Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed the Lord, along with his whole household. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of a crime or of moral evil, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews.

So Paul, having stayed on for many days, said good-bye to the brothers and sailed away to Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because he had taken a vow.

“Then what baptism were you baptized with?” he asked them.

“With John’s baptism,” they replied.

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Now there were about 12 men in all.

so that even facecloths or work aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

When these events were over, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well!”

When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.

Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to take a chance by going into the amphitheater.

Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled,

They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.

Then we went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, intending to take Paul on board there. For these were his instructions, since he himself was going by land.

You yourselves know that these hands have provided for my needs and for those who were with me.

When our days there were over, we left to continue our journey, while all of them, with their wives and children, escorted us out of the city. After kneeling down on the beach to pray,

While we were staying there many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.

Some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us and brought us to Mnason, a Cypriot and an early disciple, with whom we were to stay.

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

Take these men, purify yourself along with them, and pay for them to get their heads shaved. Then everyone will know that what they were told about you amounts to nothing, but that you yourself are also careful about observing the law.

As the seven days were about to end, the Jews from Asia saw him in the temple complex, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him,

The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple complex, and at once the gates were shut.

As they were trying to kill him, word went up to the commander of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in chaos.

Some in the mob were shouting one thing and some another. Since he was not able to get reliable information because of the uproar, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.

for the mass of people followed, yelling, “Take him away!”

as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to bring those who were prisoners there to be punished in Jerusalem.

Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the One who was speaking to me.

“Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

As they were yelling and flinging aside their robes and throwing dust into the air,

the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be examined with the scourge, so he could discover the reason they were shouting against him like this.

Therefore, those who were about to examine him withdrew from him at once. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.

But the high priest Ananias ordered those who were standing next to him to strike him on the mouth.

When Paul realized that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part were Pharisees, he cried out in the Sanhedrin, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees! I am being judged because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead!”

There were more than 40 who had formed this plot.

So now you, along with the Sanhedrin, make a request to the commander that he bring him down to you as if you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly. However, before he gets near, we are ready to kill him.”

Wanting to know the charge they were accusing him of, I brought him down before their Sanhedrin.

I found out that the accusations were about disputed matters in their law, and that there was no charge that merited death or chains.

Therefore, the soldiers took Paul during the night and brought him to Antipatris as they were ordered.

The Jews also joined in the attack, alleging that these things were so.

asking him to do them a favor against Paul, that he might summon him to Jerusalem. They were preparing an ambush along the road to kill him.

When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought many serious charges that they were not able to prove,

They had previously known me for quite some time, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.

I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple complex and were trying to kill me.

When it was decided that we were to sail to Italy, they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Imperial Regiment.

When we had put out to sea from there, we sailed along the northern coast of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

Since the ship was caught and was unable to head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.

After running under the shelter of a little island called Cauda, we were barely able to get control of the skiff.

After hoisting it up, they used ropes and tackle and girded the ship. Then, fearing they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the drift-anchor, and in this way they were driven along.

Because we were being severely battered by the storm, they began to jettison the cargo the next day.

Since many were going without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “You men should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete and sustain this damage and loss.

When the fourteenth night came, we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, and in the middle of the night the sailors thought they were approaching land.

Some sailors tried to escape from the ship; they had let down the skiff into the sea, pretending that they were going to put out anchors from the bow.

In all there were 276 of us on the ship.

The rest were to follow, some on planks and some on debris from the ship. In this way, everyone safely reached the shore.

After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

There we found believers and were invited to stay with them for seven days.

And so we came to Rome.

Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe.

For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.

Therefore God delivered them over in the cravings of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.

The males in the same way also left natural relations with females and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Males committed shameless acts with males and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error.

Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusted with the spoken words of God.

For while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly.

But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!

For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by His life!

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

Or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?

Therefore we were buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in a new way of life.

But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin, you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred to,

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness.

Therefore, my brothers, you also were put to death in relation to the law through the crucified body of the Messiah, so that you may belong to another—to Him who was raised from the dead—that we may bear fruit for God.

For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions operated through the law in every part of us and bore fruit for death.

What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet.

Now in this hope we were saved, yet hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees?

For I could almost wish to be cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the benefit of my brothers, my own flesh and blood.

And it will be in the place where they were told,
you are not My people,
there they will be called sons of the living God.

Why is that? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.

And Isaiah says boldly:

I was found
by those who were not looking for Me;
I revealed Myself
to those who were not asking for Me.

What then? Israel did not find what it was looking for, but the elect did find it. The rest were hardened,

Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the rich root of the cultivated olive tree,

Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”

True enough; they were broken off by unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.

For if you were cut off from your native wild olive and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these—the natural branches—be grafted into their own olive tree?

for Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.

Yes, they were pleased, and indeed are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual benefits, then they are obligated to minister to Jews in material needs.

Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow countrymen and fellow prisoners. They are noteworthy in the eyes of the apostles, and they were also in Christ before me.

that by Him you were enriched in everything—in all speech and all knowledge.

God is faithful; you were called by Him into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Is Christ divided? Was it Paul who was crucified for you? Or were you baptized in Paul’s name?

My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit,

I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready,

Now some are inflated with pride, as though I were not coming to you.

For though I am absent in body but present in spirit, I have already decided about the one who has done this thing as though I were present.

And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

I wish that all people were just like me. But each has his own gift from God, one person in this way and another in that way.

Were you called while a slave? It should not be a concern to you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.

You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.