Some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and took us to the house of Mnason, a man from Cyprus, one of the early disciples, to spend the night.

But they kept shouting in the crowd, some one thing, some another. As he could not with certainty find out about it, because of the tumult, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.

Are you not the Egyptian who sometime ago raised a mob of four thousand cut-throats and led them out into the desert?"

The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of Him who was speaking to me.

Since I could not see because of the dazzling sheen of that light, I was led by the hand by my companions and in this way I reached Damascus.

and saw Him saying to me, 'Make haste and at once get out of Jerusalem, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'

They listened to him until he said this, and then all at once they shouted, "Away with such a fellow from the earth! He is certainly not fit to live!"

Paul answered, "I did not know, brothers, that he was high priest, for the Scripture says, 'You must not speak evil against any ruler of your people.'"

But that same night the Lord stood by Paul's side and said, "Courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, you must testify for me in Rome, too."

After day had dawned, the Jews formed a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink till they had killed Paul.

They went to the high priests and elders and said to them, "We have taken a solemn oath not to taste a morsel till we have killed Paul.

But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him; they have taken an oath not to eat or drink till they have killed him. They are all ready now, just waiting for your promise."

So the colonel sent the young man away, with strict directions not to tell anybody that he had notified him of this plot.

So the soldiers took Paul, as they had been ordered to do, and brought him by night as far as Antipatris.

But, not to detain you too long, I beg you in your kindness to give us a brief hearing.

for you can verify the fact that not more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship,

He ordered the captain to keep Paul in custody but to let him have freedom and not to prevent his friends from showing him kindness.

After staying there not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day, after taking his seat on the judge's bench, he ordered Paul brought in.

If I am guilty and have done anything that deserves death, I am not begging to keep from dying, but if there is nothing in the charges which these men make against me, no one can give me up as a favor to them. I appeal to the emperor."

I answered them that it was not the Roman custom to give up anyone for punishment until the accused met his accusers face to face and had an opportunity to defend himself against their accusations.

But when his accusers appeared before me, they did not charge him with the crimes of which I had been suspecting him.

Then Festus said: "King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you now see this man about whom the whole Jewish nation made suit to me, both in Jerusalem and here, continuously clamoring that he ought not to live any longer.

But I found that he had not done anything for which he deserved to die; however, as he has himself appealed to his Majesty, I have decided to send him up.

which promise our twelve tribes, by devotedly worshiping day and night, hope to see fulfilled for them. It is for this hope, your Majesty, that I am accused by some Jews.

Therefore, King Agrippa, I could not disobey that heavenly vision,

Paul answered, "I am not going crazy, your Excellency, Festus, but I am telling the straight truth.

The king, indeed, knows about this and I can speak to him with freedom. I do not believe that any of this escaped his notice, for it did not occur in a corner!

Paul answered, "In brief or at length, I would to God that not only you but all my hearers today were what I am -- excepting these chains!"

Agrippa said to Festus, "He might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed to the emperor."

For a number of days we sailed on slowly and with difficulty arrived off Cnidus. Then, because the wind did not permit us to go on, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Cape Salmone,

by saying, "Men, I see that this voyage is likely to be attended by disaster and heavy loss, not only to the cargo and the ship, but also to our lives."

And as the harbor was not fit to winter in, the majority favored the plan to set sail from there and see if they could reach Phoenix and winter there, this being a harbor in Crete facing west-southwest and west-north-west.

But it was not long before a violent wind, which is called a Northeaster, swept down from it.

The ship was snatched along by it and since she could not face the wind, we gave up and let her drive.

After they had gone a long time without any food, then Paul got up among them and said: "Men, you ought to have listened to me and not to have sailed from Crete, and you would have escaped this disaster and loss.

For just last night an angel of God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, stood by my side

It was now the fourteenth night and we were drifting on the Adriatic sea, when at midnight the sailors suspected that land was near.

Until day was about to break Paul kept begging them all to take something to eat. He said, "For fourteen days today you have been constantly waiting and going without food, not even taking a bite.

So I beg you to eat something, for it is necessary for your safety. For not a hair will be lost from the head of a single one of you."

When day broke, they could not recognize the land, but they spied a bay that had a beach, and determined, if possible, to run the ship ashore.

When the natives saw the reptile hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "Beyond a doubt this man is a murderer, for though he has been rescued from the sea, justice will not let him live."

But the Jews objected, so I was forced to appeal to the Emperor; yet it was not because I had any charge to make against my own nation.

They answered him, "We have not received any letters from Judea about you, and not one of our Jewish brothers has come and reported or stated anything wicked about you.

So they set a day for him, and came in large numbers to see him at the place where he was lodging, and from morning till night he continued to explain to them the kingdom of God, at the same time giving them his own testimony and trying from the law of Moses and the prophets to convince them about Jesus.

Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.

Because they could not agree among themselves, they started to leave, when Paul had spoken one word more: "The Holy Spirit beautifully expressed it in speaking to your forefathers through the prophet Isaiah: