Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

Afterwards he went into the synagogue. There for three months he continued to preach fearlessly, explaining in words which carried conviction the truths which concern the Kingdom of God.

And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

the miracles which God wrought by the ministry of Paul being of such an extraordinary nature, that by applying the handkerchiefs,

so that even handkerchiefs or face-towels or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out [of them].

Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also, which dwelt at Ephesus, and fear came on them all. And they magnified the name of the Lord Jesus.

Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Now there happened at that time no small disturbance about the way which he taught.

For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;

which he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, "Sirs ye know that by this craft we have vantage.

Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:

And not only this work of ours is in danger of coming into contempt, but even the temple of the great goddess Diana of being set at nought, and her majesty also which all Asia and the world worships, of being destroyed.

And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.

And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.

Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.

for we are also in peril of being accused of insurrection in regard to this day, there being no occasion by which we shall be able to give an account of this concourse;'

on the first day of the week we assembled to break bread, when Paul, who was to depart on the morrow, gave them a sermon, which lasted till midnight.

And there were many lamps in the upper room, in which they had met together.

and as Paul continued his discourse a great while, a young man, named Eutychus, who was sitting in the window, was seiz'd with a deep sleep, which quite o'er-came him; so that he fell down from the third story, and was taken up dead.

Then he went upstairs again, broke bread, and took some food; and after a long conversation which was continued till daybreak, at last he parted from them.

and when they were come unto him, he said to them, 'Ye -- ye know from the first day in which I came to Asia, how, with you at all times I was;

Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:

and that I have suppressed nothing which could conduce to your profiting; not desisting from preaching to you, and teaching you in public, and from house to house,

And behold now, I go constrained by the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things which shall befall me there,

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

For I am sure of this: that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, which will not spare the flock.

And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

I have shewed you all things, that thus labouring ye ought to help the infirm, and to remember the word of the Lord Jesus, which he himself said, It is happier to give than to receive.

And they were all much grieved, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him: sorrowing most of all at the word which he spake,

Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.

And finding a ship there, which was passing over to Phenicia, we went aboard it, and set sail.

And when we had come in view of Cyprus, going past it on our left, we went on to Syria, and came to land at Tyre: for there the goods which were in the ship had to be taken out.

And then said good-bye to one another; after which we went on board, and they returned home.

From Tyre we sail'd to Ptolemais, which ended our voyage. we saluted the brethren there, and staid a day with them.

And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.

And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.

During our visit, which lasted several days, a Prophet, named Agabus, came down from Judea.

And when he had saluted them, he gave a particular narrative of the things which God had done among the Gentiles by his ministry.

And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:

And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.

Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them;

these having taken, be purified with them, and be at expence with them, that they may shave the head, and all may know that the things of which they have been instructed concerning thee are nothing, but thou dost walk -- thyself also -- the law keeping.

As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication.

Then Paul took the men, and, on the following day, joining in their vow of abstinence, he entered the temple, and gave notice when the days of abstinence would be completed, at which time an offering should be made for each of them.

And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,

The whole city was thrown into confusion, and the people hurried together, and seized Paul and dragged him outside of the Temple, the gates of which were immediately shut.

Which immediately took soldiers and under-captains, and ran down unto them. When they saw the upper-captain and the soldiers; They left smiting of Paul.

And as Paul should have been carried into the castle; He said unto the high captain, "May I speak unto thee?" Which said, "Canst thou speak Greek?

Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?

But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.

Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.

I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.

And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,

And he said unto me, 'The God of our fathers hath ordained thee before, that thou shouldest know his will, and shouldest see that which is rightful, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth:

For thou shalt be a witness for him to all men, of the things which thou hast seen and heard.

Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

So on the morrow, desirous to know of a certainty what it was of which he was accused by the Jews, he loosed him from the bonds, and commanded the high-priest and all the sanhedrim to appear, and bringing Paul down, set him before them.

at which the high priest Ananias order'd those that were near him to strike him on the face:

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 there arose a great cry, and the scribes which were of the Pharisees' part arose and strove, saying, "We find none evil in this man. Though a spirit, or an angel hath appeared to him, let us not strive against God."

And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.

And he took him, and led him to the high captain, and said, "Paul the prisoner called me unto him and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, which hath a certain matter to show thee."

And the chief captain having taken him by the hand, and having withdrawn by themselves, inquired, 'What is that which thou hast to tell me?'

But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee.

He further ordered them to provide horses on which to mount Paul, so as to bring him safely to Felix, the governor.

He also wrote a letter of which these were the contents:

and, intending to know the cause for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their sanhedrim,

Then it became clear to me that it was a question of their law, and that nothing was said against him which might be a reason for prison or death.

But an ambush, which was going to be laid for the man by the Jews, being discovered to me, immediately I sent him to thee, telling his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.

Indeed therefore, the soldiers, according to that which was precisely arranged for them, having taken Paul, they brought him through the night to Antipatris.

Which when they came to Caesarea, they delivered the epistle to the deputy, and presented Paul before him.

After reading the letter, the governor asked which province Paul was from. On learning that he was from Cilicia,

So Paul was sent for, and Tertullus began to impeach him as follows: "Indebted as we are," he said, "to you, most noble Felix, for the perfect peace which we enjoy, and for reforms which your wisdom has introduced to this nation,

"We owe it to your Excellency," he said, "that we are enjoying profound peace, and we owe it to your foresight that this nation is constantly securing reforms--advantages which we very gratefully accept at all times and places.

8 By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him."

having commanded his accusers to come to thee, from whom thou mayest be able, thyself having examined, to know concerning all these things of which we accuse him;'

But Paul (the governor having made him a sign to speak) replied, Knowing that for so many years thou hast been the judge of this nation, I with the more confidence offer my defence respecting the matters which concern me:

thou being able to learn that there are for me not more than twelve days from which I went up to worship in Jerusalem.

nor are they able to prove against me the things concerning which they now accuse me.

But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:

And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.

Now, after many years, intending to do, alms, unto my nation, I arrived, - also to present offerings; among which they found me, purified in the temple, not with a multitude, nor with tumult;

in which certain Jews from Asia did find me purified in the temple, not with multitude, nor with tumult,

Howbeit, there were certain Jews out of Asia, which ought to be here present before thee, and accuse me, if they had ought against me:

except concerning this one voice, in which I cried, standing among them -- Concerning a rising again of the dead I am judged to-day by you.'

And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

And as he discoursed of righteousness, and temperance, and the judgment which is ready to be revealed, Felix being greatly terrified, replied, Go, for the present, I will some time hence take another opportunity of calling for thee.

At the same time he was also hoping to get money from Paul [as a bribe]; so he continued to send for him quite often and talked with him.

So Festus, having come into that part of the country which was under his rule, after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him.

When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and continued to bring a number of serious charges against him, none of which they could prove.

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."

To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.

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