But, when his accusers came forward, they brought no charge of wrong-doing such as I had expected;

So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come in full state and had entered the Audience Chamber, with the superior officers and the principal people of the city, by the order of Festus Paul was brought before them.

And I actually did so at Jerusalem. Acting on the authority of the Chief Priests, I myself threw many of the People of Christ into prison, and, when it was proposed to put them to death, I gave my vote for it.

For several days our progress was slow, and it was only with difficulty that we arrived off Cnidus. As the wind was still unfavorable when we came off Cape Salmone, we sailed under the lee of Crete,

So, when a light wind sprang up from the south, thinking that they had found their opportunity, they weighed anchor and kept along the coast of Crete, close in shore.

It was then, when they had gone a long time without food, that Paul came forward, and said: "My friends, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and so incurred this injury and damage.

It was now the fourteenth night of the storm, and we were drifting about in the Adriatic Sea, when, about midnight, the sailors began to suspect that they were drawing near land.

When Paul said to the Roman Officer and his men: "Unless the sailors remain on board, you cannot be saved."

When daylight came, they could not make out what land it was, but, observing a creek in which there was a beach, they consulted as to whether they could run the ship safely into it.

When we were all safe, we found that the island was called Malta.

Paul had gathered a quantity of dry sticks and laid them on the fire, when a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened on his hand.

When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another: "Evidently this man is a murderer, for though he has been saved from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live."

They also presented us with many gifts, and when we set sail they put supplies of necessaries on board.

Three days after our arrival, Paul invited the leading Jews to meet him; and, when they came, he spoke to them as follows: "Brothers, although I had done nothing hostile to the interests of our nation or to our ancestral customs, yet I was sent from Jerusalem as a prisoner, and handed over to the Romans.

The Romans, when they had examined me, were ready to release me, because there was nothing in my conduct deserving death.

They then fixed a day with him, and came to the place where he was staying, in even larger numbers, when Paul proceeded to lay the subject before them. He bore his testimony to the Kingdom of God, and tried to convince them about Jesus, by arguments drawn from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets--speaking from morning till evening.