Paul Sets Out for Jerusalem
Now when awe had parted from them and had set sail, we came by ba straight course to Cos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara; 2 and having found a ship crossing over to aPhoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. 3 And when we came in sight of aCyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to bSyria and landed at cTyre; for there the ship was to unload its cargo. 4 And after looking up athe disciples, we stayed there seven days; and they kept telling Paul bthrough the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. 5 And when our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, aescorted us until we were out of the city. After bkneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. 6 Then we went on board the ship, and they returned ahome again.
7 And when we had finished the voyage from aTyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting bthe brothers, we stayed with them for a day. 8 And on the next day we left and came to aCaesarea, and entering the house of bPhilip the cevangelist, who was bone of the seven, we stayed with him. 9 Now this man had four virgin daughters who aprophesied. 10 And as we were staying there for some days, a prophet named aAgabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he atook Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This bis what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will cbind the man who owns this belt and ddeliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” 12 And when we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him anot to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, crying and breaking my heart? For aI am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for bthe name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, saying, “aThe will of the Lord be done!”
15 Now after these days we got ready and astarted on our way up to Jerusalem. 16 And some of athe disciples from bCaesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of cCyprus, an dearly disciple with whom we were to lodge.
In Jerusalem
17 And after we arrived in Jerusalem, athe brothers welcomed us gladly. 18 And the following day Paul went in with us to aJames, and all bthe elders were present. 19 And after he had greeted them, he abegan to relate one by one the things which God did among the Gentiles through his bministry. 20 And when they heard it they began aglorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all bzealous for the Law; 21 and they have been told about you, that you are ateaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them bnot to circumcise their children nor to walk according to cthe customs. 22 What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. 23 Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who aare under a vow; 24 take them and apurify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may bshave their heads. Then all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. 25 But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, ahaving decided that they should keep from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from sexual immorality.” 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day, apurifying himself along with them, bwent into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.
Paul Is Arrested
27 Now when athe seven days were almost over, bthe Jews from cAsia, upon noticing him in the temple, began to throw all the crowd into confusion and laid hands on him, 28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help! aThis is the man who teaches to everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has bdefiled this holy place.” 29 For they had previously seen aTrophimus the bEphesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 Then all the city was stirred, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they adragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. 31 While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the commander of the aRoman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. 32 At once he atook along soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be abound with btwo chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. 34 But among the crowd asome were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into bthe barracks. 35 And when he got to athe stairs, he actually was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd; 36 for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, “aAway with him!”
Paul’s Defense Before the Jews
37 As Paul was about to be brought into athe barracks, he said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he *said, “Do you know Greek? 38 Then you are not athe Egyptian who some time ago raised a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out binto the wilderness?” 39 But Paul said, “aI am a Jew of Tarsus in bCilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” 40 And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on athe stairs, bmotioned to the people with his hand; and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the cHebrew language, saying, “aMen, brothers, and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”
2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the aHebrew language, they became even quieter; and he *said,
3 “aI am ba Jew, born in cTarsus of dCilicia, but having been brought up in this city, having been instructed at the feet of eGamaliel according to the fstrictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as gyou all are today, 4 aI persecuted this bWay to the death, binding and delivering both men and women into prisons, 5 as also athe high priest and all bthe Council of the elders can testify. From them I also creceived letters to dthe brothers, and started off for cDamascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.
6 “aBut it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am aJesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 And those who were with me abeheld the light, to be sure, but bdid not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘aWhat should I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been determined for you to do.’ 11 But since I acould not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus.
12 “Now a certain aAnanias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and bwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to me, and standing near, said to me, ‘aBrother Saul, regain your sight!’ And bat that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. 14 And he said, ‘aThe God of our fathers has bappointed you to know His will and to csee the dRighteous One and to hear a voice from His mouth. 15 For you will be aa witness for Him to all men of bwhat you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you delay? aRise up and be baptized, and bwash away your sins, ccalling on His name.’
17 “Now it happened when I areturned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I bfell into a trance, 18 and I saw Him saying to me, ‘aHurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness about Me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another aI used to imprison and bbeat those who believed in You. 20 And awhen the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and guarding the garments of those who were slaying him.’ 21 And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ato the Gentiles.’”
Paul, a Citizen of Rome
22 And they were listening to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “aAway with such a fellow from the earth, for bhe should not be allowed to live!” 23 And as they were crying out and athrowing off their garments and btossing dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered him to be brought into athe barracks, stating that he should be bexamined by flogging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. 25 But when they stretched him out with leather straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog aa man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” 26 And when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported to him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27 And the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 And the commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I have been born a citizen.” 29 Therefore those who were about to aexamine him immediately withdrew from him; and the commander also bwas afraid when he learned that he was a Roman, and because he had cbound him.
Paul Before the Sanhedrin
30 But on the next day, awishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he breleased him and ordered the chief priests and all cthe Sanhedrin to come together, and brought Paul down and set him before them. Now Paul, looking intently at athe Sanhedrin, said, “bBrothers, cI have lived my life in all good conscience before God up to this day.” 2 And the high priest aAnanias commanded those standing beside him bto strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, ayou whitewashed wall! Do you bsit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?” 4 But those standing nearby said, “Do you revile the high priest of God?” 5 And Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘aYou shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
6 But knowing that one group were aSadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in bthe Sanhedrin, “cBrothers, dI am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for ethe hope and resurrection of the dead!” 7 As he said this, there was dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For athe Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 And there occurred a great outcry; and some of athe scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “bWe find nothing wrong with this man. cSuppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 And as a great dissension was developing, because the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them, he ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into athe barracks.
11 But on athat very night, the Lord stood at his side and said, “bTake courage; for cas you have dsolemnly borne witness to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness at Rome also.”
A Plot to Kill Paul
12 Now when it was day, athe Jews formed a conspiracy and bbound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 And there were more than forty who formed this scheme. 14 They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have abound ourselves under a curse to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 So now you, along with athe Sanhedrin, notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more carefully; and we for our part are ready to slay him before he comes near.”
16 But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, he came and entered athe barracks and reported it to Paul. 17 And Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Lead this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him and led him to the commander and *said, “Paul athe prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you since he has something to tell you.” 19 And the commander took him by the hand and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 And he said, “aThe Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to bthe Sanhedrin, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more carefully about him. 21 So do not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of them—who have abound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him—are blying in wait for him and now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you.” 22 So the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”
Paul Is Brought to Caesarea
23 And when he called to him two of the centurions, he said, “Make ready two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to proceed to aCaesarea by the third hour of the night, 24 and provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to aFelix the governor.” 25 And he wrote a letter having this form:
26 “Claudius Lysias, to the amost excellent governor Felix, bgreetings.
27 “When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, aI came up to them with the troops and rescued him, bhaving learned that he was a Roman.
28 And awanting to ascertain the charge for which they were accusing him, I bbrought him down to their cSanhedrin;
29 and I found him to be accused over aquestions about their Law, but under bno accusation deserving death or imprisonment.
30 “And when I was ainformed that there would be ba plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing chis accusers to speak against him before you.”
31 So the soldiers, according to their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 But the next day, leaving athe horsemen to go on with him, they returned to bthe barracks. 33 When these had come to aCaesarea and delivered the letter to bthe governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 And when he had read it, he asked from what aprovince he was, and when he learned that bhe was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing after your aaccusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be bkept in Herod’s Praetorium.
Paul’s Trial Before Felix the Governor
Now after afive days the high priest bAnanias came down with some elders, with an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges to cthe governor against Paul. 2 And after Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying,
“As we have attained much peace through you—and because by your provision reforms are being carried out for this nation— 3 we welcome this in every way and everywhere, amost excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. 4 But, that I may not weary you any further, I plead with you by your forbearance to hear us briefly. 5 For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the asect of the Nazarenes. 6 And he even tried to adesecrate the temple; and then we arrested him. [We wanted to judge him according to our own Law. 7 But Lysias the commander came along, and with much violence took him out of our hands, 8 ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him.” 9 aAnd the Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.
10 And when athe governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul answered:
“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense, 11 since you are able to ascertain the fact that no more than atwelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 aAnd neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor across the city did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or bcausing a riot. 13 aNor are they able to prove to you of what they are now accusing me. 14 But this I confess to you, that according to athe Way, which they call a bsect, I do serve cthe God of our fathers, dbelieving everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets; 15 having a hope in God, for which athese men are waiting, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. 16 In view of this, aI also do my best to maintain always a conscience without fault both before God and before men. 17 Now aafter several years I bcame to bring alms to my nation and offerings; 18 in which they found me, having been apurified in the temple, without any bcrowd or uproar. But there were some cJews from Asia— 19 who ought to have been present before you and to amake accusation, if they should have anything against me. 20 Or else let these men themselves tell what wrongdoing they found when I stood before athe Sanhedrin, 21 other than for this one statement which aI shouted out while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.’”
22 But Felix, having a more accurate knowledge about athe Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.” 23 Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be akept in custody and yet bhave some rest, and not to prevent any of chis friends from ministering to him.
24 But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and summoned Paul and heard him speak about afaith in Christ Jesus. 25 But as he was discussing arighteousness, bself-control, and cthe judgment to come, Felix became frightened and answered, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will call for you.” 26 At the same time, he was also hoping that amoney would be given him by Paul; therefore he also used to summon for him quite often and converse with him. 27 But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius aFestus, and bwishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul cimprisoned.