and then, he said, the principal men among you may go down with me; if there is any thing against this man they may prosecute 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 indeed I have done wrong or committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die; but if those things of which they accuse me are nothing, no man may give me up to them; I appeal to Caesar.

and as they stayed for several days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king. He said, "There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix,

So they came back here with me, and I made no delay to take my seat on the judge's bench, and ordered the man to be brought in.

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

They merely had a quarrel with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died, but who Paul kept saying was still alive.

on the morrow, therefore -- on the coming of Agrippa and Bernice with much display, and they having entered into the audience chamber, with the chief captains also, and the principal men of the city, and Festus having ordered -- Paul was brought forth.

"King Agrippa and all here present," said Festus, "you see before you a man of whom the entire body of the Jews at Jerusalem and also here have complained to me. They loudly insist he ought not to live any longer.

“So then, all the Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation [the Jewish people], and in Jerusalem.

for they have known all along from the first, if they would but testify to it, that I as a Pharisee have lived by the standard of the strictest sect of our religion.

to which our twelve tribes hope to attain as [they] earnestly serve [him] night and day. Concerning this hope I am being accused by the Jews, O king!

That was what I did at Jerusalem; yes, I received authority from the high priests and shut behind the prison bars many of God's people. Yes, when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them, and often in all the synagogues

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

I can speak boldly of these things because the King knows [they are true]. And I am convinced that none of these things are hidden from you, for none of them have been done in a corner [i.e., secretly].

And, Paul, answered - I could pray unto God that, both almost and altogether, not only thou but all they who are hearing me this day, might become such, - as even, I, am, excepting these bonds.

And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:

and after leaving the room, as they continued to talk the matter over together, they said, "This man has done nothing to deserve death or imprisonment."

When it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they turned over Paul and some other prisoners to a colonel of the imperial regiment, named Julius.

The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius, treating Paul kindly, allowed him to go to his friends so they could provide him with what he needed.

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.

When a light breeze from the south began to blow, thinking their purpose was about to be realized, they weighed anchor and coasted along by Crete, hugging the shore,

But very soon a violent wind which they call a Northeaster rushed down from it.

After hoisting it on board, they used ropes to brace the ship, and since they were afraid of being stranded on the Syrtis quicksands, they lowered the sail and let her drift.

The next day, because we were so violently beaten by the storm, they began to throw the cargo overboard,

and on the next day with their own hands they threw the ship's tackle overboard.

When they could see neither the sun nor the stars for many days [due to the storm], and with the wind blowing furiously on them, they gave up all hope of [ever] being saved.

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.

But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country;

On taking soundings they found a depth of twenty fathoms; and a little later again taking soundings, they found it was fifteen.

Since they were afraid of our going on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and kept wishing for daylight to come.

Although the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had actually lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they were going to run out anchors from the bow,

And while they waited until the day should break, Paul exhorted them all to take some nourishment, saying, To day, expecting the fourteenth day, ye are continuing without food, taking nothing.

Then they all were cheered and took something to eat themselves.

When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.

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.

So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea; at the same time they undid the ropes of the rudders, and hoisting the foresail to the breeze they headed for the beach.

But they struck a shoal and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained unmoved, while the stern began to break to pieces under the beating of the waves.

And the soldiers' counsel was that they should kill the prisoners, lest any one having swam out should escape,

But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land:

some on planks and others on various bits of the ship. And thus they all got safely to land.

And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.

Now the natives showed us remarkable kindness, for they made us a fire and welcomed us to it because of the downpouring rain and the cold.

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."

The natives kept on looking for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual take place on him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

And, when this happened, the rest also, even they in the island who were sick, were coming in and getting cured;

They also honored us with many presents, and when we set sail, they supplied us with everything that we needed.

There we found some brothers, and they begged us to spend a week with them. In this way we finally reached Rome.

Because the brothers at Rome had heard of our coming, they came as far as Appius' Market and the Three Taverns to meet us, and as soon as Paul caught sight of them, he thanked God and took courage.

And when we came into Rome, they let Paul have a house for himself and the armed man who kept watch over him.

Three days later, he invited the leading men of the Jews to come to see him, and when they came, he said to them, "Brothers, I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our forefathers; yet at Jerusalem I was turned over to the Romans as a prisoner.

Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me.

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.

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:

For this people's soul has grown dull, and they scarcely hear with their ears, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they may never see with their eyes, and understand with their souls, and turn to me, that I may cure them."'

"So you must understand that this message of God's salvation has been sent to the heathen; and they will listen to it!"