On the first day of the week, when we had met to break bread, Paul began to address the people. Since he intended to leave the next day, he went on speaking until midnight.

A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in a window, began to sink off into a deep sleep as Paul kept speaking longer and longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.

But Paul went down, bent over him, took him into his arms, and said, "Stop being alarmed, because he's still alive."

Then he went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. He talked with them for a long time, until dawn, and then left.

We proceeded to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we intended to pick up Paul. He had arranged it this way, since he had planned to travel there on foot.

When he met us in Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene.

Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in Asia, as he was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost, if that was possible.

From Miletus he sent messengers to Ephesus to ask the elders of the church to meet with him.

When they came to him, he told them, "You know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day I set foot in Asia.

Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to be shepherds of God's church, which he acquired with his own blood.

When Paul had said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

They were especially sorrowful because of what he had said that they would never see his face again. Then they took him to the ship.

He had four unmarried daughters who could prophesy.

He came to us, took Paul's belt, and tied his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, "The Holy Spirit says, "This is how the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the man who owns this belt. Then they will hand him over to the gentiles.'"

When he could not be persuaded otherwise, we remained silent except to say, "May the Lord's will be done."

Some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us. They took us to the home of Mnason to be his guests. He was from Cyprus and had been an early disciple.

When they heard about it, they praised God and told him, "You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and all of them are zealous for the Law.

Then Paul took those men and the next day purified himself with them. Then he went into the Temple to announce the time when their days of purification would end and when the sacrifice would be offered for each of them.

yelling, "Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere to turn against our people, the Law, and this place. More than that, he has even brought Greeks into the Temple and desecrated this Holy Place."

Then the tribune came up, grabbed Paul, and ordered him to be tied up with two chains. He then asked who Paul was and what he had done.

Some of the crowd shouted this and some that. Since the tribune couldn't learn the facts due to the confusion, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks.

When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because the mob had become so violent.

Just as Paul was about to be taken into the barracks, he asked the tribune, "May I say something to you?"

The tribune gave him permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, motioned for the people to be silent. When everyone had quieted down, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language:

When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet, and he continued:

as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. I also received letters from them to the brothers in Damascus, and I was going there to tie up those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished.

"He told me, "I'm Jesus from Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' The men who were with me saw the light but didn't understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

came to me. He stood beside me and said, "Brother Saul, receive your sight!' At that moment I could see him.

"Then he said, "The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear his own voice,

"Then he told me, "Go, because I'll send you far away to the gentiles.'"

Up to this point they listened to him, but then they began to shout, "Away with such a fellow from the earth! He's not fit to go on living!"

When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and told him, "What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!"

So the tribune went and asked Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said.

Paul said, "But I was born a citizen." Immediately those who were about to examine him stepped back, and the tribune was afraid when he found out that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had tied him up.

The next day, since the tribune wanted to find out exactly what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, he released him and ordered the high priests and the entire Council to meet. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

Then the high priest Ananias ordered the men standing near him to strike him on the mouth.

At this Paul told him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! How can you sit there and judge me according to the Law, and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?"

The men standing near him asked, "Do you mean to insult God's high priest?"

Paul answered, "I didn't realize, brothers, that he is the high priest. After all, it is written, "You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.'"

When Paul saw that some of them were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he shouted in the Council, "Brothers, I'm a Pharisee and a descendant of Pharisees. I'm on trial concerning the hope that the dead will be resurrected."

After he said that, an angry quarrel broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided,

The quarrel was becoming violent, and the tribune was afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces. So he ordered the soldiers to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.

They went to the high priests and elders and said, "We have taken a solemn oath not to taste any food before we have killed Paul.

Now then, you and the Council must notify the tribune to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to look into his case more carefully, but before he arrives we'll be ready to kill him."

But the son of Paul's sister heard about the ambush, so he came and got into the barracks and told Paul.

Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, "Take this young man to the tribune, because he has something to tell him."

So the centurion took him, brought him to the tribune, and said, "The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you."

He answered, "The Jewish leaders have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the Council tomorrow as though they were going to examine his case more carefully.

The tribune dismissed the young man and ordered him not to tell anyone that he had notified him.

Then he summoned two centurions and ordered, "Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o'clock tonight, along with 70 mounted soldiers and 200 soldiers with spears.

He wrote a letter with this message:

This man had been seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I went with the guard and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman citizen.

I found that, although he was charged with questions about their Law, there was no charge against him deserving death or imprisonment.

After reading the letter, the governor asked which province Paul was from. On learning that he was from Cilicia,

he said, "I will hear your case when your accusers arrive." Then he ordered Paul to be kept in custody in Herod's palace.

Five days later, the high priest Ananias arrived with certain elders and Tertullus, an attorney, and they summarized their case against Paul before the governor.

For we have found this man a perfect pest and an agitator among all Jews throughout the world. He is a ringleader in the sect of the Nazarenes

When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he replied:

Felix was rather well informed about the Way, and so he adjourned the trial with the comment, "When Tribune Lysias arrives, I'll decide your case."

He ordered the centurion to guard Paul but to let him have some freedom and not to keep any of his friends from caring for his needs.

Some days later, Felix arrived with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him talk about faith in Jesus the Messiah.

At the same time he was hoping to receive a bribe from Paul, and so he would send for him frequently to talk with him.

After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. Since Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor, he left Paul in prison.

Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem.

The high priests and Jewish leaders informed him of their charges against Paul, urging

Festus replied that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself would be going there soon.

"Therefore," he said, "have your authorities come down with me and present their charges against him there, if there is anything wrong with the man."

Festus stayed with them no more than eight or ten days and then went down to Caesarea. The next day, he sat on the judge's seat and ordered Paul brought in.

Since they were staying there for several days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king. He said, "There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix.

When I went to Jerusalem, the high priests and the Jewish elders informed me about him and asked me to condemn him.

Instead, they had several arguments with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but Paul kept asserting he was alive.

I was puzzled how I should investigate such matters, so I asked if he would like to go to Jerusalem and be tried there for these things.

Agrippa told Festus, "I would like to hear the man." "Tomorrow," he said, "you will hear him."

Then Festus said, "King Agrippa and all you men who are present with us! You see this man about whom the whole Jewish nation petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

I find that he has not done anything deserving of death. But since he has appealed to his Majesty, I have decided to send him.

I have nothing reliable to write our Sovereign about him, so I have brought him to all of you, and especially to you, King Agrippa, so that I will have something to write after he is cross-examined.

All the Jews know how I lived from the earliest days of my youth with my own people and in Jerusalem.

That is what I did in Jerusalem. I received authority from the high priests and locked many of the saints in prison. And when I cast my vote against them, they were put to death.

"That is how I happened to be traveling to Damascus with authority based on a commission from the high priests.

As he continued his defense, Festus shouted, "You're out of your mind, Paul! Too much education is driving you crazy!"

Agrippa told Festus, "This man could have been set free if he hadn't appealed to the emperor."

The next day, we arrived at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly allowing him to visit his friends there and to receive any care he needed.

So take courage, men, because I trust God that it will turn out just as he told me.

Right up to daybreak Paul kept urging all of them to eat something. He said, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, not eating anything.

After he said this, he took some bread, thanked God in front of everyone, broke it, and began to eat.

but the centurion wanted to save Paul, so he prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.

When the people who lived there saw the snake hanging from his hand, they told one another, "This man must be a murderer! He may have escaped from the sea, but Justice won't let him live."

But he shook the snake into the fire and wasn't harmed.

They were expecting him to swell up or suddenly drop dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

The governor of the island, whose name was Publius, owned estates in that part of the island. He welcomed us and entertained us with great hospitality for three days.

The brothers there heard about us and came as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and felt encouraged.

Three days later, Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. When they assembled, he told them, "Brothers, although I haven't done anything against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

So they set a day to meet with Paul and came out in large numbers to see him where he was staying.

From morning until evening, he continued to explain the kingdom of God to them, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others wouldn't believe.

They disagreed with one another as they were leaving, so Paul added this statement: "The Holy Spirit was so right when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah!

He said, "Go to this people and say, "You will listen and listen but never understand, and you will look and look but never see!

He continued to preach about the kingdom of God and to teach boldly and freely about the Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures

regarding his Son. He was a descendant of David with respect to his humanity

For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel about his Son, is my witness how constantly I mention you