Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in Asia, as he was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost, if that was possible.

When Paul had said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

All of them cried and cried as they put their arms around Paul and kissed him affectionately.

So we located some disciples and stayed there for seven days. Through the Spirit, they kept telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem,

When we heard this, we and the people who lived there begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.

At this Paul replied, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I'm ready not only to be tied up in Jerusalem but even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus!"

The next day, Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present.

After greeting them, Paul related one by one the things that God had done among the gentiles through his ministry.

Then Paul took those men and the next day purified himself with them. Then he went into the Temple to announce the time when their days of purification would end and when the sacrifice would be offered for each of them.

For they had earlier seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him and assumed that Paul had taken him into the Temple.

The whole city was in chaos. The people rushed together, grabbed Paul, dragged him out of the Temple, and at once the doors were sealed shut.

The crowd was trying to kill Paul when a report reached the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.

Immediately the tribune took some soldiers and officers and ran down to the crowd. When the people saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

Some of the crowd shouted this and some that. Since the tribune couldn't learn the facts due to the confusion, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks.

When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because the mob had become so violent.

Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the tribune, "May I say something to you?"

Paul replied, "I'm a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. Please let me speak to the people."

The tribune gave him permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, motioned for the people to be silent. When everyone had quieted down, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language:

the tribune ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks and told the soldiers to beat and question him in order to find out why the people were yelling at him like this.

But when they had tied him up with the straps, Paul asked the centurion who was standing there, "Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn't been condemned?"

So the tribune went and asked Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said.

Paul looked straight at the Council and said, "Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty before God up to this very day."

At this Paul told him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! How can you sit there and judge me according to the Law, and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?"

Paul answered, "I didn't realize, brothers, that he is the high priest. After all, it is written, "You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.'"

When Paul saw that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted in the Council, "Brothers, I'm a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I'm on trial concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected."

The quarrel was becoming violent, and the tribune was afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces. So he ordered the soldiers to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

That night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Have courage! For just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome, too."

In the morning, the Jewish leaders formed a conspiracy and took an oath not to eat or drink anything before they had killed Paul.

They went to the high priests and elders and said, "We have taken a solemn oath not to taste any food before we have killed Paul.

Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the tribune, because he has something to tell him."

So the centurion took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, "The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you."

He answered, "The Jewish leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow as though they were going to examine his case more carefully.

Provide a mount for Paul to ride, and take him safely to Governor Felix."

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

The next day, they let the horsemen ride with Paul while they returned to their barracks.

When these men came to Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.

After reading the letter, the governor asked which province Paul was from. On learning that he was from Cilicia,

Five days later, the high priest Ananias arrived with certain elders and Tertullus, an attorney, and they summarized their case against Paul before the governor.

When Paul had been summoned, Tertullus opened the prosecution by saying:

When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he replied:

He ordered the centurion to guard Paul but to let him have some freedom and not to keep any of his friends from caring for his needs.

Some days later, Felix arrived with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him talk about faith in Jesus the Messiah.

As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became afraid and said, "For the present you may go. When I get a chance, I will send for you again."

At the same time he was hoping to receive a bribe from Paul, and so he would send for him frequently to talk with him.

After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. Since Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor, he left Paul in prison.

The high priests and Jewish leaders informed him of their charges against Paul, urging

and asking Festus to have Paul brought to Jerusalem as a favor. They were laying an ambush to kill him on the road.

Festus replied that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself would be going there soon.

When Paul arrived, the Jewish leaders who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him and began bringing a number of serious charges against him that they couldn't prove.

Paul said in his defense, "I have done nothing wrong against the Law of the Jews, or of the Temple, or of the emperor."

Then Festus, wanting to do the Jewish leaders a favor, asked Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to be tried there before me on these charges?"

Instead, they had several arguments with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but Paul kept asserting he was alive.

But Paul appealed his case and asked to be held in prison until the decision of his Majesty. So I ordered him to be held in custody until I could send him to the emperor."

The next day, Agrippa and Bernice arrived with much fanfare and went into the auditorium along with the tribunes and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

As he continued his defense, Festus shouted, "You're out of your mind, Paul! Too much education is driving you crazy!"

But Paul said, "I'm not out of my mind, Your Excellency Festus. I'm reporting what is absolutely true.

Agrippa asked Paul, "Can you so quickly persuade me to become a Christian?"

Paul replied, "Whether quickly or not, I wish to God that not only you but everyone listening to me today would become what I am except for these chains!"

The next day, we arrived at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly allowing him to visit his friends there and to receive any care he needed.

Much time had been lost, and because navigation had become dangerous and the day of fasting had already past, Paul began to warn those on the ship,

But the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and the owner of the ship and not by what Paul said.

After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood among his shipmates and said, "Men, you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete. You would have avoided this hardship and damage.

and said, "Stop being afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor. Indeed, God has given to you the lives of everyone who is sailing with you.'

Paul told the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men remain onboard, you cannot be saved."

Right up to daybreak Paul kept urging all of them to eat something. He said, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, not eating anything.

but the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.

The father of Publius happened to be sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, prayed, and healed him by placing his hands on him.

The brothers there heard about us and came as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and felt encouraged.

When we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself with the soldier who was guarding him.

Three days later, Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. When they assembled, he told them, "Brothers, although I haven't done anything against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

So they set a day to meet with Paul and came out in large numbers to see him where he was staying.

They disagreed with one another as they were leaving, so Paul added this statement: "The Holy Spirit was so right when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah!

For two whole years Paul lived in his own rented place and welcomed everyone who came to him.

From: Paul, called to be an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and from our brother Sosthenes.

This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to the Messiah."

For when one person says, "I follow Paul," and another person says, "I follow Apollos," you're following your own human nature, aren't you?

Who is Apollos, anyhow? Or who is Paul? They're merely servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord gave to each of us his task.

whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present, or the future everything belongs to you,

I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand.

Now I myself, Paul, plead with you with the gentleness and kindness of the Messiah I who am humble when I am face to face with you but forceful toward you when I am away!

From: Paul an apostle not sent from men or by a man, but by Jesus the Messiah, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead

Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, the Messiah will be of no benefit to you.

For this reason I, Paul, am the prisoner of the Messiah Jesus for the sake of you gentiles.

From: Paul and Timothy, servants of the Messiah Jesus. To: All the holy ones in Philippi, along with their overseers and ministers, who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.

From: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother.

However, you must remain firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without being moved from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

This greeting is written with my own signature "Paul." Remember that I remain imprisoned. May grace be with you! Amen.

From: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. To: The church of the Thessalonians in union with God the Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be yours!

That is why we wanted to come to you. Certainly I, Paul, wanted to come time and again, but Satan blocked our way.

From: Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. To: The church of the Thessalonians in union with God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine. It is the way I write.

From: Paul, an apostle of the Messiah Jesus, by the command of God our Savior and the Messiah Jesus, our hope.

From: Paul, a servant of God, and also an apostle of Jesus the Messiah, to bring the faith to those chosen by God, along with full knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness,

1From: Paul, a prisoner of the Messiah Jesus, and Timothy our brother. To: Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker,

I prefer to make my appeal on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an old man and now a prisoner of the Messiah Jesus,

19I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. (I will not mention to you that you owe me your very life.)