"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.

They know me of old. They know, if they chose to admit it, that as a Pharisee I lived by the principles of the strictest party in our religion.

I did so in Jerusalem. I shut up many of the saints in prison, armed with authority from the high priests; when they were put to death, I voted against them;

that their eyes may be opened and that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, to get remission of their sins and an inheritance among those who are consecrated by faith in me.'

I announced to those at Damascus and at Jerusalem in the first instance, then all over the land of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they were to repent and turn to God by acting up to their repentance.

They retired to discuss the affair, and agreed that "this man has done nothing to deserve death or imprisonment."

and, as the harbour was badly placed for wintering in, the majority proposed to set sail and try if they could reach Phoenix and winter there (Phoenix is a Cretan harbour facing S.W. and N.W.).

When a moderate southerly breeze sprang up, they thought they had secured their object, and after weighing anchor they sailed along the coast of Crete, close inshore.

once it was hoisted aboard, they used ropes to undergird the ship, and in fear of being stranded on the Syrtis they lowered the sail and lay to.

As we were being terribly battered by the storm, they had to jettison the cargo next day,

while two days later they threw the ship's gear overboard with their own hands;

When they had gone without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, "Men, you should have listened to me and spared yourselves this hardship and loss by refusing to set sail from Crete.

On taking soundings they found twenty fathoms, and a little further on, when they sounded again, they found fifteen.

Then, afraid of being stranded on the rocks, they let go four anchors from the stern and longed for daylight.

The sailors tried to escape from the ship. They had even lowered the boat into the sea, pretending they were going to layout anchors from the bow,

Then they all cheered up and took food for themselves

and when they had eaten their fill, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.

When day broke, they could not recognize what land it was; however, they noticed a creek with a sandy beach, and resolved to see if they could run the ship ashore there.

Striking a reef, they drove the ship aground; the prow jammed fast, but the stern began to break up under the beating of the waves.

The natives showed us uncommon kindness, for they lit a fire and welcomed us all to it, as the rain had come on and it was chilly.

When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer! He has escaped the sea, but Justice will not let him live."

The natives waited for him to swell up or drop down dead in a moment, but after waiting a long while and observing that no harm had befallen him, they changed their minds and declared he was a god.

they made us rich presents and furnished us, when we set sail, with all we needed.

As the local brothers had heard about us, they came out to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Tres Tabernae, and when Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage.

Three days later, he called the leading Jews together, and when they met he said to them, "Brothers, although I have done nothing against the People or our ancestral customs, I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.

They meant to release me after examination, as I was innocent of any crime that deserved death.

They replied, "We have had no letters about you from Judaea, and no brother has come here with any bad report or story about you.

So they fixed a day and came to him at his quarters in large numbers. From morning to evening he explained the Reign of God to them from personal testimony, and tried to convince them about Jesus from the law of Moses and the prophets.

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers,

For the heart at this people is obtuse, their ears are heavy at hearing, their eyes they have closed, lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they understand with their heart and turn again, and I cure them.

Be sure of this, then, that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen to it."

For whatever is to be known of God is plain to them; God himself has made it plain ??20 for ever since the world was created, his invisible nature, his everlasting power and divine being, have been quite perceptible in what he has made. So they have no excuse.

Though they knew God, they have not glorified him as God nor given thanks to him; they have turned to futile speculations till their ignorant minds grew dark.

They claimed to be wise, but they have become fools;

they have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the semblance of the likeness of mortal man, of birds, of quadrupeds, and of reptiles.

So God has given them up, in their heart's lust, to sexual vice, to the dishonouring of their own bodies, ??25 since they have exchanged the truth of God for an untruth, worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed for ever: Amen.

Yes, as they disdained to acknowledge God any longer, God has given them up to a reprobate instinct, for the perpetration of what is improper,

till they are filled with all manner of wickedness, depravity, lust, and viciousness, filled to the brim with envy, murder, quarrels, intrigues, and malignity ??slanderers,

though they know God's decree that people who practise such vice deserve death, they not only do it themselves but applaud those who practise it.

[Move vss 14,15 to follow vs 16] (When Gentiles who have no law obey instinctively the Law's requirements, they are a law to themselves, even though they have no law;

they exhibit the effect of the Law written on their hearts, their conscience bears them witness, as their moral convictions accuse or it may be defend them.)

Their throat is an open grave, they are treacherous with their tongues, the venom of an asp lies under their lips.

they know nothing of the way of peace;

but they are justified for nothing by his grace through the ransom provided in Christ Jesus,

Well then, there is one God, a God who will justify the circumcised as they believe and the uncircumcised on the score of faith.

Just as David himself describes the bliss of the man who has righteousness counted to him by God apart from what he does ??7 Blessed are they whose breaches of the Law are forgiven, whose sins are covered!

For the interests of the flesh are hostile to God; they do not yield to the law of God (indeed they cannot).

for they are Israelites, theirs is the Sonship, the Glory, the covenants, the divine legislation, the Worship, and the promises;

they are not all children of Abraham because they are descended from Abraham. No, it is through Isaac that your offspring shall be reckoned ??8 meaning that instead of God's children being the children born to him by natural descent, it is the children of the Promise who are reckoned as his true offspring.

on the very spot where they were told, 'You are no people of mine,' there shall they be called 'sons of the living God.'

And why? Simply because Israel has relied not on faith but on what they could do. They have stumbled over the stone that makes men stumble ??33 as it is written, Here I lay a stone in Sion that will make men stumble, even a rock to trip them up; but he who believes in Him will never be disappointed.

They would not surrender to the righteousness of God, because they were ignorant of his righteousness and therefore essayed to set up a righteousness of their own.

But how are they to invoke One in whom they do not believe? And how are they to believe in One of whom they have never heard? And how are they ever to hear, without a preacher?

And how can men preach unless they are sent? ??as it is written, How pleasant is the coming of men with glad, good news!

But they have not all given in to the gospel of glad news? No, Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what they heard from us?

But, I ask, "Have they never heard?" Indeed they have. Their voice carried over all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have demolished thine altars; I alone am left, and they seek my life.

Selected by grace, and therefore not for anything they have done; otherwise grace would cease to be grace.

let their eyes be darkened, that they cannot see, bow down their backs for ever.

Now I ask, have they stumbled to their ruin? Never! The truth is, that by their lapse salvation has passed to the Gentiles, so as to make them jealous.

Well, if their lapse has enriched the world, if their defection is the gain of the Gentiles, what will it mean when they all come in?

Granted. They were broken off ??for their lack of faith. And you owe your position to your faith. You should feel awed instead of being uplifted.

And even the others will be grafted in, if they do not adhere to their unbelief; God can graft them in again.

So far as the gospel goes, they are enemies of God ??which is to your advantage; but so far as election goes, they are beloved for their father's sake.

Once you disobeyed God, and now you enjoy his mercy thanks to their disobedience; in the same way they at present are disobedient,

so that they in turn may enjoy the same mercy as yourselves.

Magistrates are no terror to an honest man, though they are to a bad man. If you want to avoid being alarmed at the government-authorities, lead an honest life and you will be commended for it;

but that (as it is written) They should see who never had learned about him, and they who had never heard of him should understand.

Such was their decision; and yet this is a debt they owe to these people, for if the Gentiles have shared their spiritual blessings, they owe them a debt of aid in material blessings.

Salute Andronicus and Junias, fellow-countrymen and fellow-prisoners of mine; they are men of note among the apostles, and they have been in Christ longer than I have.

Such creatures are no servants of Christ our Lord, they are slaves of their own base desires; with their plausible and pious talk they beguile the hearts of unsuspecting people. But surely not of you!

to the church of God at Corinth, to those who are consecrated in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, as well as to all who, wherever they may be, invoke the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord no less than ours:

Sage, scribe, critic of this world, where are they all? Has not God stultified the wisdom of the world?

None of the Powers of this world understands it (if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory).

The unspiritual man rejects these truths of the Spirit of God; to him they are 'sheer folly,' he cannot understand them. And the reason is, that they must be read with the spiritual eye.

Who is Apollos? Who is Paul? They are simply used by God to give you faith, each as the Lord assigns his task.

Now in this matter of stewards your first requirement is that they must be trustworthy.

Certain individuals have got puffed up, have they, as if I were not coming myself?

To the unmarried and to widows I would say this: it is an excellent thing if like me they remain as they are.

Still, if they cannot restrain themselves, let them marry. Better marry than be aflame with passion!

For married people these are my instructions (and they are the Lord's, not mine). A wife is not to separate from her husband ??11 if she has separated, she must either remain single or be reconciled to him ??and a husband must not put away his wife.

I mean, brothers, ??the interval has been shortened; so let those who have wives live as if they had none,

let mourners live as if they were not mourning, let the joyful live as if they had no joy, let buyers live as if they had no hold on their goods,

let those who mix in the world live as if they were not engrossed in it, for the present phase of things is passing away.

Every athlete practises self-restraint all round; but while they do it to win a fading wreath, we do it for an unfading.

still with most of them God was not satisfied; they were laid low in the desert.

Now this took place as a warning for us, to keep us from craving for evil as they craved.

And you must not be idolaters, like some of them; as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to make sport.

If they all made up one member, what would become of the body?

Love never disappears. As for prophesying, it will be superseded; as for 'tongues,' they will cease; as for knowledge, it will be superseded.

It is written in the Law, By men of alien tongues and by the lips of aliens I will speak to this People; but even so, they will not listen to me, saith the Lord.

Hence if at a gathering of the whole church everybody speaks with 'tongues,' and if outsiders or un believers come in, will they not say you are insane?

women must keep quiet at gatherings of the church. They are not allowed to speak; they must take a subordinate place, as the Law enjoins.

If they want any information, let them ask their husbands at home; it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in church.

At any rate, whether I or they have done most, such is what we preach, such is what you believed.

But, someone will ask, 'how do the dead rise? What kind of body have they when they come?'

if the sum makes it worth my while to go too, they shall accompany me.

I ask this favour of you, my brothers. The household of Stephanas, you know, was the first to be reaped in Achaia, and they have laid themselves out to serve the saints.

I am glad that Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus have arrived, for they have made up for your absence.

They refresh my spirit as they do your own. You should appreciate men like that.