The Spirit told me to go with them without misgivings. These six brethren also went with me and we entered the man’s house.

And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, ‘You are My Son; today i have begotten You.’

Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you:

For so the Lord has commanded us,
‘I have placed You as a light for the Gentiles,
That You may bring salvation to the end of the earth.’”

After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe.

After they had stopped speaking, James answered, saying, “Brethren, listen to me.

So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,’

Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles,

And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?

But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you;

serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews;

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

except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.

But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.

“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;

You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me.

Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

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.

As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he *said, “Do you know Greek?

But Paul said, “I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”

“Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

“But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,

and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’

And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’

And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.

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.’

But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.

came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him.

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.’”

The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.”

Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, “Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.”

Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?”

But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, “Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.”

So he took him and led him to the commander and *said, “Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you.”

The commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?”

So the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”

But, that I may not weary you any further, I beg you to grant us, by your kindness, a brief hearing.

When the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded:“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,

Neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot.

Nor can they prove to you the charges of which they now accuse me.

In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.

Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings;

in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia—

who ought to have been present before you and to make accusation, if they should have anything against me.

“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.”

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?”

If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

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.

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.

Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write.

For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.”

“In regard to all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense before you today;

especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

“So then, all Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem;

since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion.

And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them.

at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.

And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

For this reason some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to put me to death.

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

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

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.”

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.

For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me,

And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there was no ground for putting me to death.

But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.

For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,

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

For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;

that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.

I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.

So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

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

May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,
“That You may be justified in Your words,
And prevail when You are judged.”

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

But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?

And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God;

Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

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,

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?

May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.

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.”

But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.

and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;

for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.