And this agrees with the predictions of the prophets which say,

who has been making this known from of old.'

They were the bearers of this letter: "The apostles and the brothers who are elders send greeting to the brothers of heathen birth in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia.

So we send Judas and Silas to you, to give you this same message by word of mouth.

For the holy Spirit and we have decided not to lay upon you any burden but this indispensable one,

Paul wished to take this man on with him, and so on account of the Jews in that district he had him circumcised, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

As soon as he had this vision, we made efforts to get on to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to tell them the good news.

From there we went to Philippi, a Roman garrison town, and the principal place in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed for some days.

This girl would follow Paul and the rest of us, crying out, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are making known to you a way of salvation."

She did this for a number of days, until Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her!" And it came out instantly.

The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent orders that you are to be released. So you can take your leave and go unmolested."

The policemen delivered this message to the magistrates, and they were alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens,

This offended the Jews and they gathered some unprincipled loafers, formed a mob and started a riot in the town. They attacked Jason's house, to find them and bring them out among the people.

The crowd and the magistrates were very much excited at hearing this,

Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some of them said, "What is this rag-picker trying to make out?" Others said, "He seems to be preaching some foreign deities." This was because he was telling the good news of Jesus and the resurrection.

So they took him and brought him to the council of the Areopagus and said, "May we know just what this new teaching of yours is?

For as I was going about and looking at the things you worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: 'To an Unknown God.' So it is what you already worship in ignorance that I am now telling you of.

When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We should like to hear you again on this subject."

After this he left Athens and went to Corinth.

But as they contradicted and abused him, he shook his clothes in protest, and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am not to blame for it! After this I will go to the heathen."

for I am with you, and no one shall attack you or injure you, for I have many people in this city."

"This fellow," they said, "is trying to induce people to worship God in ways that are against the law."

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,

This went on for two years, so that everyone who lived in Asia, Greeks as well as Jews, heard the Lord's message.

A Jewish high priest named Sceva had seven sons who were doing this.

This came to be known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, Greeks as well as Jews, and great awe came over them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus came to be held in high honor.

He got the workmen in that and similar trades together, and said to them, "Men, you know that this business is the source of our prosperity,

and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and drawn away numbers of people, telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.

There is danger, therefore, not only that this business of ours will be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be neglected and the magnificence of her whom all Asia and the world worship will be a thing of the past!"

When they heard this, they became very angry, and cried, "Great Artemis of Ephesus!"

For we are in danger of being charged with rioting in connection with today's events, though there is really nothing about this commotion that we will not be able to explain."

He came to see us and took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, "This is what the holy Spirit says: 'The Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt like this, and will hand him over to the heathen!' "

When we heard this, we and the people there all begged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

After this we made our preparations and started for Jerusalem.

shouting, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everybody everywhere against our people and the Law and this place, and besides he has actually brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this sacred place."

"I am a Jew, and I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but was brought up here in this city, and thoroughly educated under the teaching of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

I persecuted this Way even to the death, and bound both men and women and put them in prison,

Upon hearing this, the officer went to the colonel and reported it. "What do you propose to do?" he said. "This man is a Roman citizen."

Paul looked steadily at the council and said, "Brothers, I have done my duty to God with a perfectly clear conscience up to this very day."

At this the high priest Ananias ordered the people who were standing nearest to him to strike him on the mouth.

So there was a great uproar, and some scribes of the Pharisees' party got up and insisted, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose some spirit or angel really spoke to him!"

There were more than forty of them involved in this plot,

Paul called one of the officers and said to him, "Take this young man to the colonel, for he has something to tell him."

So he took him to the colonel, and said, "The prisoner Paul called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you, as he has something to say to you."

So the colonel sent the youth away, directing him not to tell anyone that he had given him this information.

to whom he wrote a letter to this effect:

This man had been seized by the Jews and they were just going to kill him when I came upon them with my men and rescued him, as I had learned that he was a Roman citizen.

When Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began the prosecution. "Your Excellency Felix," he said, "since through your efforts we enjoy perfect peace, and through your foresight this nation is securing needed reforms,

we always and everywhere acknowledge this with profound gratitude.

For we have found this man a pest and a disturber of the peace among Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect,

The governor made a sign to Paul to speak, and he answered, "As I know that for many years you have acted as judge for this nation, I cheerfully undertake my defense,

the promise in the hope of seeing which fulfilled our twelve tribes serve God zealously night and day. It is about this hope, your Majesty, that I am accused by some Jews.

I was once going to Damascus on this business, authorized and commissioned by the high priests,

To this day I have had God's help and I stand here to testify to high and low alike, without adding a thing to what Moses and the prophets declared would happen,

As he said this in his defense, Festus called out, "You are raving, Paul! Your great learning is driving you mad!"

The king knows about this, and I can speak to him with freedom. I do not believe that he missed any of this, for it did not happen in a corner!

and after leaving the room, in talking the matter over together, they said, "This man has not done anything to deserve death or imprisonment."

"Gentlemen," he said, "I see that this voyage is likely to end in disaster and heavy loss, not only to ship and cargo but to our own lives also."

Then, when they had gone a long time without food, Paul got up among them, and said, "Gentlemen, you ought to have listened to me and not to have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.

This raised the spirits of all of them, and they took something to eat.

but the officer wanted to save Paul, and so he prevented them from doing this, and ordered all who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land,

When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "This man is undoubtedly a murderer, for though he has been saved from the sea, justice will not let him live."

That is why I asked to see you and speak with you, for it is on account of Israel's hope that I have to wear this chain."

But we want to hear you state your views, for as far as this sect is concerned, we understand that everywhere it is denounced."

" 'Go to this Nation and say to them, "You will listen, and listen, and never understand, And you will look, and look, and never see!

For this nation's mind has grown dull, And they hear faintly with their ears, And they have shut their eyes, So as never to see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their minds, and turn back, And let me cure them!" '

"Understand then that this message of God's salvation has been sent to the heathen. They will listen to it!"

They know God's decree that those who act in this way deserve to die, yet they not only do it, but applaud any who do.

What does this mean? Are we Jews at a disadvantage? Not at all. We have already charged Jews and Greeks all alike with being under the control of sin.

For God showed him publicly dying as a sacrifice of reconciliation to be taken advantage of through faith. This was to vindicate his own justice (for in his forbearance, God passed over men's former sins)??26 to vindicate his justice at the present time, and show that he is upright himself, and that he makes those who have faith in Jesus upright also.

Is this using faith to overthrow law? Far from it. This confirms the Law.

Does this happiness apply to those who are circumcised, or to those who are uncircumcised as well? What we say is, Abraham's faith was credited to him as uprightness.

For just as that one man's disobedience made the mass of mankind sinners, so this one's obedience will make the mass of them upright.

What a wretched man I am! Who can save me from this doomed body?

It was in this hope that we were saved. But a hope that can be seen is not a hope, for who hopes for what he sees?

Then what shall we conclude from this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

For this is what the promise said: "When I come back at this time next year, Sarah will have a son."

On the contrary, who are you, my friend, to answer back to God? Can something a man shapes say to the man who shaped it, "Why did you make me like this?"

But this is what the uprightness that springs from faith says: "Do not say to yourself, 'Who will go up to heaven?' " that is, to bring Christ down;

No! This is what it says: "God's message is close to you, on your lips and in your mind"??hat is, the message about faith that we preach.

The rest became callous; as the Scripture says, "God has thrown them into a state of spiritual insensibility, with eyes that cannot see and cars that cannot hear, that has lasted down to this day."

For to keep you from thinking too well of yourselves, brothers, I do not want you to miss this secret, that only partial insensibility has come upon Israel, to last until all the heathen have come in,

And this will be my agreement with them, When I take away their sins."

I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by this mercy of God, to offer your bodies in a living sacrifice that will be holy and acceptable to God; that is your rational worship.

You must not adopt the customs of this world but by your new attitude of mind be transformed so that you can find out what God's will is??hat is good, pleasing, and perfect.

just as you pay your taxes; they are God's ministers, devoting themselves to this service.

All this especially, because you know this critical time and that it is time for you to wake from your sleep, for our salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

and causing the heathen to praise God for his mercy; as the Scripture says, "I will give thanks to you for this among the heathen, And sing in honor of your name."

In all this it has been my ambition to preach the good news only where Christ's name was unknown, so as not to build on foundations other men had laid.

This is why I have so often been prevented from coming to see you.

But now there is no more work for me in this part of the world, and as I have had a great desire for many years to come to see you,

So when I have finished this matter, and seen this contribution safely into their possession, I will start for Spain, and come to you on the way,

I, Tertius, who write this letter, wish to be remembered to you as a fellow-Christian.

God can be depended on, and it was he who called you to this fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

What I mean is this, that one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," another, "And I, of Apollos," another, "And I, of Cephas," and another, "And I, of Christ!"

Yet there is a wisdom that we impart when we are with people who have a mature faith, but it is not what this world calls wisdom, nor what the authorities of this world, doomed as they are to pass away, would call so.

It is a wisdom unknown to any of the authorities of this world, for otherwise they would never have crucified our glorious Lord.

Let no one of you deceive himself. If any one of you imagines that he is wiser than the rest of you, in what this world calls wisdom, he had better become a fool, so as to become really wise.

For this world's wisdom is foolishness to God. For the Scripture says, "He who catches the wise with their own cunning,"

Now, brothers, for your benefit I have applied all this only to Apollos and myself, by using us as illustrations to teach you the old lesson, "Never go beyond the letter," and to keep any of you from boasting of one teacher at the expense of another.