As soon as he saw the vision, we made efforts to start for Macedonia, inferring that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Now it happened as we went to the place of prayer that a slave-girl met us, possessed by a spirit of ventriloquism, and a source of great profit to her owners by her power of fortune-telling.

She did this for a number of days. Then Paul turned in annoyance and told the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you out of her!" And it left her that very moment.

Then he took them at that very hour of the night and washed their wounds and got baptized instantly, he and all his family.

explaining and quoting passages to prove that the messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, and that "the Jesus I proclaim to you is the messiah."

But when the Jews of Thessalonica heard that Paul was proclaiming the word of God at Beroea as well, they came to create a disturbance and a riot among the crowds at Beroea too.

Paul's escort brought him as far as Athens and left with instructions that Silas and Timotheus were to join him as soon as possible.

While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his soul was irritated at the sight of the idols that filled the city.

You talk of some things that sound strange to us; so we want to know what they mean."

So Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe at every turn that you are a most religious people.

The God who made the world and all things in it, he, as Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in shrines that are made by human hands;

for it is in him that we live and move and exist ??as some of your own poets have said, 'We too belong to His race.'

Well, as the race of God, we ought not to imagine that the divine nature resembles gold or silver or stone, the product of human art and invention.

Such ages of ignorance God overlooked, but he now charges men that they are all everywhere to repent,

But on hearing of a 'resurrection of dead men,' some sneered, while others said, "We will hear you again on that subject."

By the time Silas and Timotheus came south from Macedonia, Paul was engrossed in this preaching of the word, arguing to the Jews that the messiah was Jesus.

But as these are merely questions of words and persons and your own Law, you can attend to them for yourselves. I decline to adjudicate upon matters like that."

He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord and he preached and taught about Jesus with ardour and accuracy, though all the baptism he knew was that of John.

for he publicly refuted the Jews with might and main, showing from the scriptures that the messiah was Jesus.

It was when Apollos was in Corinth that Paul, after passing through the inland districts, came down to Ephesus. There he found some disciples,

"John," said Paul, "baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."

This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

and numbers who had practised magic arts collected their books and burned them in the presence of all. On adding up the value of them, it was found that they were worth two thousand pounds.

It was about that time that a great commotion arose over the Way. This was how it happened.

You also see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost all over Asia this fellow Paul has drawn off a considerable number of people by his persuasions. He declares that hand-made gods are not gods at all.

Now the danger is not only that we will have our trade discredited but that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will fall into contempt and that she will be degraded from her majestic glory, she whom all Asia and the wide world worship."

The secretary of state then got the mob calmed down, and said to them, "Men of Ephesus, who on earth does not know that the city of Ephesus is Warden of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell from heaven?

Instead of that, you have brought these men here who are guilty neither of sacrilege nor of blasphemy against our goddess.

Only, I know this, that in town after town the holy Spirit testifies to me that bonds and troubles are awaiting me.

I know to-day that not one of you will ever see my face again ??not one of you among whom I moved as I preached the Reign.

Therefore do I protest before you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you;

I know that when I am gone, fierce wolves will get in among you, and they will not spare the flock; yes.

Now, they have heard that you teach all Jews who live among Gentiles to break away from Moses and not to circumcise their children, nor to follow the old customs.

associate yourself with them, purify yourself with them, pay their expenses so that they may be free to have their heads shaved, and then everybody will understand there is nothing in these stories about you, but that, on the contrary, you are guided by obedience to the Law.

As for Gentile believers, we have issued our decision that they must avoid food that has been offered to idols, the taste of blood, flesh of animals that have been strangled, and sexual vice."

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.

They were attempting to kill him, when word reached the commander of the garrison that the whole of Jerusalem was in confusion.

as the high priest and all the council of elders can testify. It was from them that I got letters to the brotherhood at Damascus, and then journeyed thither to bind those who had gathered there and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.

As I could not see owing to the dazzling glare of that light,. my companions took my hand and so I reached Damascus.

When I returned to Jerusalem, it happened that while I was praying in the temple I fell into a trance

and that I stood and approved when the blood of your martyr Stephen was being shed, taking charge of the clothes of his murderers!'

Till he said that, they had listened to him. But at that they shouted, "Away with such a creature from the earth! He is not fit to live!"

Then those who were to have examined him left him at once alone; even the commander was alarmed to find that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!"

The quarrel then became so violent that the commander was afraid they would tear Paul in pieces; he therefore ordered the troops to march down and take him from them by force, bringing him inside the barracks.

Now you and the Sanhedrin must inform the commander that you propose to investigate this case in detail, so that he may have Paul brought down to you. We will be all ready to kill him on the way down."

He answered, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to-morrow to the Sanhedrin, on the plea that they propose to examine his case in detail.

Then the commander dismissed the youth, bidding him "Tell nobody that you have informed me of this."

This man had been seized by the Jews and was on the point of being murdered by them, when I came on them with the troops and rescued him, as I had ascertained that he was a Roman citizen.

where I found he was accused of matters relating to their Law but not impeached for any crime that deserved death or imprisonment.

I am informed a plot is to be laid against him, so I am sending him to you at once, telling his accusers that they must impeach him before you. Farewell."

he said, "I will go into your case whenever your accusers arrive," giving orders that he was to be kept in the praetorium of Herod.

So Paul was summoned, and then Tertullus proceeded to accuse him. "Your excellency," he said to Felix, "as it is owing to you that we enjoy unbroken peace, and as it is owing to your wise care that the state of this nation has been improved in every way and everywhere,

The Jews joined in the attack, declaring that such were the facts of the case.

I certainly admit to you that I worship our fathers' God according to the methods of what they call a 'sect'; but I believe all that is written in the Law and in the prophets,

and I cherish the same hope in God as they accept, namely that there is to be a resurrection of the just and the unjust.

and it was in presenting these that I was found within the temple. I was ceremonially pure, I was not mixed up in any mob or riot; no, the trouble was caused by some Jews from Asia,

Failing them, let these men yonder tell what fault they found with my appearance before the Sanhedrin! ??21 unless it was with the single sentence I uttered, when I stood and said, 'It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial to-day before you.'"

Festus replied that Paul would be kept in custody at Caesarea, but that he himself meant to leave for Caesarea before long ??5 "when," he added, "your competent authorities can come down with me and charge the man with whatever crime he has committed."

Paul said, "I am standing before Caesar's tribunal; that is where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong whatever to the Jews ??you know that perfectly well.

If I am a criminal, if I have done anything that deserves death, I do not object to die; but if there is nothing in any of their charges against me, then no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!"

but when his accusers stood up they did not charge him with any of the crimes that I had expected.

I could not find he had done anything that deserved death, so I decided to send him, on his own appeal, to the emperor.

Only, I have nothing definite to write to the sovereign about him. So I have brought him up before you all, and especially before you, O king Agrippa, in order that I may have something to write as the result of your cross-examination.

"I consider myself fortunate, king Agrippa, in being able to defend myself to-day before you against all that the Jews charge me with;

How I lived from my youth up among my own nation and at Jerusalem, all that early career of mine, is known to all the Jews.

They know me of old. They know, if they chose to admit it, that as a Pharisee I lived by the principles of the strictest party in our religion.

[Move to the beginning of vs 23] Why should you consider it incredible that God raises the dead,

that their eyes may be opened and that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, to get remission of their sins and an inheritance among those who are consecrated by faith in me.'

I announced to those at Damascus and at Jerusalem in the first instance, then all over the land of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they were to repent and turn to God by acting up to their repentance.

that the Christ is capable of suffering, and that he should be the first to rise from the dead and bring the message of light to the People and to the Gentiles?"

"Long or short," said Paul, "I would to God that not only you but all my hearers to-day could be what I am ??barring these chains!"

They retired to discuss the affair, and agreed that "this man has done nothing to deserve death or imprisonment."

So the anchors were cut away and left in the sea, while the crew unlashed the ropes that tied the rudders, hoisted the foresail to the breeze, and headed for the beach.

while the rest were to manage with planks or pieces of wreckage. In this way it turned out that the whole company got safe to land.

It was only after our escape that we found out the island was called Malta.

The natives waited for him to swell up or drop down dead in a moment, but after waiting a long while and observing that no harm had befallen him, they changed their minds and declared he was a god.

They meant to release me after examination, as I was innocent of any crime that deserved death.

But the Jews objected, and so I was obliged to appeal to Caesar ??not that I had any charge to bring against my own nation.

We think it only right to let you tell your own story; but as regards this sect, we are well aware that there are objections to it on all hands."

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers,

Be sure of this, then, that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen to it."