So, immediately after Paul had seen the vision, we looked for an opportunity to cross over to Macedonia, concluding that God had summoned us to tell the Good News to the people there.

And, when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us to become her guests. "Since you have shown your conviction," she said, "that I really am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house." And she insisted on our doing so.

She had been doing this for several days, when Paul, much vexed, turned and said to the spirit within her: "In the Name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave her." That very moment the spirit left her.

Roused from his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, the Governor drew his sword intending to kill himself, in the belief that the prisoners had escaped.

Afterwards he took them up to his house and set before them something to eat, rejoicing that he, with all his household, had come to believe in God.

The Governor of the Jail told Paul of his instructions. "The Magistrates have sent an order for your discharge," he said, "so you had better leave the place at once and go quietly away."

When Paul and Silas left the prison, they went to Lydia's house, and, after they had seen the Brethren, and encouraged them, they left the place.

After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica. Here the Jews had a Synagogue;

But, when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that God's Message had been delivered by Paul at Beroea, they came there too, exciting and disturbing the minds of the people.

On hearing of a resurrection of the dead, some began jeering, but others said that they would hear what he had to say about that another time.

There he met a Jew of the name of Aquila, a native of Pontus, who, with his wife Priscilla, had lately come from Italy, in consequence of the order which had been issued by the Emperor Claudius for all Jews to leave Rome. Paul paid them a visit,

But, when Silas and Timothy had come down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to delivering the Message, earnestly maintaining before the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

So he left, and went to the house of a certain Titius Justus, who had been accustomed to join in the worship of God, and whose house was next door to the Synagogue.

Paul remained there some time after this, and then took leave of the Brethren, and sailed to Syria with Priscilla and Aquila, but not before his head had been shaved at Cenchreae, because he was under a vow.

Meanwhile there had come to Ephesus an Alexandrian Jew, named Apollos, an eloquent man, who was well-versed in the Scriptures.

He had been well-instructed in the Cause of the Lord, and with burning zeal he spoke of, and taught carefully, the facts about Jesus, though he knew of no baptism but John's.

When he wanted to cross to Greece, the Brethren furthered his plans, and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival he proved of great assistance to those who had, through the loving-kindness of God, become believers in Christ,

And, after Paul had placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit descended upon them, and they began to speak with 'tongues' and to preach.

So that people would carry home to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body, and their diseases would leave them and the wicked spirits go out of them.

An attempt was made by some itinerant Jews, who were exorcists, to use the Name of the Lord Jesus over those who had wicked spirits in them. "I adjure you," they would say, "by the Jesus, whom Paul preaches."

Many, too, of those who had become believers in Christ came with a full confession of their practices;

While a number of people, who had practiced magic, collected their books and burnt them publicly; and on reckoning up the price of these, they found it amounted to five thousand pounds.

Meanwhile some were shouting one thing and some another, for the Assembly was all in confusion, most of those present not even knowing why they had met.

But some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed to the front, and he waved his hand to show that he wanted to speak in their defense to the people.

When the Recorder had succeeded in quieting the crowd, he said: "Men of Ephesus, who is there, I ask you, who needs to be told that this city of Ephesus is the Warden of the Temple of the great Artemis, and of the statue which fell down from Zeus?

When the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and, with encouraging words, bade them goodbye, and started on his journey to Macedonia.

He was about to sail to Syria, when he learned that a plot had been laid against him by the Jews; so he decided to return by way of Macedonia.

On the first day of the week, when we had met for the Breaking of Bread, Paul, who was intending to leave the next day, began to address those who were present, and prolonged his address till midnight.

There were a good many lamps in the upstairs room, where we had met;

Meanwhile they had taken the lad away alive, and were greatly comforted.

The day after we had sailed from there, we arrived off Chios, touched at Samos the following day, and the next day reached Miletus;

For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so as to avoid spending much time in Roman Asia. He was making haste to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the Festival at the close of the Harvest.

When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

Grieving most of all over what he had said--that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.

When we had torn ourselves away and had set sail, we ran before the wind to Cos; the next day we came to Rhodes, and from there to Patara,

However, when we had come to the end of our visit, we went on our way, all the disciples with their wives and children escorting us out of the city. We knelt down on the beach, and prayed,

After we had made the run from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais, and exchanged greetings with the Brethren there, and spent a day with them.

He had four unmarried daughters, who had the gift of prophecy.

After greeting them, Paul related in detail all that God had done among the Gentiles through his efforts;

And, when they had heard it, they began praising God, and said to Paul: "You see, Brother, that the Jews who have become believers in Christ may be numbered by tens of thousands, and they are all naturally earnest in upholding the Jewish Law.

(For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in Paul's company in the city, and were under the belief that Paul had taken him into the Temple.)

Then he went up to Paul, arrested him, ordered him to be doubly chained, and proceeded to inquire who he was, and what he had been doing.

The Commanding Officer gave his permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, made signs with his hand to the people, and, when comparative silence had been obtained, he spoke to them in Hebrew, as follows:

And to that the High Priest himself and all the Council can testify. For I had letters of introduction from them to our fellow Jews at Damascus, and I was on my way to that place, to bring those whom I might find there prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment.

Up to this point the people had been listening to Paul, but at these words they called out: "Kill him! A fellow like this ought not to have been allowed to live!"

But just as they had tied him up to be scourged, Paul said to the Captain standing near: "Is it legal for you to scourge a Roman citizen, unconvicted?"

"I had to pay a heavy price for my position as citizen," said the Officer. "I am one by birth," rejoined Paul.

On the next day the Commanding Officer, wishing to find out the real reason why Paul was denounced by the Jews, had his chains taken off, and directed the Chief Priests and the whole of the High Council to assemble, and then took Paul down and brought him before them.

In the morning the Jews combined together, and took an oath that they would not eat or drink till they had killed Paul.

Paul called one of the Captains of the garrison and asked him to take the lad to the Commanding Officer, as he had something to tell him.

The Commanding Officer took the lad by the hand, and, stepping aside, asked what it was he had to tell him.

The Commanding Officer then dismissed the lad, cautioning him not to mention to anybody that he had given him that information.

The man whom I send with this had been seized by the Jews, and was on the point of being killed by them, when I came upon them with the force under my command, and rescued him, as I learned that he was a Roman citizen.

As soon as Felix had read the letter, he enquired to what province Paul belonged, and, learning that he came from Cilicia, he said:

After some years' absence I had come to bring charitable gifts to my nation, and to make offerings;

Felix, however, adjourned the case--though he had a fairly accurate knowledge of all that concerned the Cause--with the promise: "When Lysias, the commanding Officer, comes down, I will give my decision in your case."

Some days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was herself a Jewess, and, sending for Paul, listened to what he had to say about faith in Christ Jesus.

Three days after Festus had entered upon his province, he left Caesarea and went up to Jerusalem.

On Paul's appearance, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and made many serious charges, which they failed to establish.

My answer to them was, that it was not the practice of Romans to give up any man to his accusers till the accused had met them face to face, and had also had an opportunity of answering the charges brought against him.

But, when his accusers came forward, they brought no charge of wrong-doing such as I had expected;

So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come in full state and had entered the Audience Chamber, with the superior officers and the principal people of the city, by the order of Festus Paul was brought before them.

I found, however, that he had not done anything deserving death; so, as he had himself appealed to his August Majesty, I decided to send him.

But get up and stand upright; for I have appeared to you in order to appoint you a servant and a witness of those revelations of me which you have already had, and of those in which I shall yet appear to you,

Then the King rose, with the Governor and Bernice and those who had been sitting with them,

And, speaking to Festus, Agrippa added: "The man might have been discharged, if he had not appealed to the Emperor."

This had taken a considerable time, and sailing was already dangerous, for the Fast was already over; and so Paul gave this warning.

So, when a light wind sprang up from the south, thinking that they had found their opportunity, they weighed anchor and kept along the coast of Crete, close in shore.

The ship was caught by it and was unable to keep her head to the wind, so we had to give way and let her drive before it.

It was then, when they had gone a long time without food, that Paul came forward, and said: "My friends, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and so incurred this injury and damage.

The sailors wanted to leave the ship, and had lowered the boat, on pretense of running out anchors from the bows,

And the men all felt cheered and had something to eat themselves.

The natives showed us marked kindness, for they lit a fire and took us all under shelter, because it had come on to rain and was cold.

Paul had gathered a quantity of dry sticks and laid them on the fire, when a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened on his hand.

After this, all the people in the island who had any illness came to Paul, and were cured.

After three months, we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island. She was an Alexandrian vessel, and had the Twin Sons of Zeus for her figure-head.

The Brethren there had heard about us, and came out as far as the Market of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At sight of them Paul thanked God and was much cheered.

Three days after our arrival, Paul invited the leading Jews to meet him; and, when they came, he spoke to them as follows: "Brothers, although I had done nothing hostile to the interests of our nation or to our ancestral customs, yet I was sent from Jerusalem as a prisoner, and handed over to the Romans.

The Romans, when they had examined me, were ready to release me, because there was nothing in my conduct deserving death.

But, as the Jews opposed my release, I was compelled to appeal to the Emperor--not, indeed, that I had any charge to make against my own nation.

"We," was their reply, "have not had any letter about you from Judea, nor have any of our fellow-Jews come and reported or said anything bad about you.

For they had substituted a lie for the truth about God, and had reverenced and worshiped created things more than the Creator, who is to be praised for ever. Amen.

For God set him before the world, to be, by the shedding of his blood, a means of reconciliation through faith. And this God did to prove his righteousness, and because, in his forbearance, he had passed over the sins that men had previously committed;

For what are the words of Scripture? 'Abraham had faith in God, and his faith was regarded by God as righteousness.'

As well as father of the circumcised-to those who are not only circumcised, but who also follow our father Abraham in that faith which he had while still uncircumcised.

As Scripture says-'I have made thee the Father of many nations.') And this they do in the sight of that God in whom Abraham had faith, and who gives life to the dead, and speaks of what does not yet exist as if it did.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and through sin came death; so, also, death spread to all mankind, because all men had sinned.

In order than, just as Sin had reigned in the realm of Death, so, too, might Loving-kindness reign through righteousness, and result in Immortal Life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

What are we to say, then? That Law and sin are the same thing? Heaven forbid! On the contrary, I should not have learned what sin is, had not it been for Law. If the Law did not say 'Thou shalt not covet,' I should not know what it is to covet.

For in order that the purpose of God, working through selection, might not fail-a selection depending, not on obedience, but on his Call-Rebecca was told, before her children were born and before they had done anything either right or wrong,

It is as Isaiah foretold-'Had not the Lord of Hosts spared some few of our race to us, we should have become like Sodom and been made to resemble Gomorrah.'

Yet always with the ambition to tell the Good News where Christ's name had not previously been heard, so as to avoid building upon another man's foundations.

But as Scripture says--'They to whom he had never been proclaimed shall see; and they who have never heard shall understand!'

For I had determined that, while with you, I would know nothing but Jesus Christ-and him crucified!

This philosophy is not known to any of the leaders of to-day; for, had they known it, they would not have crucified our glorified Lord.

In fulfillment of the charge which God had entrusted to me, I laid the foundation like a skillful master-builder; but another man is now building upon it. Let every one take care how he builds;

For who makes any one of you superior to others? And what have you that was not given you? But if you received it as a gift, why do you boast as if you had not?

Are you all so soon satisfied? Are you so soon rich? Have you begun to reign without us? Would indeed that you had, so that we also might reign with you!

For I myself, though absent in body, have been present with you in spirit, and in the name of our Lord Jesus I have already passed judgment, just as if I had been present, upon the man who has acted in this way.

What I mean, Brothers, is this-The time is short. Meanwhile, let those who have wives live as if they had none,