I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before the accused had met his accusers face to face and had been given an opportunity to make a defense against the accusation.

So after they came back here with me, I did not postpone the case, but the next day I sat on the judgment seat and ordered the man to be brought.

When his accusers stood up, they did not charge him with any of the evil deeds I had suspected.

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

a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve God night and day. Concerning this hope the Jews are accusing me, Your Majesty!

And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were sentenced to death.

"Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

But Paul replied, "I have not lost my mind, most excellent Festus, but am speaking true and rational words.

For the king knows about these things, and I am speaking freely to him, because I cannot believe that any of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner.

Paul replied, "I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains."

and as they were leaving they said to one another, "This man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment."

Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar."

"Men, I can see the voyage is going to end in disaster and great loss not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives."

Because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there. They hoped that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

Not long after this, a hurricane-force wind called the northeaster blew down from the island.

When the ship was caught in it and could not head into the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.

Since many of them had no desire to eat, Paul stood up among them and said, "Men, you should have listened to me and not put out to sea from Crete, thus avoiding this damage and loss.

For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve came to me

and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before Caesar, and God has graciously granted you the safety of all who are sailing with you.'

When the fourteenth night had come, while we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected they were approaching some land.

Therefore I urge you to take some food, for this is important for your survival. For not one of you will lose a hair from his head."

When day came, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.

But they encountered a patch of crosscurrents and ran the ship aground; the bow stuck fast and could not be moved, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves.

When the local people saw the creature hanging from Paul's hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer! Although he has escaped from the sea, Justice herself has not allowed him to live!"

But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar -- not that I had some charge to bring against my own people.

For the heart of this people has become dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them."'

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I often intended to come to you (and was prevented until now), so that I may have some fruit even among you, just as I already have among the rest of the Gentiles.

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

For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.

Although they fully know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.

Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God's kindness leads you to repentance?

but wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition and do not obey the truth but follow unrighteousness.

For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous.

For whenever the Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature the things required by the law, these who do not have the law are a law to themselves.

therefore you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal?

You who tell others not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?

Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

And will not the physically uncircumcised man who keeps the law judge you who, despite the written code and circumcision, transgress the law?

For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh,

but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit and not by the written code. This person's praise is not from people but from God.

What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?

Absolutely not! Let God be proven true, and every human being shown up as a liar, just as it is written: "so that you will be justified in your words and will prevail when you are judged."

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is he? (I am speaking in human terms.)

Absolutely not! For otherwise how could God judge the world?

And why not say, "Let us do evil so that good may come of it"? -- as some who slander us allege that we say. (Their condemnation is deserved!)

What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin,

just as it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one,

All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one."

and the way of peace they have not known."

Or 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 nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law.

For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, he has something to boast about -- but not before God.

Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation.

But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.

How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised!

And he is also the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised.

For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants -- not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

(as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"). He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed -- the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do.

He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.

But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham's sake,

Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.

Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one) transgressed.

But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many!

And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but the gracious gift from the many failures led to justification.

Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires,

and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness.

For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not!

Do you not know that if you present yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness?

Or do you not know, brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is lord over a person as long as he lives?

So then, if she is joined to another man while her husband is alive, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she is joined to another man, she is not an adulteress.

But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to what controlled us, so that we may serve in the new life of the Spirit and not under the old written code.

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, "Do not covet."

Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

For I don't understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want -- instead, I do what I hate.

For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want!

Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.

For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him.

So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, "Abba, Father."

For the creation was subjected to futility -- not willingly but because of God who subjected it -- in hope

Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

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

But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings.

Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all -- how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?

I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me in the Holy Spirit --

It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel,

This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.

Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our ancestor Isaac --

even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling) --