He explained and showed them that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead: "This very Jesus whom I proclaim to you is the Messiah."

and Jason has welcomed them as his guests. All of them oppose the emperor's decrees by saying that there is another king Jesus!"

The men who escorted Paul took him all the way to Athens and, after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left.

So he began holding discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and other worshipers, as well as every day in the public square with anyone who happened to be there.

Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some asked, "What is this blabbermouth trying to say?" while others said, "He seems to be preaching about foreign gods." This was because Paul was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

Then they took him, brought him before the Areopagus, and asked, "May we know what this new teaching of yours is?

For as I was walking around and looking closely at the objects you worship, I even found an altar with this written on it: "To an unknown god.' So I am telling you about the unknown object you worship.

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn't live in shrines made by human hands,

and he isn't served by people as if he needed anything. He himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything else.

so that they might look for God, somehow reach for him, and find him. Of course, he is never far from any one of us.

For we live, move, and exist because of him, as some of your own poets have said: ""Since we are his children, too.'

So if we are God's children, we shouldn't think that the divine being is like gold, silver, or stone, or is an image carved by humans using their own imagination and skill.

because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world with justice through a man whom he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead."

But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself entirely to the word as he emphatically assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

Then he left that place and went to the home of a man named Titius Justus, who worshipped God and whose house was next door to the synagogue.

They said, "This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the Law."

But since it is a question about words, names, and your own Law, you will have to take care of that yourselves. I refuse to be a judge in these matters."

As he told them goodbye, he said, "I will come back to you again if it is God's will." Then he set sail from Ephesus.

He successfully refuted the Jews in public and proved by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered him, "No, we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

Then Paul said, "John baptized when they repented, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus."

This went on for two years, so that all who lived in Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.

Then some Jews who went around trying to drive out demons attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits, saying, "I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!"

Then he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed in Asia a while longer.

You also see and hear that, not only in Ephesus, but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has won over and taken away a large crowd by telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.

There is a danger not only that our business will lose its reputation but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be brought into disrepute and that she will be robbed of her majesty that brought all Asia and the world to worship her."

When they heard this, they became furious and began to shout, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

Even some officials of the province of Asia who were his friends sent him a message urging him not to risk his life in the theater.

But when they found out that he was a Jew, they all started to shout in unison for about two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

When the city recorder had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that this city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that fell down from heaven?

because we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, and there is no good reason we can give to justify this commotion."

He was accompanied by Sopater (the son of Pyrrhus) from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.

These men went on ahead and were waiting for us in Troas.

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.

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.

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.

"I'm now entrusting you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and secure for you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we should help the weak and remember the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

All of them cried and cried as they put their arms around Paul and kissed him affectionately.

but when our time there came to an end, we left and proceeded on our journey. All of them accompanied us with their wives and children out of the city. We knelt on the beach, prayed,

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.'"

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 we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers there welcomed us warmly.

The next day, Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present.

What is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.

Take these men, go through the purification ceremony with them, and pay their expenses to shave their heads. Then everyone will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you are carefully observing and keeping the Law.

As for the gentiles who have become believers, we have sent a letter with our decision that they should keep away from food that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything strangled, and from sexual immorality."

When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul in the Temple, stirred up a large crowd. They grabbed Paul,

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."

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

"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but raised in this city and educated at the feet of Gamaliel in the strict ways of our ancestral Law. I am as zealous for God as all of you are today.

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.

So now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.'

But when they had tied him up with the straps, Paul asked the centurion who was standing there, "Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn't been condemned?"

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

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.'"

because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection and that there is no such thing as an angel or spirit, but the Pharisees believe in all those things.

That night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Have courage! For just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, you must testify in Rome, too."

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.

But so as not to detain you any further, I beg you to hear us briefly with your customary graciousness.

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

I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish that there is to be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked.

They found me in the Temple doing these things just as I had completed the purification ceremony. No crowd or noisy mob was present.

But some Jews from Asia were there, and they should be here before you to accuse me if they have anything against me.

unless it is for the one thing I shouted as I stood among them: "It is for the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.'"

As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became afraid and said, "For the present you may go. When I get a chance, I will send for you again."

and asking Festus to have Paul brought to Jerusalem as a favor. They were laying an ambush to kill him on the road.

"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."

But Paul said, "I am standing before the emperor's judgment seat where I ought to be tried. I haven't done anything wrong to the Jewish leaders, as you know very well.

If I'm guilty and have done something that deserves death, I'm willing to die. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can hand me over to them as a favor. I appeal to the emperor!"

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.

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 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.

"I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, that I can defend myself today against all the accusations of the Jewish leaders,

They have known for a long time, if they would but testify to it, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the standards of our strictest religious party.

Our twelve tribes, worshiping day and night with intense devotion, hope to attain it. It is because of this hope, O King, that I am accused by the Jews.

Why is it thought incredible by all of you that God should raise the dead?

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.

"All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice asking me in the Hebrew language, "Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me? It is hurting you to keep on kicking against the cattle prods.'

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

But Paul said, "I'm not out of my mind, Your Excellency Festus. I'm reporting what is absolutely true.

As they were leaving, they began to say to each other, "This man hasn't been doing anything to deserve death or imprisonment."

After boarding a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to the ports on the coast of Asia, we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, went with us.

After putting out from there, we sailed on the sheltered side of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy and put us on it.

We sailed slowly for a number of days and with difficulty arrived off Cnidus. Then, because the wind was against us, we sailed on the sheltered side of Crete off Cape Salome.

Since the harbor was not a good place to spend the winter, most of the men favored putting out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix and spend the winter there. It is a Cretian harbor that faces southwest and northwest.

As we drifted to the sheltered side of a small island called Cauda, we barely managed to secure the ship's lifeboat.

and said, "Stop being afraid, Paul! You must stand before the emperor. Indeed, God has given to you the lives of everyone who is sailing with you.'

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.

So I urge you to eat something, for it will help you survive, since none of you will lose so much as a hair from his head."

There were 276 of us on the ship.

The people who lived there were unusually kind to us. It had started to rain and was cold, so they started a bonfire and invited us to join them around it.

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 islanders honored us in many ways, and when we were about to sail again, they supplied us with everything we needed.

Three months later, we continued our sailing onboard an Alexandrian ship that had spent the winter at the island. It had the Twin Brothers as its figurehead.

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.