. ²⁶ He created all the people of the world from one man, Adam,^[c] and scattered the nations across the face of the earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and when. He determined their boundaries.

²⁷ “His purpose in all of this is that they should seek after God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ For in him we live and move and are! As one of your own poets says it, ‘We are the sons of God.’ ²⁹ If this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol made by men from gold or silver or chipped from stone. ³⁰ God tolerated man’s past ignorance about these things, but now he commands everyone to put away idols and worship only him. ³¹ For he has set a day for justly judging the world by the man he has appointed, and has pointed him out by bringing him back to life again.”

³² When they heard Paul speak of the resurrection of a person who had been dead, some laughed, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” ³³ That ended Paul’s discussion with them, ³⁴ but a few joined him and became believers. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the City Council, and a woman named Damaris, and others.

18 Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ^2-3 There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had been expelled from Italy as a result of Claudius Caesar’s order to deport all Jews from Rome. Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was.

⁴ Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. ⁵ And after the arrival of Silas and Timothy from Macedonia, Paul spent his full time preaching and testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. ⁶ But when the Jews opposed him and blasphemed, hurling abuse at Jesus, Paul shook off the dust from his robe and said, “Your blood be upon your own heads—I am innocent—from now on I will preach to the Gentiles.”

⁷ After that he stayed with Titus Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. ⁸ However, Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and all his household believed in the Lord and were baptized—as were many others in Corinth.

⁹ One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t quit! ¹⁰ For I am with you and no one can harm you. Many people here in this city belong to me.” ¹¹ So Paul stayed there the next year and a half, teaching the truths of God.

¹² But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, the Jews rose in concerted action against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. ¹³ They accused Paul of “persuading men to worship God in ways that are contrary to Roman law.” ¹⁴ But just as Paul started to make his defense, Gallio turned to his accusers and said, “Listen, you Jews, if this were a case involving some crime, I would be obliged to listen to you, ¹⁵ but since it is merely a bunch of questions of semantics and personalities and your silly Jewish laws, you take care of it. I’m not interested and I’m not touching it.” ¹⁶ And he drove them out of the courtroom.

¹⁷ Then the mob^[d] grabbed Sosthenes, the new leader of the synagogue, and beat him outside the courtroom. But Gallio couldn’t have cared less.

¹⁸ Paul stayed in the city several days after that and then said good-bye to the Christians and sailed for the coast of Syria, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him. At Cenchreae Paul had his head shaved according to Jewish custom, for he had taken a vow.^{[e] 19} Arriving at the port of Ephesus, he left us aboard ship while he went over to the synagogue for a discussion with the Jews. ²⁰ They asked him to stay for a few days, but he felt that he had no time to lose.^[f]

²¹ “I must by all means be at Jerusalem for the holiday,”^[g] he said. But he promised to return to Ephesus later if God permitted; and so he set sail again.

²² The next stop was at the port of Caesarea from where he visited the church at Jerusalem^[h] and then sailed on to Antioch. ²³ After spending some time there, he left for Turkey again, going through Galatia and Phrygia visiting all the believers, encouraging them and helping them grow in the Lord.

²⁴ As it happened, a Jew named Apollos, a wonderful Bible teacher and preacher, had just arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. ^25-26 While he was in Egypt, someone had told him about John the Baptist and what John had said about Jesus, but that is all he knew. He had never heard the rest of the story! So he was preaching boldly and enthusiastically in the synagogue, “The Messiah is coming! Get ready to receive him!” Priscilla and Aquila were there and heard him—and it was a powerful sermon. Afterwards they met with him and explained what had happened to Jesus since the time of John, and all that it meant!^[i]

²⁷ Apollos had been thinking about going to Greece, and the believers encouraged him in this. They wrote to their fellow-believers there, telling them to welcome him. And upon his arrival in Greece, he was greatly used of God to strengthen the church, ²⁸ for he powerfully refuted all the Jewish arguments in public debate, showing by the Scriptures that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through Turkey and arrived in Ephesus, where he found several disciples. ² “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.

“No,” they replied, “we don’t know what you mean. What is the Holy Spirit?”

³ “Then what beliefs did you acknowledge at your baptism?” he asked.

And they replied, “What John the Baptist taught.”

⁴ Then Paul pointed out to them that John’s baptism was to demonstrate a desire to turn from sin to God and that those receiving his baptism must then go on to believe in Jesus, the one John said would come later.

⁵ As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in^[j] the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ Then, when Paul laid his hands upon their heads, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other languages and prophesied. ⁷ The men involved were about twelve in number.

⁸ Then Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly each Sabbath day^[k] for three months, telling what he believed and why, and persuading many to believe in Jesus. ⁹ But some rejected his message and publicly spoke against Christ, so he left, refusing to preach to them again. Pulling out the believers, he began a separate meeting at the lecture hall of Tyrannus and preached there daily. ¹⁰ This went on for the next two years, so that everyone in the Turkish province of Asia Minor—both Jews and Greeks—heard the Lord’s message.

¹¹ And God gave Paul the power to do unusual miracles, ¹² so that even when his handkerchiefs or parts of his clothing were placed upon sick people, they were healed, and any demons within them came out.

¹³ A team of itinerant Jews who were traveling from town to town casting out demons planned to experiment by using the name of the Lord Jesus. The incantation they decided on was this: “I adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!” ¹⁴ Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish priest, were doing this. ¹⁵ But when they tried it on a man possessed by a demon, the demon replied, “I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶ And he leaped on two of them and beat them up, so that they fled out of his house naked and badly injured.

¹⁷ The story of what happened spread quickly all through Ephesus, to Jews and Greeks alike; and a solemn fear descended on the city, and the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored. ^18-19 Many of the believers who had been practicing black magic confessed their deeds and brought their incantation books and charms and burned them at a public bonfire. (Someone estimated the value of the books at $10,000.$10,000, approximately £3,500.) ²⁰ This indicates how deeply the whole area was stirred by God’s message.

²¹ Afterwards Paul felt impelled by the Holy Spirit^[m] to go across to Greece before returning to Jerusalem. “And after that,” he said, “I must go on to Rome!” ²² He sent his two assistants, Timothy and Erastus, on ahead to Greece while he stayed awhile longer in Asia Minor.

²³ But about that time, a big blowup developed in Ephesus concerning the Christians. ²⁴ It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who employed many craftsmen to manufacture silver shrines of the Greek goddess Diana. ²⁵ He called a meeting of his men, together with others employed in related trades, and addressed them as follows:

“Gentlemen, this business is our income. ²⁶ As you know so well from what you’ve seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many, many people that handmade gods aren’t gods at all. As a result, our sales volume is going down! And this trend is evident not only here in Ephesus, but throughout the entire province! ²⁷ Of course, I am not only talking about the business aspects of this situation and our loss of income, but also of the possibility that the temple of the great goddess Diana will lose its influence, and that Diana—this magnificent goddess worshiped not only throughout this part of Turkey but all around the world—will be forgotten!”

²⁸ At this their anger boiled and they began shouting, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

²⁹ A crowd began to gather, and soon the city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions, for trial. ³⁰ Paul wanted to go in, but the disciples wouldn’t let him. ³¹ Some of the Roman officers of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering.

³² Inside the people were all shouting, some one thing and some another—everything was in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even know why they were there.

³³ Alexander was spotted among the crowd by some of the Jews and dragged forward. He motioned for silence and tried to speak. ³⁴ But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for two hours: “Great is Diana of the Ephesians! Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ At last the mayor was able to quiet them down enough to speak. “Men of Ephesus,” he said, “everyone knows that Ephesus is the center^[n] of the religion of the great Diana, whose image fell down to us from heaven. ³⁶ Since this is an indisputable fact, you shouldn’t be disturbed no matter what is said, and should do nothing rash. ³⁷ Yet you have brought these men here who have stolen nothing from her temple and have not defamed her. ³⁸ If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are currently in session and the judges can take the case at once. Let them go through legal channels. ³⁹ And if there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled at the regular City Council meetings; ⁴⁰ for we are in danger of being called to account by the Roman government for today’s riot, since there is no cause for it. And if Rome demands an explanation, I won’t know what to say.”

⁴¹ Then he dismissed them, and they dispersed.

20 When it was all over, Paul sent for the disciples, preached a farewell message to them, said good-bye and left for Greece, ² preaching to the believers along the way in all the cities he passed through. ³ He was in Greece three months and was preparing to sail for Syria when he discovered a plot by the Jews against his life, so he decided to go north to Macedonia first.

⁴ Several men were traveling with him, going as far as Turkey;^[o] they were Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus; Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica; Gaius, from Derbe; and Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus, who were returning to their homes in Turkey, ⁵ and had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. ⁶ As soon as the Passover ceremonies ended, we boarded ship at Philippi in northern Greece and five days later arrived in Troas, Turkey, where we stayed a week.

⁷ On Sunday^[p] we gathered for a Communion service, with Paul preaching. And since he was leaving the next day, he talked until midnight! ⁸ The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps; ⁹ and as Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, went fast asleep and fell three stories to his death below. ^10-12 Paul went down and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s all right!” And he was! What a wave of awesome joy swept through the crowd! They all went back upstairs and ate the Lord’s Supper together; then Paul preached another long sermon—so it was dawn when he finally left them!

¹³ Paul was going by land to Assos, and we went on ahead by ship. ¹⁴ He joined us there and we sailed together to Mitylene; ¹⁵ the next day we passed Chios; the next, we touched at Samos; and a day later we arrived at Miletus.

¹⁶ Paul had decided against stopping at Ephesus this time, as he was hurrying to get to Jerusalem, if possible, for the celebration of Pentecost.

¹⁷ But when we landed at Miletus, he sent a message to the elders of the church at Ephesus asking them to come down to the boat to meet him.

¹⁸ When they arrived he told them, “You men know that from the day I set foot in Turkey until now ¹⁹ I have done the Lord’s work humbly—yes, and with tears—and have faced grave danger from the plots of the Jews against my life. ²⁰ Yet I never shrank from telling you the truth, either publicly or in your homes. ²¹ I have had one message for Jews and Gentiles alike—the necessity of turning from sin to God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²² “And now I am going to Jerusalem, drawn there irresistibly by the Holy Spirit,^[q] not knowing what awaits me, ²³ except that the Holy Spirit has told me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. ²⁴ But life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.

²⁵ “And now I know that none of you among whom I went about teaching the Kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶ Let me say plainly that no man’s blood can be laid at my door, ²⁷ for I didn’t shrink from declaring all God’s message to you.

²⁸ “And now beware! Be sure that you feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his blood—for the Holy Spirit is holding you responsible as overseers. ²⁹ I know full well that after I leave you, false teachers, like vicious wolves, will appear among you, not sparing the flock. ³⁰ Some of you yourselves will distort the truth in order to draw a following. ³¹ Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watchcare over you night and day and my many tears for you.

³² “And now I entrust you to God and his care and to his wonderful words that are able to build your faith and give you all the inheritance of those who are set apart for himself.

³³ “I have never been hungry for money or fine clothing— ³⁴ you know that these hands of mine worked to pay my own way and even to supply the needs of those who were with me. ³⁵ And I was a constant example to you in helping the poor; for I remembered the words of the Lord Jesus, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶ When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them, ³⁷ and they wept aloud as they embraced him in farewell, ³⁸ sorrowing most of all because he said that he would never see them again. Then they accompanied him down to the ship.

21 After parting from the Ephesian elders, we sailed straight to Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara. ² There we boarded a ship sailing for the Syrian province of Phoenicia. ³ We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship unloaded. ⁴ We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These disciples warned Paul—the Holy Spirit prophesying through them—not to go on to Jerusalem. ⁵ At the end of the week when we returned to the ship, the entire congregation including wives and children walked down to the beach with us where we prayed and said our farewells. ⁶ Then we went aboard, and they returned home.

⁷ The next stop after leaving Tyre was Ptolemais, where we greeted the believers but stayed only one day. ⁸ Then we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the first seven deacons.^{[r] 9} He had four unmarried^[s] daughters who had the gift of prophecy.

¹⁰ During our stay of several days, a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea ¹¹ and visited us. He took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jews in Jerusalem and turned over to the Romans.’” ¹² Hearing this, all of us—the local believers and his traveling companions—begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

¹³ But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! For I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but also to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴ When it was clear that he wouldn’t be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The will of the Lord be done.”

¹⁵ So shortly afterwards we packed our things and left for Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some disciples from Caesarea accompanied us, and on arrival we were guests at the home of Mnason, originally from Cyprus, one of the early believers; ¹⁷ and all the believers at Jerusalem welcomed us cordially.

¹⁸ The second day Paul took us with him to meet with James and the elders of the Jerusalem church. ¹⁹ After greetings were exchanged, Paul recounted the many things God had accomplished among the Gentiles through his work.

²⁰ They praised God but then said, “You know, dear brother, how many thousands of Jews have also believed, and they are all very insistent that Jewish believers must continue to follow the Jewish traditions and customs.^{[t] 21} Our Jewish Christians here at Jerusalem have been told that you are against the laws of Moses, against our Jewish customs, and that you forbid the circumcision of their children. ²² Now what can be done? For they will certainly hear that you have come.

²³ “We suggest this: We have four men here who are preparing to shave their heads and take some vows. ²⁴ Go with them to the Temple and have your head shaved too—and pay for theirs to be shaved.

“Then everyone will know that you approve of this custom for the Hebrew Christians and that you yourself obey the Jewish laws and are in line with our thinking in these matters.

²⁵ “As for the Gentile Christians, we aren’t asking them to follow these Jewish customs at all—except for the ones we wrote to them about: not to eat food offered to idols, not to eat unbled meat from strangled animals, and not to commit fornication.”

^26-27 So Paul agreed to their request and the next day went with the men to the Temple for the ceremony, thus publicizing his vow to offer a sacrifice seven days later with the others.

The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from Turkey saw him in the Temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him, ²⁸ yelling, “Men of Israel! Help! Help! This is the man who preaches against our people and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He even talks against the Temple and defiles it by bringing Gentiles in!” ²⁹ (For down in the city earlier that day, they had seen him with Trophimus, a Gentile^[u] from Ephesus in Turkey, and assumed that Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

³⁰ The whole population of the city was electrified by these accusations and a great riot followed. Paul was dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him. ³¹ As they were killing him, word reached the commander of the Roman garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² He quickly ordered out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the troops coming, they quit beating Paul. ³³ The commander arrested him and ordered him bound with double chains. Then he asked the crowd who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some shouted one thing and some another. When he couldn’t find out anything in all the uproar and confusion, he ordered Paul to be taken to the armory.^{[v] 35} As they reached the stairs, the mob grew so violent that the soldiers lifted Paul to their shoulders to protect him, ³⁶ and the crowd surged behind shouting, “Away with him, away with him!”

^37-38 As Paul was about to be taken inside, he said to the commander, “May I have a word with you?”

“Do you know Greek?” the commander asked, surprised. “Aren’t you that Egyptian who led a rebellion a few years ago^[w] and took 4,000 members of the Assassins with him into the desert?”

³⁹ “No,” Paul replied, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia which is no small town. I request permission to talk to these people.”

⁴⁰ The commander agreed, so Paul stood on the stairs and motioned to the people to be quiet; soon a deep silence enveloped the crowd, and he addressed them in Hebrew as follows:

22 “Brothers and fathers, listen to me as I offer my defense.” ² (When they heard him speaking in Hebrew, the silence was even greater.) ³ “I am a Jew,” he said, “born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, but educated here in Jerusalem under Gamaliel, at whose feet I learned to follow our Jewish laws and customs very carefully. I became very anxious to honor God in everything I did, just as you have tried to do today. ⁴ And I persecuted the Christians, hounding them to death, binding and delivering both men and women to prison. ⁵ The High Priest or any member of the Council can testify that this is so. For I asked them for letters to the Jewish leaders in Damascus, with instructions to let me bring any Christians I found to Jerusalem in chains to be punished.

⁶ “As I was on the road, nearing Damascus, suddenly about noon a very bright light from heaven shone around me. ⁷ And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Paul, Paul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸ “‘Who is it speaking to me, sir?’ I asked. And he replied, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’ ⁹ The men with me saw the light but didn’t understand what was said.

¹⁰ “And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’

“And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told what awaits you in the years ahead.’

¹¹ “I was blinded by the intense light and had to be led into Damascus by my companions. ¹² There a man named Ananias, as godly a man as you could find for obeying the law and well thought of by all the Jews of Damascus, ¹³ came to me, and standing beside me said, ‘Brother Paul, receive your sight!’ And that very hour I could see him!

¹⁴ “Then he told me, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Messiah^[x] and hear him speak. ¹⁵ You are to take his message everywhere, telling what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now, why delay? Go and be baptized and be cleansed from your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

^17-18 “One day after my return to Jerusalem, while I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance and saw a vision of God saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t believe you when you give them my message.’

¹⁹ “‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that I imprisoned and beat those in every synagogue who believed on you. ²⁰ And when your witness Stephen was killed, I was standing there agreeing—keeping the coats they laid aside as they stoned him.’

²¹ “But God said to me, ‘Leave Jerusalem, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’”

²² The crowd listened until Paul came to that word, then with one voice they shouted, “Away with such a fellow! Kill him! He isn’t fit to live!” ²³ They yelled and threw their coats in the air and tossed up handfuls of dust.

²⁴ So the commander brought him inside and ordered him lashed with whips to make him confess his crime. He wanted to find out why the crowd had become so furious!

²⁵ As they tied Paul down to lash him, Paul said to an officer standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried?”

²⁶ The officer went to the commander and asked, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷ So the commander went over and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes, I certainly am.”

²⁸ “I am too,” the commander muttered, “and it cost me plenty!”

“But I am a citizen by birth!”

²⁹ The soldiers standing ready to lash him, quickly disappeared when they heard Paul was a Roman citizen, and the commander was frightened because he had ordered him bound and whipped.

³⁰ The next day the commander freed him from his chains and ordered the chief priests into session with the Jewish Council. He had Paul brought in before them to try to find out what the trouble was all about.

23 Gazing intently at the Council, Paul began:

“Brothers, I have always lived before God in all good conscience!”

² Instantly Ananias the High Priest commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth.

³ Paul said to him, “God shall slap you, you whitewashed pigpen.^[y] What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?”

⁴ Those standing near Paul said to him, “Is that the way to talk to God’s High Priest?”

⁵ “I didn’t realize he was the High Priest, brothers,” Paul replied, “for the Scriptures say, ‘Never speak evil of any of your rulers.’”

⁶ Then Paul thought of something! Part of the Council were Sadducees, and part were Pharisees! So he shouted, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, as were all my ancestors! And I am being tried here today because I believe in the resurrection of the dead!”

⁷ This divided the Council right down the middle—the Pharisees against the Sadducees— ⁸ for the Sadducees say there is no resurrection or angels or even eternal spirit within us,^[z] but the Pharisees believe in all of these.

⁹ So a great clamor arose. Some of the Jewish leaders^[aa] jumped up to argue that Paul was all right. “We see nothing wrong with him,” they shouted. “Perhaps a spirit or angel spoke to him there on the Damascus road.”

¹⁰ The shouting grew louder and louder, and the men were tugging at Paul from both sides, pulling him this way and that. Finally the commander, fearing they would tear him apart, ordered his soldiers to take him away from them by force and bring him back to the armory.

¹¹ That night the Lord stood beside Paul and said, “Don’t worry, Paul; just as you have told the people about me here in Jerusalem, so you must also in Rome.”

^12-13 The next morning some forty or more of the Jews got together and bound themselves by a curse neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul! ¹⁴ Then they went to the chief priests and elders and told them what they had done. ¹⁵ “Ask the commander to bring Paul back to the Council again,” they requested. “Pretend you want to ask a few more questions. We will kill him on the way.”

¹⁶ But Paul’s nephew got wind of their plan and came to the armory and told Paul.

¹⁷ Paul called one of the officers and said, “Take this boy to the commander. He has something important to tell him.”

¹⁸ So the officer did, explaining, “Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you to tell you something.”

¹⁹ The commander took the boy by the hand, and leading him aside asked, “What is it you want to tell me, lad?”

²⁰ “Tomorrow,” he told him, “the Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the Council again, pretending they want to get some more information. ²¹ But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the road ready to jump him and kill him. They have bound themselves under a curse to neither eat nor drink till he is dead. They are out there now, expecting you to agree to their request.”

²² “Don’t let a soul know you told me this,” the commander warned the boy as he left. ^23-24 Then the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight! Take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted cavalry. Give Paul a horse to ride and get him safely to Governor Felix.”

²⁵ Then he wrote this letter to the governor:

²⁶ “From: Claudius Lysias

“To: His Excellency, Governor Felix.

“Greetings!

²⁷ “This man was seized by the Jews, and they were killing him when I sent the soldiers to rescue him, for I learned that he was a Roman citizen. ²⁸ Then I took him to their Council to try to find out what he had done. ²⁹ I soon discovered it was something about their Jewish beliefs, certainly nothing worthy of imprisonment or death. ³⁰ But when I was informed of a plot to kill him, I decided to send him on to you and will tell his accusers to bring their charges before you.”

³¹ So that night, as ordered, the soldiers took Paul to Antipatris. ³² They returned to the armory the next morning, leaving him with the cavalry to take him on to Caesarea.

³³ When they arrived in Caesarea, they presented Paul and the letter to the governor. ³⁴ He read it and then asked Paul where he was from.

“Cilicia,” Paul answered.

³⁵ “I will hear your case fully when your accusers arrive,” the governor told him, and ordered him kept in the prison at King Herod’s palace.

24 Five days later Ananias the High Priest arrived with some of the Jewish leaders^[ab] and the lawyer Tertullus, to make their accusations against Paul. ² When Tertullus was called forward, he laid charges against Paul in the following address to the governor:

“Your Excellency, you have given quietness and peace to us Jews and have greatly reduced the discrimination against us. ³ And for this we are very, very grateful to you. ⁴ But lest I bore you, kindly give me your attention for only a moment as I briefly outline our case against this man. ⁵ For we have found him to be a troublemaker, a man who is constantly inciting the Jews throughout the entire world to riots and rebellions against the Roman government. He is a ringleader of the sect known as the Nazarenes. ⁶ Moreover, he was trying to defile the Temple when we arrested him.

“We would have given him what he justly deserves, ⁷ but Lysias, the commander of the garrison, came and took him violently away from us, ⁸ demanding that he be tried by Roman law. You can find out the truth of our accusations by examining him yourself.”

⁹ Then all the other Jews chimed in, declaring that everything Tertullus said was true.

¹⁰ Now it was Paul’s turn. The governor motioned for him to rise and speak.

Paul began: “I know, sir, that you have been a judge of Jewish affairs for many years, and this gives me confidence as I make my defense. ¹¹ You can quickly discover that it was no more than twelve days ago that I arrived in Jerusalem to worship at the Temple, ¹² and you will discover that I have never incited a riot in any synagogue or on the streets of any city; ¹³ and these men certainly cannot prove the things they accuse me of doing.

¹⁴ “But one thing I do confess, that I believe in the way of salvation, which they refer to as a sect; I follow that system of serving the God of our ancestors; I firmly believe in the Jewish law and everything written in the books of prophecy; ¹⁵ and I believe, just as these men do, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and ungodly. ¹⁶ Because of this, I try with all my strength to always maintain a clear conscience before God and man.

¹⁷ “After several years away, I returned to Jerusalem with money to aid the Jews and to offer a sacrifice to God. ¹⁸ My accusers saw me in the Temple as I was presenting my thank offering.^[ac] I had shaved my head as their laws required, and there was no crowd around me, and no rioting! But some Jews from Turkey were there ¹⁹ (who ought to be here if they have anything against me)— ²⁰ but look! Ask these men right here what wrongdoing their Council found in me, ²¹ except that I said one thing I shouldn’t^[ad] when I shouted out, ‘I am here before the Council to defend myself for believing that the dead will rise again!’”

²² Felix, who knew Christians didn’t go around starting riots,^[ae] told the Jews to wait for the arrival of Lysias, the garrison commander, and then he would decide the case. ²³ He ordered Paul to prison but instructed the guards to treat him gently and not to forbid any of his friends from visiting him or bringing him gifts to make his stay more comfortable.

²⁴ A few days later Felix came with Drusilla, his legal wife,^[af] a Jewess. Sending for Paul, they listened as he told them about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ And as he reasoned with them about righteousness and self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was terrified.

“Go away for now,” he replied, “and when I have a more convenient time, I’ll call for you again.”

²⁶ He also hoped that Paul would bribe him, so he sent for him from time to time and talked with him. ²⁷ Two years went by in this way; then Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And because Felix wanted to gain favor with the Jews, he left Paul in chains.

25 Three days after Festus arrived in Caesarea to take over his new responsibilities, he left for Jerusalem, ² where the chief priests and other Jewish leaders got hold of him and gave him their story about Paul. ³ They begged him to bring Paul to Jerusalem at once. (Their plan was to waylay and kill him.) ⁴ But Festus replied that since Paul was at Caesarea and he himself was returning there soon, ⁵ those with authority in this affair should return with him for the trial.

⁶ Eight or ten days later he returned to Caesarea and the following day opened Paul’s trial.

⁷ On Paul’s arrival in court the Jews from Jerusalem gathered around, hurling many serious accusations which they couldn’t prove. ⁸ Paul denied the charges: “I am not guilty,” he said. “I have not opposed the Jewish laws or desecrated the Temple or rebelled against the Roman government.”

⁹ Then Festus, anxious to please the Jews, asked him, “Are you willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial before me?”

^10-11 But Paul replied, “No! I demand my privilege of a hearing before the emperor himself. You know very well I am not guilty. If I have done something worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die! But if I am innocent, neither you nor anyone else has a right to turn me over to these men to kill me. I appeal to Caesar.”

¹² Festus conferred with his advisors and then replied, “Very well! You have appealed to Caesar, and to Caesar you shall go!”

¹³ A few days later King Agrippa arrived with Bernice^[ag] for a visit with Festus. ¹⁴ During their stay of several days Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. “There is a prisoner here,” he told him, “whose case was left for me by Felix. ¹⁵ When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and other Jewish leaders gave me their side of the story and asked me to have him killed. ¹⁶ Of course I quickly pointed out to them that Roman law does not convict a man before he is tried. He is given an opportunity to defend himself face-to-face with his accusers.

¹⁷ “When they came here for the trial, I called the case the very next day and ordered Paul brought in. ¹⁸ But the accusations made against him weren’t at all what I supposed they would be. ¹⁹ It was something about their religion and about someone called Jesus who died, but Paul insists is alive! ²⁰ I was perplexed as to how to decide a case of this kind and asked him whether he would be willing to stand trial on these charges in Jerusalem. ²¹ But Paul appealed to Caesar! So I ordered him back to jail until I could arrange to get him to the emperor.”

²² “I’d like to hear the man myself,” Agrippa said.

And Festus replied, “You shall—tomorrow!”

²³ So the next day, after the king and Bernice had arrived at the courtroom with great pomp, accompanied by military officers and prominent men of the city, Festus ordered Paul brought in.

²⁴ Then Festus addressed the audience: “King Agrippa and all present,” he said, “this is the man whose death is demanded both by the local Jews and by those in Jerusalem! ²⁵ But in my opinion he has done nothing worthy of death. However, he appealed his case to Caesar, and I have no alternative but to send him. ²⁶ But what shall I write the emperor? For there is no real charge against him! So I have brought him before you all, and especially you, King Agrippa, to examine him and then tell me what to write. ²⁷ For it doesn’t seem reasonable to send a prisoner to the emperor without any charges against him!”

26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Go ahead. Tell us your story.”

So Paul, with many gestures,^[ah] presented his defense:

² “I am fortunate, King Agrippa,” he began, “to be able to present my answer before you, ³ for I know you are an expert on Jewish laws and customs. Now please listen patiently!

⁴ “As the Jews are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood in Tarsus^[ai] and later at Jerusalem, and I lived accordingly. ⁵ If they would admit it, they know that I have always been the strictest of Pharisees when it comes to obedience to Jewish laws and customs. ⁶ But the real reason behind their accusations is something else—it is because I am looking forward to the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors. ⁷ The twelve tribes of Israel strive night and day to attain this same hope I have! Yet, O King, for me it is a crime, they say! ⁸ But is it a crime to believe in the resurrection of the dead? Does it seem incredible to you that God can bring men back to life again?

⁹ “I used to believe that I ought to do many horrible things to the followers of Jesus of Nazareth.^{[aj] 10} I imprisoned many of the saints in Jerusalem, as authorized by the High Priests; and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ I used torture to try to make Christians everywhere curse Christ. I was so violently opposed to them that I even hounded them in distant cities in foreign lands.

¹² “I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the chief priests, ¹³ when one day about noon, sir, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell down, and I heard a voice speaking to me in Hebrew, ‘Paul, Paul, why are you persecuting me? You are only hurting yourself.’^[ak]

¹⁵ “‘Who are you, sir?’ I asked.

“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. ¹⁶ Now stand up! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and my witness. You are to tell the world about this experience and about the many other occasions when I shall appear to you. ¹⁷ And I will protect you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am going to send you to the Gentiles ¹⁸ to open their eyes to their true condition so that they may repent and live in the light of God instead of in Satan’s darkness, so that they may receive forgiveness for their sins and God’s inheritance along with all people everywhere whose sins are cleansed away, who are set apart by faith in me.’

¹⁹ “And so, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to that vision from heaven! ²⁰ I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and through Judea, and also to the Gentiles that all must forsake their sins and turn to God—and prove their repentance by doing good deeds. ²¹ The Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this and tried to kill me, ²² but God protected me so that I am still alive today to tell these facts to everyone, both great and small. I teach nothing except what the Prophets and Moses said— ²³ that the Messiah would suffer and be the First to rise from the dead, to bring light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”

²⁴ Suddenly Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Your long studying has broken your mind!”

²⁵ But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. I speak words of sober truth. ²⁶ And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak frankly for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner! ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? But I know you do—”

²⁸ Agrippa interrupted him. “With trivial proofs like these,^[al] you expect me to become a Christian?”

²⁹ And Paul replied, “Would to God that whether my arguments are trivial or strong, both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰ Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others stood and left. ³¹ As they talked it over afterwards they agreed, “This man hasn’t done anything worthy of death or imprisonment.”

³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “He could be set free if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar!”

27 Arrangements were finally made to start us on our way to Rome by ship; so Paul and several other prisoners were placed in the custody of an officer named Julius, a member of the imperial guard. ² We left on a boat^[am] that was scheduled to make several stops along the Turkish coast. I should add that Aristarchus, a Greek from Thessalonica, was with us.

³ The next day when we docked at Sidon, Julius was very kind to Paul and let him go ashore to visit with friends and receive their hospitality. ⁴ Putting to sea from there, we encountered headwinds that made it difficult to keep the ship on course, so we sailed north of Cyprus between the island and the mainland^{[an] 5} and passed along the coast of the provinces of Cilicia and Pamphylia, landing at Myra, in the province of Lycia. ⁶ There our officer found an Egyptian ship from Alexandria, bound for Italy, and put us aboard.

^7-8 We had several days of rough sailing, and finally neared Cnidus;^[ao] but the winds had become too strong, so we ran across to Crete, passing the port of Salome. Beating into the wind with great difficulty and moving slowly along the southern coast, we arrived at Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea. ⁹ There we stayed for several days. The weather was becoming dangerous for long voyages by then because it was late in the year,^[ap] and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it.

¹⁰ “Sirs,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on—perhaps shipwreck, loss of cargo, injuries, and death.” ¹¹ But the officers in charge of the prisoners listened more to the ship’s captain and the owner than to Paul. ¹² And since Fair Havens was an exposed^[aq] harbor—a poor place to spend the winter—most of the crew advised trying to go further up the coast to Phoenix in order to winter there; Phoenix was a good harbor with only a northwest and southwest exposure.

¹³ Just then a light wind began blowing from the south, and it looked like a perfect day for the trip; so they pulled up anchor and sailed along close to shore.

^14-15 But shortly afterwards the weather changed abruptly, and a heavy wind of typhoon strength (a “northeaster,” they called it) caught the ship and blew it out to sea. They tried at first to face back to shore but couldn’t, so they gave up and let the ship run before the gale.

¹⁶ We finally sailed behind a small island named Clauda, where with great difficulty we hoisted aboard the lifeboat that was being towed behind us, ¹⁷ and then banded the ship with ropes to strengthen the hull. The sailors were afraid of being driven across to the quicksands of the African coast,^[ar] so they lowered the topsails and were thus driven before the wind.

¹⁸ The next day as the seas grew higher, the crew began throwing the cargo overboard. ¹⁹ The following day they threw out the tackle and anything else they could lay their hands on. ²⁰ The terrible storm raged unabated many days,^[as] until at last all hope was gone.

²¹ No one had eaten for a long time, but finally Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Fair Havens—you would have avoided all this injury and loss! ²² But cheer up! Not one of us will lose our lives, even though the ship will go down.

²³ “For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me ²⁴ and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul—for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God has granted your request and will save the lives of all those sailing with you.’ ²⁵ So take courage! For I believe God! It will be just as he said! ²⁶ But we will be shipwrecked on an island.”

²⁷ About midnight on the fourteenth night of the storm, as we were being driven to and fro on the Adriatic Sea, the sailors suspected land was near. ²⁸ They sounded and found 120 feet of water below them. A little later they sounded again and found only 90 feet. ²⁹ At this rate they knew they would soon be driven ashore; and fearing rocks along the coast, they threw out four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight.

³⁰ Some of the sailors planned to abandon the ship and lowered the emergency boat as though they were going to put out anchors from the prow. ³¹ But Paul said to the soldiers and commanding officer, “You will all die unless everyone stays aboard.” ³² So the soldiers cut the ropes and let the boat fall off.

³³ As the darkness gave way to the early morning light, Paul begged everyone to eat. “You haven’t touched food for two weeks,” he said. ³⁴ “Please eat something now for your own good! For not a hair of your heads shall perish!”

³⁵ Then he took some hardtack and gave thanks to God before them all, and broke off a piece and ate it. ³⁶ Suddenly everyone felt better and began eating, ³⁷ all 276 of us—for that is the number we had aboard. ³⁸ After eating, the crew lightened the ship further by throwing all the wheat overboard.

³⁹ When it was day, they didn’t recognize the coastline, but noticed a bay with a beach and wondered whether they could get between the rocks and be driven up onto the beach. ⁴⁰ They finally decided to try. Cutting off the anchors and leaving them in the sea, they lowered the rudders, raised the foresail, and headed ashore. ⁴¹ But the ship hit a sandbar^[at] and ran aground. The bow of the ship stuck fast, while the stern was exposed to the violence of the waves and began to break apart.

⁴² The soldiers advised their commanding officer to let them kill the prisoners lest any of them swim ashore and escape. ⁴³ But Julius^[au] wanted to spare Paul, so he told them no. Then he ordered all who could swim to jump overboard and make for land, ⁴⁴ and the rest to try for it on planks and debris from the broken ship. So everyone escaped safely ashore!

28 ^1-2 We soon learned that we were on the island of Malta. The people of the island were very kind to us, building a bonfire on the beach to welcome and warm us in the rain and cold.

³ As Paul gathered an armful of sticks to lay on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, fastened itself onto his hand! ⁴ The people of the island saw it hanging there and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt! Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live!”

⁵ But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed. ⁶ The people waited for him to begin swelling or suddenly fall dead; but when they had waited a long time and no harm came to him, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.

⁷ Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the governor of the island. He welcomed us courteously and fed us for three days. ⁸ As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery. Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, healed him! ⁹ Then all the other sick people in the island came and were cured. ¹⁰ As a result we were showered with gifts,^[av] and when the time came to sail, people put on board all sorts of things we would need for the trip.

¹¹ It was three months after the shipwreck before we set sail again, and this time it was in The Twin Brothers of Alexandria, a ship that had wintered at the island. ¹² Our first stop was Syracuse, where we stayed three days. ¹³ From there we circled around to Rhegium; a day later a south wind began blowing, so the following day we arrived at Puteoli, ¹⁴ where we found some believers! They begged us to stay with them seven days. Then we went on to Rome.

¹⁵ The brothers in Rome had heard we were coming and came to meet us at the Forum^[aw] on the Appian Way. Others joined us at The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶ When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to live wherever he wanted to, though guarded by a soldier.