whom it behoveth to be present before thee, and to accuse, if they had anything against me,

Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day.

But because Felix [felt he] had more accurate knowledge of the "Way" [than was being presented by Paul's accusers], he dismissed them, saying, "When commander Lysias comes down [to Caesarea] I will make a decision on your case."

And he gave order to the centurion that he should be kept in charge, and should have indulgence; and not to forbid any of his friends to minister unto him.

But after some days, Felix came with Drusilla his wife, who was of the Jews by birth, and sent for Paul, and gave hearing to him about faith in Christ Jesus.

and he reasoning concerning righteousness, and temperance, and the judgment that is about to be, Felix, having become afraid, answered, 'For the present be going, and having got time, I will call for thee;'

He hoped withal that money would be given him of Paul: wherefore also he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.

But when two years were fulfilled, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus; and desiring to gain favor with the Jews, Felix left Paul in bonds.

Requesting Festus to give effect to their design against him, and send him to Jerusalem, when they would be waiting to put him to death on the way.

But Festus answered, that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither.

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.

And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought.

And when he came, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem came round him, and made all sorts of serious statements against him, which were not supported by the facts.

But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?

Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest.

For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.

Now several days later, Agrippa [II] the king and Bernice [his sister] arrived at Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus [the new governor].

And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul's cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix:

about whom, when I went to Jerusalem, the High Priests and the Elders of the Jews made representations to me, begging that sentence might be pronounced against him.

I answered them that it was not the Roman custom to sentence a man to be punished until the accused met his accusers face to face and had an opportunity to defend himself against the charge.

Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth.

concerning whom his accusers standing by, brought no evil charge of those things which I supposed:

But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.

But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.

thereupon Agrippa told Festus, he himself should be glad to hear the man. to-morrow, said Festus, you shall hear him.

So the next day Agrippa and [his sister] Bernice came with great pageantry, and they went into the auditorium accompanied by the military commanders and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all those who are present here with us, you see this man, about whom all the Jews have made protests to me, at Jerusalem and in this place, saying that it is not right for him to be living any longer.

But, in my opinion, there is no cause of death in him, and as he himself has made a request to be judged by Caesar, I have said that I would send him.

For, when sending a prisoner to Rome, it seems to me to be absurd not to state the charges against him."

And, Agrippa, to Paul, said - It is permitted thee, on thine own behalf, to be speaking. Then Paul, stretching forth his hand, went on to make his defence.

I think myself happy, king Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before thee this day touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews:

Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.

“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.

having knowledge of me from the first, if they be willing to testify, that after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

And now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers;

unto which promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. And concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O king!

Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?

And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; I not only locked up many of the saints (God’s people) in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.

In all the synagogues I often tried to make them blaspheme by punishing them. I even pursued them to foreign cities since I was greatly enraged at them.

"That is how I happened to be traveling to Damascus with authority based on a commission from the high priests.

and, when we were all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice, saying unto me, in the Hebrew language - Saul! Saul! why, me, art thou persecuting? It is hard for thee, against goads, to be kicking!

but rise up and stand on thy feet; for, for this purpose have I appeared to thee, to appoint thee to be a servant and a witness both of what thou hast seen, and of what I shall appear to thee in,

by delivering you from this people, and from the Gentiles to whom I now send thee, to open their eyes,

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.

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.

And so, by God's help, I am here today, witnessing to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come about;

That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.

And he defending himself by these, Festus said with a great voice, Thou art frenzied, Paul; many letters turn thee to madness.

For the King, to whom I speak freely, knows about these matters. I am not to be persuaded that any detail of them has escaped his notice; for these things have not been done in a corner.

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

"My prayer to God, whether briefly or at length," replied Paul, "would be that not only you but all who are my hearers to-day, might become such as I am--except these chains."

And Agrippa said to Festus, If he had not appealed to Caesar, this man might be released.

But when it had been determined that we should sail to Italy, they delivered up Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion, by name Julius, of Augustus' company.

And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.

The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, treating Paul with [thoughtful] consideration, allowed him to go to his friends there and be cared for and refreshed.

And from thence launched we and sailed hard by Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.

and sailing through the sea by Cilicia and Pamphylia we came to Myra in Lycia;

It took several days of slow sailing for us to come with difficulty off Cnidus; from which point, as the wind did not allow us to get on in the direct course, we ran under the lee of Crete by Salmone.

and, with difficulty passing by it, we came into a certain place called Fair Havens, near to which was the city Lasea.

And when much time was spent, and the voyage was now dangerous, because the Fast was now already gone by, Paul admonished them,

And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.

Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.

And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west.

And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.

and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along.

And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat:

and when they had hoisted it up, they used helps, under-girding the ship; and, fearing lest they should be cast upon the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and so were driven.

On the next day, as we were being violently tossed about by the storm [and taking on water], they began to jettison the cargo;

And the third day we cast out by hands the tackling of the ship.

And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

But there being much fasting, then standing up in their midst, Paul said, O men, being obedient to me you ought not to have set sail from Crete, and to have come by this harm and loss.

And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.

For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.

They took a sounding and found it to be 120 feet deep; when they had sailed a little farther and sounded again, they found it to be 90 feet deep.

And fearing lest haply we should be cast ashore on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for the day.

But as the sailors were trying to escape [secretly] from the ship and had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,

Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.

And till the day was about to be, Paul was calling upon all to partake of nourishment, saying, 'Fourteen days to-day, waiting, ye continue fasting, having taken nothing,

Therefore I urge you to take [some] food, for this is necessary for your preservation. For not a hair from your head will be lost."

And [when they] had eaten their fill of food, they lightened the ship [by] throwing the wheat into the sea.

And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they perceived a certain bay with a beach, and they took counsel whether they could drive the ship upon it.

[Finally] they cut the ropes, dropping the anchors into the water and at the same time they released the oars used for steering. Then they hoisted the bow-sail to the wind and headed [straight] for the beach.

But lighting upon a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the foreship struck and remained unmoveable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves .

Now the plan of the soldiers was that they would kill the prisoners lest any escape [by] swimming away,

But the military officer, wanting to save Paul [from being killed], prevented them from doing this. [Instead] he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard and be the first to reach land.

The rest [he reasoned] could reach shore by floating on planks or other debris from the ship. And so it happened that all of them escaped safely to land.

But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out by reason of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

When the people who lived there saw the snake hanging from his hand, they told one another, "This man must be a murderer! He may have escaped from the sea, but Justice won't let him live."

and they were expecting him to be about to be inflamed, or to fall down suddenly dead, and they, expecting it a long time, and seeing nothing uncommon happening to him, changing their minds, said he was a god.

Now in the country surrounding that place were the lands belonging to the chief man of the island, by name Publius, who received us and gave us hospitality three days in a very friendly way.

It happened, however, that his father was lying ill of dysentery aggravated by attacks of fever; so Paul went to see him, and, after praying, laid his hands on him and cured him.

And this taking place, the rest also, on the island having diseases, continued to come to him, and be healed;

showing their respect by many presents, and furnishing us with provisions upon our departure.

After having been there three months, we embark'd on board the Castor and Pollux from Alexandria, that had put in there by hard weather:

From there we came round and reached Rhegium; and a day later, a south wind sprang up which brought us by the evening of the next day to Puteoli.

where finding brethren, we were solicited by them to tarry seven days; and so we went for Rome.