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.

Then Festus said, "King Agrippa and all you men who are present with us! You see this man about whom the whole Jewish nation petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

I find that he has not done anything deserving of death. But since he has appealed to his Majesty, I have decided to send him.

Our twelve tribes, worshiping day and night with intense devotion, hope to attain it. It is because of this hope, O King, that I am accused by the Jews.

"And so, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

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

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!"

"Men, I see that during this voyage there will be hardship and a heavy loss not only of the cargo and ship, but also of our lives."

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

Since the harbor was not a good place to spend the winter, most of the men favored putting out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix and spend the winter there. It is a Cretian harbor that faces southwest and northwest.

But it was not long before a violent wind (called a northeaster) swept down from the island.

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.

For just last night an angel of God, to whom I belong and whom I serve, stood by me

It was the fourteenth night, and we were drifting through the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors suspected that land was near.

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.

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now), so that I might reap a harvest among you, just as I have among the rest of the gentiles.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who believes, of the Jew first and of the Greek as well.

Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to keep knowing God fully, God delivered them to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done.

Although they know God's just requirement that those who practice such things deserve to die they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.

because God does not show partiality.

For it is not merely those who hear the Law who are righteous in God's sight. No, it is those who follow the Law, who will be justified.

For whenever gentiles, who do not possess the Law, do instinctively what the Law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the Law.

For a person is not a Jew because of his appearance, nor is circumcision something just external and physical.

No, a person is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, brought about by the Spirit, not by a written law. That person's praise will come from God, not from people.

Of course not! God is true, even if everyone else is a liar. As it is written, "You are right when you speak, and win your case when you go into court."

But if our unrighteousness serves to confirm God's righteousness, what can we say? God is not unrighteous when he vents his wrath on us, is he? (I am talking in human terms.)

Of course not! Otherwise, how could God judge the world?

What, then, does this mean? Are we Jews any better off? Not at all! For we have already accused everyone, both Jews and Greeks, of being under the power of sin.

As it is written, "Not even one person is righteous.

All have turned away. They have become completely worthless. No one shows kindness, not even one person!

They have not learned the path to peace.

Therefore, God will not justify any human being by means of the actions prescribed by the Law, for through the Law comes the full knowledge of sin.

Is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the gentiles, too? Yes, of the gentiles, too,

Do we, then, abolish the Law by this faith? Of course not! Instead, we uphold the Law.

For if Abraham was justified by actions, he would have had something to boast about though not before God.

Now to someone who works, wages are not considered a gift but an obligation.

However, to someone who does not work, but simply believes in the one who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Under what circumstances was it credited? Was he circumcised or uncircumcised? He had not yet been circumcised, but was uncircumcised.

He is also the ancestor of the circumcised those who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the Law, but through the righteousness produced by faith.

Therefore, the promise is based on faith, so that it may be a matter of grace and may be guaranteed for all of Abraham's descendants not only for those who were given the Law, but also for those who share the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

His faith did not weaken when he thought about his own body (which was already as good as dead now that he was about a hundred years old) or about Sarah's inability to have children,

Now the words "it was credited to him" were written not only for him

Not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

Now this hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Not only that, but we also continue to boast about God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah, through whom we have now been reconciled.

Nevertheless, death ruled from the time of Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed. He is a foreshadowing of the one who would come.

But God's free gift is not like Adam's offense. For if many people died as the result of one man's offense, how much more have God's grace and the free gift given through the kindness of one man, Jesus the Messiah, been showered on many people!

Of course not! How can we who died as far as sin is concerned go on living in it?

Therefore, do not let sin rule your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires.

For sin will not have mastery over you, because you are not under Law but under grace.

What, then, does this mean? Should we go on sinning because we are not under Law but under grace? Of course not!

So while her husband is living, she will be called an adulterer if she lives with another man. But if her husband dies, she is free from this Law, so that she is not an adulterer if she marries another man.

But now we have been released from the Law by dying to what enslaved us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit, not under the old writings.

What should we say, then? Is the Law sinful? Of course not! In fact, I wouldn't have become aware of sin if it had not been for the Law. I wouldn't have known what it means to covet if the Law had not said, "You must not covet."

Now, did something good bring me death? Of course not! But in order that sin might be recognized as being sin, it used something good to cause my death, so that through the rule, sin might become more exposed as being sinful than ever before.

so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to human nature but according to the Spirit.

You, however, are not under the control of the human nature but under the control of the Spirit, since God's Spirit lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah, he does not belong to him.

Consequently, brothers, we are not with respect to human nature, that is under an obligation to live according to human nature.

For you have not received a spirit of slavery that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba! Father!"

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.

because the creation has become subject to futility, though not by anything it did. The one who subjected it did so in the certainty

However, not only the creation, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit also groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

For we were saved with this hope in mind. Now a hope that can be observed is not really hope, for who hopes for what can be seen?

But if we hope for what we do not yet observe, we eagerly wait for it with patience.

In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, since we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words,

The one who did not spare his own Son, but offered him as a sacrifice for all of us, surely will give us all things, along with his Son, won't he?

I am telling the truth because I belong to the Messiah I am not lying, and my conscience confirms it by means of the Holy Spirit.

Now it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all Israelis truly belong to Israel,

and not all of Abraham's descendants are his true descendants. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that descendants will be named for you."

That is, it is not merely the children born through natural descent who were regarded as God's children, but it is the children born through the promise who were regarded as descendants.

Not only that, but Rebecca became pregnant by our ancestor Isaac.

according to his calling and not by actions), Rebecca was told, "The older child will serve the younger one."

What can we say, then? God is not unrighteous, is he? Of course not!

Therefore, God's choice does not depend on a person's will or effort, but on God himself, who shows mercy.

including us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but from the gentiles as well?

As the Scripture says in Hosea, "Those who are not my people I will call my people, and the one who was not loved I will call my loved one.

In the very place where it was told them, "You are not my people,' they will be called children of the living God."

It is just as Isaiah predicted: "If the Lord of the Heavenly Armies had not left us some descendants, we would have become like Sodom and would have been compared to Gomorrah."

What can we say, then? Gentiles, who were not pursuing righteousness, have attained righteousness, a righteousness that comes through faith.

But Israel, who pursued righteousness based on the Law, did not achieve the Law.

Why not? Because they did not pursue it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on achievements. They stumbled over the stone that causes people to stumble.

For I can testify on their behalf that they have a zeal for God, but it is not in keeping with full knowledge.

For they are ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God while they try to establish their own, and they have not submitted to God's means to attain righteousness.

But the righteousness that comes from faith says, "Do not say in your heart, "Who will go up to heaven?' (that is, to bring the Messiah down),

How, then, can people call on someone they have not believed? And how can they believe in someone they have not heard about? And how can they hear without someone preaching?

But not everyone has obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah asks, "Lord, who has believed our message?"

Again I ask, "Did Israel not understand?" Moses was the first to say, "I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation that doesn't understand."

And Isaiah boldly says, "I was found by those who were not looking for me; I was revealed to those who were not asking for me."

So I ask, "God has not rejected his people, has he?" Of course not! I am an Israeli myself, a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin.

God has not rejected his people whom he chose long ago. Do you not know what the Scripture says in the story about Elijah, when he pleads with God against Israel?

But what was the divine reply to him? "I have reserved for myself 7,000 people who have not knelt to worship Baal."

As it is written, "To this day God has put them into deep sleep. Their eyes do not see, and their ears do not hear."

And so I ask, "They have not stumbled so as to fall, have they?" Of course not! On the contrary, because of their stumbling, salvation has come to the gentiles to make the Jews jealous.

do not boast about being better than the other branches. If you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

That's right! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you remain only because of faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid!

For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly will not spare you, either.

If the Jews do not persist in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in.

For I want to let you know about this secret, brothers, so that you will not claim to be wiser than you are: Stubbornness has come to part of Israel until the full number of the gentiles comes to faith.

Do not be conformed to this world, but continuously be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God's will is what is proper, pleasing, and perfect.