But on the next day, wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.

Then Paul said to him, "God shall strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?"

Those who stood by said, "Would you revile God's high priest?"

The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

The following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also at Rome."

When it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

The commander took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, "What is it that you have to tell me?"

But do not yield to them; for more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him, having bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you."

This man was seized by the Jews, and was about to be killed by them, when I came upon them with the troops and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.

And when I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to bring charges against him before you."

So the soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.

he said, "I will hear you when your accusers arrive also." And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's Praetorium.

And when Paul was called, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying to Felix: "Since through you we have enjoyed much peace, and since by your provision, reforms are introduced on behalf of this nation,

By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges of which we accuse him."

having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there will certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

who ought to be here before you and to make accusation, if they should have anything against me.

Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be kept in custody but have some freedom, and not to prevent any of his friends from ministering to his needs.

At the same time, he was hoping that money would be given him by Paul. So he sent for him often and conversed with him.

But when two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

After he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

But Paul said, "I am standing before Caesar's tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know.

While they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, "There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix;

When therefore they came together here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought in.

but they simply had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive.

But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor's decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I could send him to Caesar.

And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers;

the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews.

Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

And that is just what I did in Jerusalem; I not only shut up many of the saints in prison, by authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.

to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles."

And embarking in a ship from Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put out to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul kindly, and allowed him to go to his friends and be cared for.

As much time had been lost, and the voyage was now dangerous because the fast had already gone by, Paul advised them,

and said to them, "Men, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives."

But the centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the owner of the ship than by what was being said by Paul.

After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables to undergird the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along.

Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage; for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

and he said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.'

They took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms.

But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the lifeboat into the sea, on the pretense of laying out anchors from the bow,

Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved."

When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship by throwing out the wheat into the sea.

When day came, they could not recognize the land, but they did observe a bay with a beach, and they resolved to drive the ship onto it if they could.

But striking a sandbar they ran the vessel aground; the bow stuck fast and remained immovable, and the stern was broken up by the pounding of the surf.

And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier that guarded him.

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

saying, 'Go to this people and say, "you will be ever hearing, but will never understand; and you will be ever seeing, but will never perceive.

Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen."

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God

and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.

To all in Rome who are beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last find the way to come to you.

that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.

I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have some harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth,

for what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

For since the creation of the world his invisible nature, even his eternal power and deity, has been clearly seen, being understood by the things that have been made. So they are without excuse;

Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

And since they did not see fit to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a base mind, to do what ought not to be done.

But by your hardness and your impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

to those who by patience in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life;

but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.

There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek,

All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in the sight of God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

When Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.

on that day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?

So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

He is a Jew who is one inwardly; and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, and not by the written code. His praise is not from men but from God.

Certainly not! Let God be true, though every man a liar. As it is written: "That you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged."

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Therefore no flesh will be justified in his sight by works of the law, for through the law comes knowledge of sin.

and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

whom God put forward as an atoning sacrifice by his blood, to be received through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over sins committed beforehand;

and it was to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

since there is one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through their faith.

Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be reckoned to them.

The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that he would be heir of the world, was not through the law but through the righteousness of faith.

For if those who are of the law are to be the heirs, faith has no value and the promise is void,

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all his descendantsnot only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all

In hope, he believed against hope, so that he became the father of many nations; as he had been told, "So shall your descendants be."

but for us also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whom we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of the glory of God.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved through him from the wrath of God.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if by the one man's trespass many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

For if, by the one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.)

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,