Then Paul associated himself with the men next day; he had himself purified along with them and went into the temple to give notice of the time when the days of purification would be completed ??the time, that is to say, when the sacrifice could be offered for each one of them.

And as Paul was about to be brought into the castle, he saith unto the chief captain, May I say something unto thee? And he said, Dost thou know Greek?

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.

"Brothers and fathers," he said, "listen to what I have to say in my defense."

And hearing that he addressed them in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more quiet; and he says,

And he says, I am Jewish man, having been born in Tarsus of Cilicia, having been brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the accuracy of patristic law, being a zealot of God, as you all are this day;

I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, "'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'

And I saw Him say to me, Hurry and go quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.

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.

which made Paul say, "may God strike thee, thou plaister'd wall: you sit to judge me according to law, and in defiance of the law you order me to be struck!"

And those who were near said, Do you say such words against God's high priest

Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.

So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee.

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

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 when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.

he said, "I will hear all you have to say, when your accusers also have come." And he ordered him to be detained in custody in Herod's Palace.

but not to trespass upon you too far, be pleas'd to hear what I have to say in brief, with your usual indulgence.

And from whom you will be able, by questioning him yourself, to get knowledge of all the things which we say against him.

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:

Or else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council,

Some days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was herself a Jewess, and, sending for Paul, listened to what he had to say about faith in Christ Jesus.

Let therefore the persons of authority among you, says he, going down too, if there be anything in this man, accuse him.

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.

And Agrippa said to Festus, I myself also would wish to hear the man. He says, To-morrow you shall hear him.

And Festus says, O king Agrippa, and all ye men present with us, you see this man, concerning whom the whole multitude of the Jews is besieging me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying out that it does not behoove him to live any longer.

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:

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 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.

We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me? You cannot kick against the goad!'

Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:

And as he answered for his defence with these things, Festus says with a loud voice, Thou art mad, Paul; much learning turns thee to madness.

But Paul says, I am not a maniac, most noble Festus; but I speak forth the words of truth and soberness.

As they were leaving, they began to say to each other, "This man hasn't been doing anything to deserve death or imprisonment."

However the officer let himself be persuaded by the captain and the owner rather than by anything Paul could say,

But now, I say to you, be of good heart, for there will be no loss of life, but only of the ship.

And, when the natives saw the brute hanging out from his hand, they began to say, one to another - Doubtless, this man is, a murderer, whom, though brought safely through out of the sea, Justice, hath not suffered, to live.

whereas, they, were expecting, that he was about to become inflamed, or to fall down suddenly dead; - but, when they had been long expecting, and had observed, nothing unusual, happening unto him, they changed their minds, and began to say he was a god.

And it came to pass, after three days, that he called together those who were the chief of the Jews; and, when they came together, he began to say unto them - I, brethren, though I had done nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, as a prisoner, out of Jerusalem, was delivered into the hands of the Romans;

But when the Jews made protest against it, I had to put my cause into Caesar's hands; not because I have anything to say against my nation.

And they said to him, We have not had letters from Judaea about you, and no one of the brothers has come to us here to give an account or say any evil about you.

Unable to agree among themselves, they at last left him, but not before Paul had spoken a parting word to them, saying, "Right well did the Holy Spirit say to your forefathers through the Prophet Isaiah:

Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:

That is to say, that all of us may be comforted together by the faith which is in you and in me.

For in it there is a revelation of the Divine Righteousness resulting from faith and leading on to faith; as Scripture says- -'Through faith the righteous man shall find Life.'

So that his invisible things, that is to say, his eternal power and godhead, are understood and seen by the works from the creation of the world. So that they are without excuse,

That, I say, is why God abandoned them to degrading passions. Even the women among them perverted the natural use of their bodies to the unnatural;

Therefore you have nothing to say in your own defense, whoever you are who set yourself up as a judge. In judging others you condemn yourself, for you who set yourself up as a judge do the very same things.

Now we [Jews] know that God's judgment against people who practice such things [i.e., the Gentiles] is according to truth. [Note: Some use "You say," at the beginning of the sentence, making it an assertion of the Jews which Paul sets about to answer].

that is to say: praise, honour, and immortality, to them which continue in good doing, and seek eternal life.

In the day when God will be a judge of the secrets of men, as it says in the good news of which I am a preacher, through Jesus Christ.

You who give teaching to others, do you give it to yourself? you who say that a man may not take what is not his, do you take what is not yours?

You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob [pagan] temples [of valuable idols and offerings]?

For, as Scripture says-'The name of God is reviled among the Gentiles because of you'!

but it is the Jew, who is so inwardly, and it is the circumcision of the heart, according to the spiritual, not the literal sense, which have the approbation, I do not say of men, but of God.

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].”

But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)

But [as you might say] if through my lie God’s truth was magnified and abounded to His glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner?

And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.

What say we then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise. For we have already proved how that both Jews and gentiles are all under sin,

As Scripture says-'There is not even one who is righteous,

[Psa. 5:9 says], "Their throats are like open graves [i.e., they are foul-mouthed]. They have spoken deceitfully." [Psa. 90:3 says], "There is snake venom under their lips [i.e., their words are deadly]."

[Psa. 10:7 says], "Their speech is full of cursing and bitterness."

[Isa. 59:7ff says], "Their feet [take them where they] are quick to commit murder.

[Psa. 36:1 says], "They do not view God with reverence."

Now we know that whatever the things the law says, it speaks to those under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world be under judgment to God.

To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

for what does the scripture say? And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

As David says that there is a blessing on the man to whose account God puts righteousness without works, saying,

"Blessed," he says, "are those whose iniquities have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered over.

Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.

As Scripture says-'I have made thee the Father of many nations.') And this they do in the sight of that God in whom Abraham had faith, and who gives life to the dead, and speaks of what does not yet exist as if it did.

For if by the sin of one, death reigned by the means of one, much more shall they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life by the means of one; that is to say, Jesus Christ.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

was it then good that brought death upon me? no, but it was sin, that sin might show it self by being able to bring death upon me by means of that which is good; that sin, I say, by the commandment might appear to be exceedingly destructive.

For I know that in me, that is to say, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. To will is present with me: but I find no means to perform that which is good.

For you did not get the spirit of servants again to put you in fear, but the spirit of sons was given to you, by which we say, Abba, Father.

And in the same way the Spirit is a help to our feeble hearts: for we are not able to make prayer to God in the right way; but the Spirit puts our desires into words which are not in our power to say;

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Who will say anything against the saints of God? It is God who makes us clear from evil;

Scripture says-'For thy sake we are being killed all the day long, We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.'

I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,

Bears me out when I say that there is a great weight of sorrow upon me and that my heart is never free from pain.

Neither are all [Jewish] people children [of God], [simply] because they are Abraham's descendants. But [Gen. 21:12 says], "It is through Isaac that you [i.e., Abraham] will have descendants."

That is, it is not the children of the body [Abraham’s natural descendants] who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are counted as [Abraham’s true] descendants.

This agrees with the other Scripture which says, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated."

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

For he says to Moses, I will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy, and I will feel compassion for whom I will feel compassion.

For the scripture says to Pharaoh, For this very thing I have raised thee up from amongst men, that I might thus shew in thee my power, and so that my name should be declared in all the earth.

Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?

that is to say, us which he called, not of the Jews only, but also of the gentiles.

As he says also in Hosea, I will call not-my-people My people; and the-not-beloved Beloved.

[Hosea 1:10 says], "And it will happen that in the very place where people were told, 'You people do not belong to me [i.e., God],' they will be called children of the living God."

And Isaiah says about Israel, Even if the number of the children of Israel is as the sand of the sea, only a small part will get salvation:

Even as Isaiah says in an earlier place, "Were it not that the Lord, the God of Hosts, had left us some few descendants, we should have become like Sodom, and have come to resemble Gomorrah."