But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

but taking leave of them and saying, “I will return to you again if God wills,” he set sail from Ephesus.

Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.”

And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”

And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.

And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’

And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.

For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’

And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

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

ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him.”

But Felix, having a more exact knowledge about the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.”

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.”

But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;

Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.”

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.”

Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.

Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.”

saying,
‘Go to this people and say,
“You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
And you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.”

always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you.

But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?

who will render to each person according to his deeds:

There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,

For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;

for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.

on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law,

So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?

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

May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world?

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

since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

“Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”

For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

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

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

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

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.

and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants will be named.”

For this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.”

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

For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?”

On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?

As He says also in Hosea,
“I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’
And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.’”

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved;

for the Lord will execute His word on the earth, thoroughly and quickly.”

just as it is written,
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down),

or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.”

for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

But I say, surely Israel did not know, did they? First Moses says,
“I will make you jealous by that which is not a nation,
By a nation without understanding will I anger you.”

Now if their transgression is riches for the world and their failure is riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!

For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree,

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

for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.

Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.

And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.

For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;

and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
“The Deliverer will come from Zion,
He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.”

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

“But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;

Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

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.

So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written,
“Therefore I will give praise to You among the Gentiles,
And I will sing to Your name.”

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed,

Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain.

I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.