And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by the third hour of the night to proceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen.”

he said, “I will give you a hearing after your accusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.

But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you.”

“Therefore,” he *said, “let the influential men among you go there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them prosecute him.”

After he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

while Paul said in his own defense, “I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”

But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges?”

But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know.

So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought before me.

Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer.

Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and proceeded to make his defense:

And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place;

While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad.”

But Paul *said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth.

And Paul said, “I would wish to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these chains.”

And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

and said to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

But the centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul.

When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss.

Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”

Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.

The natives showed us extraordinary kindness; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all.

At the end of three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead.

There we found some brethren, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and thus we came to Rome.

When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you.

When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,

because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,

because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,

that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.”

“And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘you are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

For it is written,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.”

If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake.

and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way wherever I may go.

who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.

but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

for we walk by faith, not by sight—

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
“I will dwell in them and walk among them;
And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together.

For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within.

So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God.

for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ; and all for your upbuilding, beloved.

I have previously said when present the second time, and though now absent I say in advance to those who have sinned in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I will not spare anyone,

As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased

I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ;

But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father.

It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

but if any widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to practice piety in regard to their own family and to make some return to their parents; for this is acceptable in the sight of God.

thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous pledge.

For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you,

One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

But to which of the angels has He ever said,
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I make Your enemies
A footstool for Your feet”?

“Therefore I was angry with this generation,
And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,
And they did not know My ways’;

while it is said,
“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.”

For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said,
“As I swore in My wrath,
They shall not enter My rest,”
although His works were finished from the foundation of the world.

For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”;

He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before,
“Today if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”

And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him,
“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”;

so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

(for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him,
“The Lord has sworn
And will not change His mind,
‘You are a priest forever’”);

Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

“Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come
(In the scroll of the book it is written of Me)
To do Your will, O God.’”

then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second.

but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,

Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.”

it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.”

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,