However, so that I will not burden you any further, I beg you in your graciousness to give us a brief hearing.

You are able to determine that it is no more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem.

And I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous.

and while I was doing this, some Jews from Asia found me ritually purified in the temple, without a crowd and without any uproar.

It is they who ought to be here before you to bring charges, if they have anything against me.

Now as he spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became afraid and replied, “Leave for now, but when I find time I’ll call for you.”

“Therefore,” he said, “let the men of authority among you go down with me and accuse him, if there is any wrong in this man.”

But Paul said: “I am standing at Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as even you can see very well.

If then I am doing wrong, or have done anything deserving of death, I do not refuse to die, but if there is nothing to what these men accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!”

Since they stayed there many days, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There’s a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix.

Then Festus said: “King Agrippa and all men present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish community has appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he should not live any longer.

I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore, I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination is over, I may have something to write.

Agrippa said to Paul, “It is permitted for you to speak for yourself.”

Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:

They had previously known me for quite some time, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.

the promise our 12 tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve Him night and day. King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this hope.

Why is it considered incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and of what I will reveal to you.

that the Messiah must suffer, and that as the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”

As he was making his defense this way, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You’re out of your mind, Paul! Too much study is driving you mad!”

For the king knows about these matters. It is to him I am actually speaking boldly. For I am convinced that none of these things escapes his notice, since this was not done in a corner.

“I wish before God,” replied Paul, “that whether easily or with difficulty, not only you but all who listen to me today might become as I am—except for these chains.”

and when they had left they talked with each other and said, “This man is doing nothing that deserves death or chains.”

So when we had boarded a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, intending to sail to ports along the coast of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.

When we had put out to sea from there, we sailed along the northern coast of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.

Sailing slowly for many days, we came with difficulty as far as Cnidus. Since the wind did not allow us to approach it, we sailed along the south side of Crete off Salmone.

and told them, “Men, I can see that this voyage is headed toward damage and heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives.”

When it was about daylight, Paul urged them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and going without food, having eaten nothing.

In all there were 276 of us on the ship.

The local people showed us extraordinary kindness, for they lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold.

As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself to his hand.

When the local people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man is probably a murderer, and though he has escaped the sea, Justice does not allow him to live!”

Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.

After three months we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island, with the Twin Brothers as its figurehead.

Now the believers from there had heard the news about us and had come to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

After three days he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered he said to them: “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

Because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar; it was not as though I had any accusation against my nation.

For this reason I’ve asked to see you and speak to you. In fact, it is for the hope of Israel that I’m wearing this chain.”

But we would like to hear from you what you think. For concerning this sect, we are aware that it is spoken against everywhere.”

Disagreeing among themselves, they began to leave after Paul made one statement: “The Holy Spirit correctly spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your ancestors

Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle and singled out for God’s good news—

and who has been declared to be the powerful Son of God by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness.

To all who are in Rome, loved by God, called as saints.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world.

For God, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about His Son, is my witness that I constantly mention you,

always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.

that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

Now I want you to know, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as among the rest of the Gentiles.

I am obligated both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek.

For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,

since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them.

For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.

For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened.

Claiming to be wise, they became fools

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.

This is why God delivered them over to degrading passions. For even their females exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.

And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong.

Therefore, any one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.

We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth.

Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

But because of your hardness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed.

There is no favoritism with God.

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. Their consciences confirm this. Their competing thoughts will either accuse or excuse them

For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.

Therefore if an uncircumcised man keeps the law’s requirements, will his uncircumcision not be counted as circumcision?

A man who is physically uncircumcised, but who fulfills the law, will judge you who are a lawbreaker in spite of having the letter of the law and circumcision.

For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh.

On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter. That man’s praise is not from men but from God.

So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?

Absolutely not! God must be true, even if everyone is a liar, as it is written:

That You may be justified in Your words
and triumph when You judge.

But if our unrighteousness highlights God’s righteousness, what are we to say? I use a human argument: Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath?

But if by my lie God’s truth is amplified to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?

And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved!

as it is written:

There is no one righteous, not even one.

There is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.

All have turned away;
all alike have become useless.
There is no one who does what is good,
not even one.

Their throat is an open grave;
they deceive with their tongues.
Vipers’ venom is under their lips.

Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

—that is, God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe, since there is no distinction.

They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.

Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith.

For we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

Or is God for Jews only? Is He not also for Gentiles? Yes, for Gentiles too,

since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

Now to the one who works, pay is not considered as a gift, but as something owed.

But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness.

How joyful are those whose lawless acts are forgiven
and whose sins are covered!

Is this blessing only for the circumcised, then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness.

And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also.

If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise is canceled.

For the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.

This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all

in God’s sight. As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations. He believed in God, who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist.

but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.