For in him we live and move and are. To use the words of some of your own poets--'His offspring, too, are we.'

There were, however, some men who joined him, and became believers in Christ. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the Court of Areopagus, a woman named Damaris, and several others.

However, as they set themselves against him and became abusive, Paul shook his clothes in protest and said to them: "Your blood be on your own heads. My conscience is clear. From this time forward I shall go to the Gentiles."

While Gallio was governor of Greece, the Jews made a combined attack on Paul, and brought him before the Governor's Bench,

Charging him with persuading people to worship God in a way forbidden by the Law.

Then they all set upon Sosthenes, the President of the Synagogue, and beat him in front of the Bench, but Gallio did not trouble himself about any of these things.

When they asked him to prolong his stay, he declined, saying however,

This man began to speak out fearlessly in the Synagogue; and when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained the Cause of God to him more carefully still.

When he wanted to cross to Greece, the Brethren furthered his plans, and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival he proved of great assistance to those who had, through the loving-kindness of God, become believers in Christ,

"John's baptism was a baptism upon repentance," rejoined Paul, "and John told the people (speaking of the 'One Coming; after him) that they should believe in him--that is in Jesus."

Paul wished to go into the amphitheater and face the people, but the disciples would not let him,

While some of the chief religious officials of the province, who were friendly to him, sent repeated entreaties to him not to trust himself inside.

However, when they recognized him as a Jew, one cry broke from them all, and they continued shouting for two hours--"Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

If, however, Demetrius and the artisans who are acting with him have a charge to make against any one, there are Court Days and there are Magistrates; let both parties take legal proceedings.

He was about to sail to Syria, when he learned that a plot had been laid against him by the Jews; so he decided to return by way of Macedonia.

But Paul went down, threw himself upon him, and put his arms round him. "Do not be alarmed," he said, "he is still alive."

So, when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went on to Mitylene.

From Miletus, however, he sent to Ephesus and invited the Officers of the Church to meet him;

All were in tears; and throwing their arms round Paul's neck, they kissed him again and again,

Grieving most of all over what he had said--that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.

The next day we left, and reached Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip, the Missionary, who was one of 'the Seven,' and stayed with him.

He came to see us, and, taking Paul's girdle, and binding his own feet and hands with it, said: "This is what the Holy Spirit says--'The man to whom this girdle belongs will be bound like this at Jerusalem by the Jews, and they will give him up to the Gentiles'."

So, as he would not be persuaded, we said no more to him, only adding--"The Lord's will be done."

(For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in Paul's company in the city, and were under the belief that Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

The whole city was stirred, and the people quickly collected, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple, when the doors were immediately shut.

They were bent upon killing him, when it was reported to the Officer commanding the garrison, that all Jerusalem was in commotion.

Then he went up to Paul, arrested him, ordered him to be doubly chained, and proceeded to inquire who he was, and what he had been doing.

For the people were following in a mass, shouting out: "Kill him!"

Standing close to me, he said 'Saul, my Brother, recover your sight.' And then and there I recovered my sight and looked up at him.

For you shall be a witness for him to all the world of what you have just seen and heard.

And, when the blood of your martyr, Stephen, was being shed, I was myself standing by, approving of his death, and took charge of the clothes of those who were murdering him.

Up to this point the people had been listening to Paul, but at these words they called out: "Kill him! A fellow like this ought not to have been allowed to live!"

The Commanding Officer ordered Paul to be taken into the Fort, and directed that he should be examined under the lash, that he might find out the reason for their outcry against him.

But just as they had tied him up to be scourged, Paul said to the Captain standing near: "Is it legal for you to scourge a Roman citizen, unconvicted?"

The men who were to have examined Paul immediately drew back, and the Officer, finding that Paul was a Roman citizen, was alarmed at having put him in chains.

On the next day the Commanding Officer, wishing to find out the real reason why Paul was denounced by the Jews, had his chains taken off, and directed the Chief Priests and the whole of the High Council to assemble, and then took Paul down and brought him before them.

At this, the High Priest Ananias ordered the men standing near to strike him on the mouth;

Whereupon Paul turned to him and said: "God will strike you, you white-washed wall! Are you sitting there to try me in accordance with law, and yet, in defiance of law, order me to be struck?"

So a great uproar ensued, and some of the Teaches of the Law belonging to the Pharisees' party stood up and hotly protested: "We find nothing whatever wrong in this man. Suppose a spirit did speak to him, or an angel--"

The dispute was becoming so violent, that the Commanding Officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces between them, ordered the Guard to go down and rescue him from them, and take him into the Fort.

So we want you now, with the consent of the Council, to suggest to the Commanding Officer that he should bring Paul down before you, as though you intended to go more fully into his case; but, before he comes here, we will be ready to make away with him."

Paul called one of the Captains of the garrison and asked him to take the lad to the Commanding Officer, as he had something to tell him.

The Commanding Officer took the lad by the hand, and, stepping aside, asked what it was he had to tell him.

But do not let them persuade you, for more than forty of them are lying in wait for him, who have taken an oath that they will not eat or drink, till they have made away with him; and they are at this very moment in readiness, counting upon your promise."

The Commanding Officer then dismissed the lad, cautioning him not to mention to anybody that he had given him that information.

And to have horses ready for Paul to ride, so that they might take him safely to Felix, the Governor.

To him he wrote a letter, somewhat as follows--

The man whom I send with this had been seized by the Jews, and was on the point of being killed by them, when I came upon them with the force under my command, and rescued him, as I learned that he was a Roman citizen.

Wishing to ascertain exactly the ground of the charges they made against him, I brought him before their Council,

Having, however, information of a plot against the man, which was about to be put into execution, I am sending him to you at once, and I have also directed his accusers to prosecute him before you.'

The soldiers, in accordance with their orders, took charge of Paul and conducted him by night to Antipatris;

And on the next day, leaving the troopers to go on with him, they returned to the Fort.

On arriving at Caesarea, the troopers delivered the letter to the Governor, and brought Paul before him.

He even attempted to desecrate the Temple itself, but we caught him;

And you will be able, by examining him on all these points, to satisfy yourself as to the charges which we are bringing against him."

So he gave orders to the Captain in charge of Paul to keep him in custody, but to relax the regulations, and not to prevent any of his personal friends from attending to his wants.

But, while Paul was speaking at length about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became terrified, and interrupted him--"Go for the present, but, when I find an opportunity, I will send for you again."

He was hoping, too, for a bribe from Paul, and so he used to send for him frequently and talk with him.

There the Chief Priests and the leading men among the Jews laid an information before him against Paul,

And asked a favor of him, to Paul's injury--to have Paul brought to Jerusalem. All the while they were plotting to make away with him on the road.

"So let the influential men among you," he said, "go down with me, and if there is anything amiss in the man, charge him formally with it."

After staying among them some eight or ten days, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he took his seat on the Bench, and ordered Paul to be brought before him.

On Paul's appearance, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and made many serious charges, which they failed to establish.

About whom, when I came to Jerusalem, the Jewish Chief Priest and the Councillors laid an information, demanding judgment against him.

My answer to them was, that it was not the practice of Romans to give up any man to his accusers till the accused had met them face to face, and had also had an opportunity of answering the charges brought against him.

Paul, however, appealed to have his case reserved for the consideration of his August Majesty, so I ordered him to be detained in custody, until I could send him to the Emperor."

"I should like to hear this man myself," Agrippa said to Festus. "You shall hear him to-morrow," Festus answered.

I found, however, that he had not done anything deserving death; so, as he had himself appealed to his August Majesty, I decided to send him.

But I have nothing definite to write about him to my Imperial Master; and for that reason I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, that, after examining him, I may have something to write.

For it seems to me absurd to send a prisoner, without at the same time stating the charges made against him."

Indeed, the King knows about these matters, so I speak before him without constraint. I am sure that there is nothing whatever of what I have been telling him that has escaped his attention; for all this has not been done in a corner.

The next day we put in to Sidon, where Julius treated Paul in a friendly manner, and allowed him to go to see his friends and receive their hospitality.

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."

The natives were expecting inflammation to set in, or that he would suddenly fall dead; but, after waiting for a long time, and seeing that there was nothing amiss with him, they changed their minds and said that he was a God.

It happened that the father of Publius was lying ill of fever and dysentery. So Paul went to see him; and, after praying, he placed his hands on him and cured him.

On our reaching Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, except for the soldier who was in charge of him.

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.

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.

For two whole years Paul stayed in a house which he rented for himself, welcoming all who came to see him,

But, as to the spirit of holiness within him, was miraculously designated Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.

Through him we received the gift of the Apostolic office, to win submission to the Faith among all nations for the glory of his Name.

Because, although they learned to know God, yet they did not offer him as God either praise or thanksgiving. Their speculations about him proved futile, and their undiscerning minds were darkened.

The Divine Righteousness which is bestowed, through faith in Jesus Christ, upon all, without distinction, who believe in him.

For God set him before the world, to be, by the shedding of his blood, a means of reconciliation through faith. And this God did to prove his righteousness, and because, in his forbearance, he had passed over the sins that men had previously committed;

While, as for the man who does not rely upon his obedience, but has faith in him who can pronounce the godless righteous, his faith is regarded by God as righteousness.

Though he was nearly a hundred years old, yet his faith did not fail him, even when he thought of his own body, then utterly worn out, and remembered that Sarah was past bearing children.

On the contrary, his faith gave him strength; and he praised God, in the firm conviction that what God has promised he is also able to carry out.

But also with reference to us. Our faith, too, will be regarded by God in the same light, if we have faith in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead;

It is through him that, by reason of our faith, we have obtained admission to that place in God's favor in which we not stand. So let us exult in our hope of attaining God's glorious ideal.

Much more, then, now that we have been pronounced righteous by virtue of the shedding of his blood, shall we be saved through him from the Wrath of God.

For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, much more, now that we have become reconciled, shall we be saved by virtue of Christ's Life.

Consequently, through sharing his death in our baptism, we were buried with him; that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by a manifestation of the Father's power, so we also may live a new Life.

If we have become united with him by the act symbolic of his death, surely we shall also become united with him by the act symbolic of his resurrection.

We know, indeed, that Christ, having once risen from the dead, will not die again. Death has power over him no longer.

For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband while he is living; but, if her husband dies, she is set free from the law that bound her to him.

And so with you, my Brothers; as far as the Law was concerned, you underwent death in the crucified body of the Christ, so that you might be united to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that our lives might bear fruit for God.

And, if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives within you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give Life even to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit living within you.

For Nature was made subject to imperfection-not by its own choice, but owing to him who made it so--

But we do know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him-those who have received the Call in accordance with his purpose.

God did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up on behalf of us all; will he not, then, with him, freely give us all things?