Instead of that, you have brought these men here who are guilty neither of sacrilege nor of blasphemy against our goddess.

Only, I know this, that in town after town the holy Spirit testifies to me that bonds and troubles are awaiting me.

I know to-day that not one of you will ever see my face again ??not one of you among whom I moved as I preached the Reign.

Therefore do I protest before you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you;

I know that when I am gone, fierce wolves will get in among you, and they will not spare the flock; yes.

Now, they have heard that you teach all Jews who live among Gentiles to break away from Moses and not to circumcise their children, nor to follow the old customs.

associate yourself with them, purify yourself with them, pay their expenses so that they may be free to have their heads shaved, and then everybody will understand there is nothing in these stories about you, but that, on the contrary, you are guided by obedience to the Law.

As for Gentile believers, we have issued our decision that they must avoid food that has been offered to idols, the taste of blood, flesh of animals that have been strangled, and sexual vice."

Then Paul associated himself with the men next day; he had himself purified along with them and went into the temple to give notice of the time when the days of purification would be completed ??the time, that is to say, when the sacrifice could be offered for each one of them.

They were attempting to kill him, when word reached the commander of the garrison that the whole of Jerusalem was in confusion.

as the high priest and all the council of elders can testify. It was from them that I got letters to the brotherhood at Damascus, and then journeyed thither to bind those who had gathered there and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.

As I could not see owing to the dazzling glare of that light,. my companions took my hand and so I reached Damascus.

When I returned to Jerusalem, it happened that while I was praying in the temple I fell into a trance

and that I stood and approved when the blood of your martyr Stephen was being shed, taking charge of the clothes of his murderers!'

Till he said that, they had listened to him. But at that they shouted, "Away with such a creature from the earth! He is not fit to live!"

Then those who were to have examined him left him at once alone; even the commander was alarmed to find that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

Then, finding half the Sanhedrin were Sadducees and the other half Pharisees, Paul shouted to them, "I am a Pharisee, brothers, the son of Pharisees! It is for the hope of the resurrection from the dead that I am on trial!"

The quarrel then became so violent that the commander was afraid they would tear Paul in pieces; he therefore ordered the troops to march down and take him from them by force, bringing him inside the barracks.

Now you and the Sanhedrin must inform the commander that you propose to investigate this case in detail, so that he may have Paul brought down to you. We will be all ready to kill him on the way down."

He answered, "The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to-morrow to the Sanhedrin, on the plea that they propose to examine his case in detail.

Then the commander dismissed the youth, bidding him "Tell nobody that you have informed me of this."

This man had been seized by the Jews and was on the point of being murdered by them, when I came on them with the troops and rescued him, as I had ascertained that he was a Roman citizen.

where I found he was accused of matters relating to their Law but not impeached for any crime that deserved death or imprisonment.

I am informed a plot is to be laid against him, so I am sending him to you at once, telling his accusers that they must impeach him before you. Farewell."

he said, "I will go into your case whenever your accusers arrive," giving orders that he was to be kept in the praetorium of Herod.

So Paul was summoned, and then Tertullus proceeded to accuse him. "Your excellency," he said to Felix, "as it is owing to you that we enjoy unbroken peace, and as it is owing to your wise care that the state of this nation has been improved in every way and everywhere,

The Jews joined in the attack, declaring that such were the facts of the case.

I certainly admit to you that I worship our fathers' God according to the methods of what they call a 'sect'; but I believe all that is written in the Law and in the prophets,

and I cherish the same hope in God as they accept, namely that there is to be a resurrection of the just and the unjust.

and it was in presenting these that I was found within the temple. I was ceremonially pure, I was not mixed up in any mob or riot; no, the trouble was caused by some Jews from Asia,

Failing them, let these men yonder tell what fault they found with my appearance before the Sanhedrin! ??21 unless it was with the single sentence I uttered, when I stood and said, 'It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am on my trial to-day before you.'"

Festus replied that Paul would be kept in custody at Caesarea, but that he himself meant to leave for Caesarea before long ??5 "when," he added, "your competent authorities can come down with me and charge the man with whatever crime he has committed."

Paul said, "I am standing before Caesar's tribunal; that is where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong whatever to the Jews ??you know that perfectly well.

If I am a criminal, if I have done anything that deserves death, I do not object to die; but if there is nothing in any of their charges against me, then no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!"

but when his accusers stood up they did not charge him with any of the crimes that I had expected.

I could not find he had done anything that deserved death, so I decided to send him, on his own appeal, to the emperor.

Only, I have nothing definite to write to the sovereign about him. So I have brought him up before you all, and especially before you, O king Agrippa, in order that I may have something to write as the result of your cross-examination.

"I consider myself fortunate, king Agrippa, in being able to defend myself to-day before you against all that the Jews charge me with;

How I lived from my youth up among my own nation and at Jerusalem, all that early career of mine, is known to all the Jews.

They know me of old. They know, if they chose to admit it, that as a Pharisee I lived by the principles of the strictest party in our religion.

[Move to the beginning of vs 23] Why should you consider it incredible that God raises the dead,

that their eyes may be opened and that they may turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, to get remission of their sins and an inheritance among those who are consecrated by faith in me.'

I announced to those at Damascus and at Jerusalem in the first instance, then all over the land of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they were to repent and turn to God by acting up to their repentance.

that the Christ is capable of suffering, and that he should be the first to rise from the dead and bring the message of light to the People and to the Gentiles?"

"Long or short," said Paul, "I would to God that not only you but all my hearers to-day could be what I am ??barring these chains!"

They retired to discuss the affair, and agreed that "this man has done nothing to deserve death or imprisonment."

So the anchors were cut away and left in the sea, while the crew unlashed the ropes that tied the rudders, hoisted the foresail to the breeze, and headed for the beach.

while the rest were to manage with planks or pieces of wreckage. In this way it turned out that the whole company got safe to land.

It was only after our escape that we found out the island was called Malta.

The natives waited for him to swell up or drop down dead in a moment, but after waiting a long while and observing that no harm had befallen him, they changed their minds and declared he was a god.

They meant to release me after examination, as I was innocent of any crime that deserved death.

But the Jews objected, and so I was obliged to appeal to Caesar ??not that I had any charge to bring against my own nation.

We think it only right to let you tell your own story; but as regards this sect, we are well aware that there are objections to it on all hands."

As they could not agree among themselves, they were turning to go away, when Paul added this one word: "It was an apt word that the holy Spirit spoke by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers,

Be sure of this, then, that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen to it."

For I do yearn to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift for your strengthening ??12 or, in other words, that I may be encouraged by meeting you, I by your faith and you by mine.

Brothers, I would like you to understand that I have often purposed to come to you (though up till now I have been prevented) so as to have some results among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

That is why God has given them up to vile passions; their women have exchanged the natural function of sex for what is unnatural,

though they know God's decree that people who practise such vice deserve death, they not only do it themselves but applaud those who practise it.

but anger and wrath to those who are wilful, who disobey the Truth and obey wickedness ??9 anguish and calamity for every human soul that perpetrates evil, for the Jew first and for the Greek as well,

and are persuaded that you are a guide to the blind, a light to darkened souls,

Why, it is owing to you that the name of God is maligned among the Gentiles, as scripture says!

Never! Let God be true to his word, though every man be perfidious ??as it is written, That thou mayest be vindicated in thy pleadings, and triumph in thy trial.

But if our iniquity thus serves to bring out the justice of God, what are we to infer? That it is unfair of God to inflict his anger on us? (I speak in a merely human way.)

Never! In that case, how could he judge the world?

Why should we not do evil that good may come out of it?" (which is the calumny attributed to me ??the very thing some people declare I say). Such arguments are rightly condemned.

Whatever the Law says, we know, it says to those who are inside the Law, that every mouth may be shut and all the world made answerable to God;

whom God put forward as the means of propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to demonstrate the justice of God in view of the fact that sins previously committed during the time of God's forbearance had been passed over;

it was to demonstrate his justice at the present epoch, showing that God is just himself and that he justifies man on the score of faith in Jesus.

This, that if 'Abraham was justified on the score of what he did,' he has something to be proud of. But not to be proud of before God.

Now is that description of bliss meant for the circumcised, or for the uncircumcised as well? Abraham's faith, I repeat, was counted to him as righteousness.

The promise made to Abraham and his offspring that he should inherit the world, did not reach him through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.

That is why all turns upon faith; it is to make the promise a matter of favour, to make it secure for all the offspring, not simply for those who are adherents of the Law but also for those who share the faith of Abraham ??of Abraham who is the father of us all

and felt convinced that He was able to do what He had promised.

Jesus who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised that we might be justified.

Not only so, but we triumph even in our troubles, knowing that trouble produces endurance,

But God proves his love for us by this, that Christ died for us when we were still sinners.

Much more then, now that we are justified by his blood, shall we be saved by him from Wrath.

If we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son when we were enemies, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

For if the trespass of one man allowed death to reign through that one man, much more shall those who receive the overflowing grace and free gift of righteousness reign in life through One, through Jesus Christ.

so that, while sin had reigned the reign of death, grace might also reign with a righteousness that ends in life eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now what are we to infer from this? That we are to 'remain on in sin, so that there may be all the more grace'?

Surely you know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death!

Our baptism in his death made us share his burial, so that, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live and move in the new sphere of Life.

knowing as we do that our old self has been crucified with him in order to crush the sinful body and free us from any further slavery to sin

We believe that as we have died with Christ we shall also live with him;

for we know that Christ never dies after his resurrection from the dead ??death has no more hold over him;

(I use this human analogy to bring the truth home to your weak nature.) As you once dedicated your members to the service of vice and lawlessness, so now dedicate them to the service of righteousness that means consecration.

Well, what did you gain then by it all? Nothing but what you are now ashamed of! The end of all that is death;

but now that you are set free from sin, now that you have passed into the service of God, your gain is consecration, and the end of that is life eternal.

Surely you know, my brothers ??for I am speaking to men who know what law means ??that the law has hold over a person only during his lifetime!

Accordingly, she will be termed an adulteress if she becomes another man's while her husband is alive; but if her husband dies, she is freed from the law of 'the husband,' so that she is no adulteress if she becomes another man's.

It is the same in your case, my brothers. The crucified body of Christ made you dead to the Law, so that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead that we might be fruitful to God.

but now we are done with the Law, we have died to what once held us, so that we can serve in a new way, not under the written code as of old but in the Spirit.

What follows, then? That 'the Law is equivalent to sin'? Never! Why, had it not been for the Law, I would never have known what sin meant! Thus I would never have known what it is to covet, unless the Law had said, You must not covet.

the command that meant life proved death for me.

The Law is spiritual; we know that. But then I am a creature of the flesh, in the thraldom of sin.

Now, when I act against my wishes, that means I agree that the Law is right.

That being so, it is not I who do the deed but sin that dwells within me.

For in me (that is, in my flesh) no good dwells, I know; the wish is there, but not the power of doing what is right.