But after no long time there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, which is called Euraquilo:

when we were nigh the isle Clauda, we had much ado to hoist in the skiff.

And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

Since many of them had no desire to eat, Paul stood up among them and said, "Men, you should have listened to me and not put out to sea from Crete, thus avoiding this damage and loss.

And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.

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 when the fourteenth night came -- we being borne up and down in the Adria -- toward the middle of the night the sailors were supposing that some country drew nigh to them;

The crew had [by now] lowered the life-boat into the water, pretending to be dropping anchors from the bow, [but were in reality] attempting to abandon ship.

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.

Wherefore, I beseech you to take some food, - for, this, lays a foundation for your safety; for, of no one of you, shall a hair of the head perish.

(Now we were [in] all two hundred seventy six persons on the ship.)

And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.

Now the plan of the soldiers was that they would kill the prisoners lest any escape [by] swimming away,

And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.

And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.

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

And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.

Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us, and entertained us three days courteously.

Now the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and bloody flux; to whom Paul went in, and having prayed, laid his hands on him and healed him.

Now after three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian [one] {with the twin gods Castor and Pollux as its insignia}.

And the brothers and sisters, having heard news about us, came from as far away as the Forum of Appius and Three Inns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was encouraged.

Now it happened that after three days, he called together those who were the most prominent of the Jews. And [when] they had assembled, he said to them, "Men [and] brothers, [although] I had done nothing against [our] people or the customs of our fathers, from Jerusalem I was delivered [as] a prisoner into the hands of the Romans,

Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.

But the Jews objected and forced me to appeal to the emperor, even though I have no countercharge to bring against my own people.

Now it is for this reason that I invited you to come, namely, to see you and speak with you, for it is on account of Israel's hope that I am wearing this chain."

And they said to him, "We have received no letters about you from Judea, nor has any of the brothers come [and] reported or spoken anything evil about you.

But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.

saying, Go thou unto this people, and say, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:

"Be fully assured, therefore, that this salvation--God's salvation--has now been sent to the Gentiles, and that they, at any rate, will give heed."

No translation

Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.

Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

I have a debt to Greeks and to the nations outside; to the wise and to those who have no learning.

For I have no feeling of shame about the good news, because it is the power of God giving salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first, and then to the Greek.

God's righteousness is revealed in it by faith and for faith ??as it is written, Now by faith shall the righteous live.

For whatever is to be known of God is plain to them; God himself has made it plain ??20 for ever since the world was created, his invisible nature, his everlasting power and divine being, have been quite perceptible in what he has made. So they have no excuse.

For from the first making of the world, those things of God which the eye is unable to see, that is, his eternal power and existence, are fully made clear, he having given the knowledge of them through the things which he has made, so that men have no reason for wrongdoing:

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors [of new forms] of evil, disobedient and disrespectful to parents,

Without knowledge, not true to their undertakings, unkind, having no mercy:

who, [although they] know the requirements of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death, not only do they do the same [things], but also they approve of those who do [them].

Therefore you have no excuse or justification, everyone of you who [hypocritically] judges and condemns others; for in passing judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, because you who judge [from a position of arrogance or self-righteousness] are habitually practicing the very same things [which you denounce].

And we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against them that practise such things.

Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God's kindness leads you to repentance?

For there is no respect of persons with God.

For it is not merely those who hear the Law who are righteous in God's sight. No, it is those who follow the Law, who will be justified.

For when those of the nations, which have no law, practise by nature the things of the law, these, having no law, are a law to themselves;

Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rest in the law, boast in God,

and dost know the will, and dost approve the distinctions, being instructed out of the law,

For circumcision is valuable if you observe the Law, but if you break the Law, your having been circumcised has no more value than if you were uncircumcised.

He is no Jew who is merely a Jew outwardly, nor is circumcision something outward in the flesh;

No, a person is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, brought about by the Spirit, not by a written law. That person's praise will come from God, not from people.

And if some have no faith, will that make the faith of God without effect?

Certainly not! Let God be found true [as He will be], though every person be found a liar, just as it is written [in Scripture],

“That You may be justified in Your words,
And prevail when You are judged [by sinful men].”

Now if our wrongdoing serves to emphasize more clearly that God does what is right, what should we say about that? Is God being unjust for sending [His] wrath [on the world]? (I am raising a human objection).

Certainly not! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?

What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

“There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God.

They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

And a way of peace they did not know.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

There is no difference: For all have sinned, and lack the praise that is of valour before God:

but they are now being justified by his free grace through the deliverance that is in Christ Jesus.

It was to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus [and rely confidently on Him as Savior].

Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

For we hold that a man is brought into right standing with God by faith, that observance of the law has no connection with it.

Do we then make the law of none effect through faith? God forbid: nay, we establish the law.

For if Abraham was accepted as righteous through works, he hath ground of boasting. But he hath no ground of boasting before God.

Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

whereas in the case of a man who pleads no actions of his own, but simply believes in Him who declares the ungodly free from guilt, his faith is placed to his credit as righteousness.

“Blessed and happy and favored is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account nor charge against him.”

Now does this blessedness come to the circumcised alone, or also to the uncircumcised? For we say, "Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness."

How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised!

For if they which are of law be heirs, faith is made vain, and the promise made of no effect.

Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

With no ground for hope, Abraham, sustained by hope, put faith in God; in order that, in fulfillment of the words-'So many shall thy descendants be,' he might become 'the Father of many nations.'

And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:

But he did not doubt or waver in unbelief concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and empowered by faith, giving glory to God,

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

Through whom, in the same way, we have been able by faith to come to this grace in which we now are; and let us have joy in hope of the glory of God.

And not only this, but [with joy] let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance;

For we know that trouble develops endurance, and endurance strength of character, and strength of character hope,

Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Now it is an extraordinary thing for one to willingly give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a good man [one who is noble and selfless and worthy] someone might even dare to die.

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today].

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all people [no one being able to stop it or escape its power], because they all sinned.

(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Yet [physical] death ruled [over mankind] from the time of Adam to Moses, even over those people who had not sinned the way Adam did. [Now] Adam prefigured the coming of Jesus.

But there is no comparison between God's gift and that offense. For if one man's offense made the mass of mankind die, God's mercy and his gift given through the favor of the one man Jesus Christ have far more powerfully affected mankind.

So then, just as [God's] judgment came, condemning all people [to physical death] because of one sin [i.e., Adam's]; even so the free gift of being made right with God and [resulting in] life may be received by all people because of one man's [i.e., Christ's] act of righteousness. [Note: This "life" may refer to spiritual life now, or to being made alive in the resurrection, which would reverse the curse of physical death caused by Adam's sin].