And when they had put leather bands round him, Paul said to the captain who was present, Is it the law for you to give blows to a man who is a Roman and has not been judged?

And the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And Paul said, But I had them by birth.

Then those who were about to put him to the test went away: and the chief captain was in fear, seeing that he was a Roman, and that he had put chains on him.

But on the day after, desiring to have certain knowledge of what the Jews had to say against him, he made him free, and gave orders for the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to come together, and he took Paul and put him before them.

And Paul said, Brother, I had no idea that he was the high priest: for it has been said, You may not say evil about the ruler of your people.

And when he had said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and a division in the meeting.

And there was a great outcry: and some of the scribes on the side of the Pharisees got up and took part in the discussion, saying, We see no evil in this man: what if he has had a revelation from an angel or a spirit?

And when it was day, the Jews came together and put themselves under an oath that they would take no food or drink till they had put Paul to death.

But Paul's sister's son had word of their design, and he came into the army building and gave news of it to Paul.

And when he had been sent for, Tertullus, starting his statement, said, Because by you we are living in peace, and through your wisdom wrongs are put right for this nation,

Then when the ruler had given him a sign to make his answer, Paul said, Because I have knowledge that you have been a judge over this nation for a number of years, I am glad to make my answer:

And it would have been better if they had come here to make a statement, if they have anything against me.

But Felix, who had a more detailed knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, When Lysias, the chief captain, comes down, I will give attention to your business.

And he gave orders to the captain to keep Paul under his control, and to let him have everything he had need of; and not to keep his friends from coming to see him.

And while he was talking about righteousness and self-control and the judging which was to come, Felix had great fear and said, Go away for the present, and when the right time comes I will send for you.

For he was hoping that Paul would give him money: so he sent for him more frequently and had talk with him.

And when he had been with them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; and on the day after, he took his place on the judge's seat, and sent for Paul.

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.

Then Festus, having had a discussion with the Jews, made answer, You have said, Let my cause come before Caesar; to Caesar you will go.

Now when some days had gone by, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea and went to see Festus.

To whom I gave answer that it is not the Roman way to give a man up, till he has been face to face with those who are attacking him, and has had a chance to give an answer to the statements made against him.

So, when they had come together here, straight away, on the day after, I took my place on the judge's seat and sent for the man.

But when they got up they said nothing about such crimes as I had in mind:

But had certain questions against him in connection with their religion, and about one Jesus, now dead, who, Paul said, was living.

And as I had not enough knowledge for the discussion of these things, I made the suggestion to him to go to Jerusalem and be judged there.

So on the day after, when Agrippa and Bernice in great glory had come into the public place of hearing, with the chief of the army and the chief men of the town, at the order of Festus, Paul was sent for.

And this I did in Jerusalem: and numbers of the saints I put in prison, having had authority given to me from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my decision against them.

And when we had all gone down on the earth, a voice came to me, saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly? It is hard for you to go against the impulse which is driving you.

And when they had gone away they said to one another, This man has done nothing which might give cause for death or prison.

And Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been made free, if he had not put his cause before Caesar.

And when the decision had been made that we were to go by sea to Italy, they gave Paul and certain other prisoners into the care of a captain named Julius, of the Augustan band.

And when we had gone on slowly for a long time, and had had hard work getting across to Cnidus, for the wind was against us, we went under cover of Crete, in the direction of Salmone;

And as a long time had gone by, and the journey was now full of danger, because it was late in the year, Paul put the position before them,

And as we had not seen the sun or stars for a long time, and a great storm was on us, all hope of salvation was gone.

And when they had been without food for a long time, Paul got up among them and said, Friends, it would have been better if you had given attention to me and not gone sailing out from Crete, to undergo this damage and loss.

But when the fourteenth day came, while we were going here and there in the Adriatic sea, about the middle of the night the sailors had an idea that they were getting near land;

And when he had said this and had taken bread, he gave praise to God before them all, and took a meal of the broken bread.

And when they had had enough food, they made the weight of the ship less, turning the grain out into the sea.

And when it was day, they had no knowledge of the land, but they saw an inlet of the sea with a floor of sand, and they had the idea of driving the ship up on to it if possible.

But the captain, desiring to keep Paul safe, kept them from their purpose, and gave orders that those who had knowledge of swimming were to go off the ship and get first to land:

But when Paul had got some sticks together and put them on the fire, a snake came out, because of the heat, and gave him a bite on the hand.

But they had the idea that they would see him becoming ill, or suddenly falling down dead; but after waiting a long time, and seeing that no damage came to him, changing their opinion, they said he was a god.

And when this took place, all the others in the island who had diseases came and were made well.

And after three months we went to sea in a ship of Alexandria sailing under the sign of the Dioscuri, which had been at the island for the winter.

And the brothers, when they had news of us, came out from town as far as Appii Forum and the Three Taverns to have a meeting with us: and Paul, seeing them, gave praise to God and took heart.

Then after three days he sent for the chief men of the Jews: and when they had come together, he said to them, My brothers, though I had done nothing against the people or the ways of our fathers, I was given, a prisoner from Jerusalem, into the hands of the Romans.

Who, when they had put questions to me, were ready to let me go free, because there was no cause of death in me.

But when the Jews made protest against it, I had to put my cause into Caesar's hands; not because I have anything to say against my nation.

And they said to him, We have not had letters from Judaea about you, and no one of the brothers has come to us here to give an account or say any evil about you.

And when a day had been fixed, they came to his house in great numbers; and he gave them teaching, giving witness to the kingdom of God, and having discussions with them about Jesus, from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning till evening.

And some were in agreement with what he said, but some had doubts.

And they went away, for there was a division among them after Paul had said this one thing: Well did the Holy Spirit say by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers,

And for the space of two years, Paul was living in the house of which he had the use, and had talk with all those who went in to see him,

Of which God had given word before by his prophets in the holy Writings,

You may be certain, my brothers, that it has frequently been in my mind to come to you (but till now I was kept from it), so that I might have some fruit from you in the same way as I have had it from the other nations.

And because they had not the mind to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an evil mind, to do those things which are not right;

Or is it nothing to you that God had pity on you, waiting and putting up with you for so long, not seeing that in his pity God's desire is to give you a change of heart?

It is true that circumcision is of use if you keep the law, but if you go against the law it is as if you had it not.

But what does it say in the holy Writings? And Abraham had faith in God, and it was put to his account as righteousness.

How, then, was it judged? when he had circumcision, or when he had it not? Not when he had it, but when he did not have it:

And he was given the sign of circumcision as a witness of the faith which he had before he underwent circumcision: so that he might be the father of all those who have faith, though they have not circumcision, and so that righteousness might be put to their account;

And the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who keep to the way of that faith which our father Abraham had before he underwent circumcision.

(As it is said in the holy Writings, I have made you a father of a number of nations) before him in whom he had faith, that is, God, who gives life to the dead, and to whom the things which are not are as if they were.

Who without reason for hope, in faith went on hoping, so that he became the father of a number of nations, as it had been said, So will your seed be.

But still death had power from Adam till Moses, even over those who had not done wrong like Adam, who is a picture of him who was to come.

And the free giving has not the same effect as the sin of one: for the effect of one man's sin was punishment by the decision of God, but the free giving had power to give righteousness to wrongdoers in great number.

That, as sin had power in death, so grace might have power through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Or are you without the knowledge that all we who had baptism into Christ Jesus, had baptism into his death?

What fruit had you at that time in the things which are now a shame to you? for the end of such things is death.

But now we are free from the law, having been made dead to that which had power over us; so that we are servants in the new way of the spirit, not in the old way of the letter.

What then is to be said? is the law sin? in no way. But I would not have had knowledge of sin but for the law: for I would not have been conscious of desire if the law had not said, You may not have a desire for what is another's.

And I made the discovery that the law whose purpose was to give life had become a cause of death:

Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:

Before the children had come into existence, or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose and his selection might be effected, not by works, but by him whose purpose it is,

Even as it is said, I had love for Jacob, but for Esau I had hate.

And to make clear the wealth of his glory to vessels of mercy, which he had before made ready for glory,

And, as Isaiah had said before, If the Lord of armies had not given us a seed, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah.

But how will they give worship to him in whom they have no faith? and how will they have faith in him of whom they have not had news? and how will they have news without a preacher?

But they have not all given ear to the good news. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has had faith in our word?

But I say, Had Israel no knowledge? First Moses says, You will be moved to envy by that which is not a nation, and by a foolish people I will make you angry.

Truly, because they had no faith they were broken off, and you have your place by reason of your faith. Do not be lifted up in pride, but have fear;

See then that the time has come for you to be awake from sleep: for now is your salvation nearer than when you first had faith.

But as it is said in the holy Writings, They will see, to whom the news of him had not been given, and those to whose ears it had not come will have knowledge.

But now, having no longer any place in these parts and having had for a number of years a great desire to come to you,

Yes, it has been their good pleasure; and they are in their debt. For if the Gentiles have had a part in the things of the Spirit which were theirs, it is right for them, in the same way, to give them help in the things of the flesh.

I give praise to God that not one of you had baptism from me, but Crispus and Gaius;

So that no one may be able to say that you had baptism in my name.

And I gave baptism to the house of Stephanas; but I am not certain that any others had baptism from me.

For because, by the purpose of God, the world, with all its wisdom, had not the knowledge of God, it was God's pleasure, by so foolish a thing as preaching, to give salvation to those who had faith in him.

For I had made the decision to have knowledge of nothing among you but only of Jesus Christ on the cross.

But we give the news of the secret wisdom of God, which he had kept in store before the world came into existence, for our glory;

Of which not one of the rulers of this world had knowledge: for if they had, they would not have put the Lord of glory on the cross:

But as it says in the holy Writings, Things which the eye saw not, and which had not come to the ears or into the heart of man, such things as God has made ready for those who have love for him.

For who made you better than your brother? or what have you that has not been given to you? but if it has been given to you, what cause have you for pride, as if it had not been given to you?

For even if you had ten thousand teachers in Christ, you have not more than one father: for in Christ Jesus I have given birth to you through the good news.

But I had not in mind the sinners who are outside the church, or those who have a desire for and take the property of others, or those who give worship to images; for it is not possible to keep away from such people without going out of the world completely:

But the sense of my letter was that if a brother had the name of being one who went after the desires of the flesh, or had the desire for other people's property, or was in the way of using violent language, or being the worse for drink, or took by force what was not his, you might not keep company with such a one, or take food with him.

If any man who is a Christian has had circumcision, let him keep so; and if any man who is a Christian has not had circumcision, let him make no change.

But I say this, my brothers, the time is short; and from now it will be wise for those who have wives to be as if they had them not;

And for those who are in sorrow, to give no signs of it; and for those who are glad, to give no signs of joy; and for those who are getting property, to be as if they had nothing;