THE BOOK OF ACTS - 2
The churches of Christ
Greet You
(Romans
ACTS
Become Jewish First?
15 Then some men came
down to
non-Jewish brothers: "You cannot be saved if you are not
circumcised
(* to cut off the foreskin
of the male sex organ as a sign of God's agreement with
and Barnabas were very much opposed to this teaching. They argued with
these
men about it. So,
the group decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some other men to
going there to talk more about this issue with the apostles and elders.
3 The congregation helped the men with what
they
needed for the trip. These men went
through the provinces of
non-Jewish people had turned to the true God. This made all the
brothers very
happy. 4 Paul,
Barnabas, and the others arrived in
congregation welcomed them. Paul, Barnabas, and the others told about
all the
things which God
had done with them. 5 Some of the believers in
stood up and claimed, "The non-Jewish believers must be circumcised (*
receive the physical
mark which sealed the agreement that God made with Abraham - see
Genesis
17:9-14). We must
command them to obey the law of Moses!"
6 Then the apostles and the elders gathered
to
study this problem. 7 There was a long debate.
Then Peter stood up and said to them, "My brothers, I know you remember
what happened in the
early days. At that time God chose me from among you to preach the Good
News to
non-Jewish
people and they believed it. 8 God knows the hearts of all men and He
accepted
these non-Jewish
people. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spirit, too. 9 God
did the
same thing for
them that He did for us. When they made a commitment, God made their
hearts
pure. 10 So now,
why are you testing God? You are putting a heavy load (* literally,
yoke)
around the necks of the
non-Jewish followers. Neither we nor our ancestors were strong enough
to carry
it! 11 No, we
believe that both we and these people will be saved by the gracious
love of the
Lord Jesus Christ!
12 Then the whole group became quiet. They
were
listening to Paul and Barnabas tell all the
miracles and wonders that God did through them among non-Jewish people.
13
After a time of
silence, James spoke. He said, "My brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon
Peter
has told us how God
showed His love for non-Jewish people. For the first time, God accepted
non-Jewish people and
made them His own people. 15 The written words of the prophets agree
with this,
too:
16 'I (* God) will return later.
I will build David's house again.
It has fallen down,
but I will build it up again.
I will restore it.
17 Then all men can look for the Lord God.
All the other nations will search for Him.
They can be My people, too.
The Lord God said this.' Amos 9:11-12
"And He is the One who does all these
things.
18 These things of God have been known from
the beginning of time. 19 So, I think we shouldn't bother non-Jewish
brothers
who have turned to
God. 20 Instead, we should write them a letter to tell them these
things:
Do not eat food which has been given to idols.
Do not commit any kind of sexual sin.
Do not eat animals which have been strangled.
Do not taste blood.
21 There are those (* the Jewish people) in
every
town who teach the law of Moses. The
words of Moses have been read in the synagogue every Sabbath day for
generations long past."
The Letter is Sent
22 The apostles, the elders, and the whole
congregation wanted to send some men with Paul
and Barnabas to
chose Judas Barsabbas and Silas. These men were respected by the
brothers in
group sent the letter with these men. The letter said:
From the apostles and elders, your brothers.
To all non-Jewish brothers in the city of
Dear Brothers,
24 We have heard that some men have come to you from our group. The
things they
said, “You
must be circumcised and keep the law” have troubled and upset you, but
we
didn't tell them to do
this! 25 We have all agreed to choose some men and send them to you.
They are
with our dear
friends, Barnabas and Paul. 26 Paul and Barnabas have given their lives
to
serve the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. 27 So, we have sent Judas and Silas with them. They
will
tell you the same
things. 28 The Holy Spirit thinks you should have no more burdens. We
agree.
You only need to
do these things:
29 Do not eat any food
which
has been given to idols.
Do not taste blood.
Do not eat any animals which have been strangled.
Do not commit any kind of sexual sin.
If you stay away from these things, you will do well. Now we say
good-bye.
30 So Paul, Barnabas, Judas, and Silas left
They gathered the group of believers and gave them the letter. 31 When
the
believers read it, they
were happy. It encouraged them. 32 Judas and Silas were prophets, too.
They
said many things to
help the brothers and make them stronger. 33 After Judas and Silas
stayed there
for a while, they
were let go with a blessing of peace from the brothers to return to the
apostles in
had sent them. 34 (* Some manuscripts have verse 34: "But Silas decided
to
stay there").
35 But Paul and Barnabas were staying on in
Good News and teaching the people the message of the Lord.
Paul and Barnabas Disagree
36 A few days later, Paul said to Barnabas,
"We spoke the Lord's message in many towns. We
should go back to all of those towns to visit the brothers and see how
they are
doing." 37
Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark along with them, too. 38 But, on
their first
trip, John Mark
had left them at Pamphylia; he did not continue with them in the work.
So, Paul
didn't think it was
such a good idea to take him along. 39 Paul and Barnabas had a sharp
disagreement about this.
They separated and went different ways. Barnabas took Mark with him and
sailed
to the
and sent him out. 41 Paul and Silas went through the countries of
congregations grow stronger.
Timothy Joins Paul
16 Paul went to the
towns of
Derbe and Lystra. A follower of Jesus named Timothy was there.
Timothy's mother was a Jewish believer. His father was not a Jew (*
literally,
His father was a
Greek). 2 The brothers in the towns of Lystra and Iconium respected
Timothy.
They said good
things about him. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him, but all of
the
Jewish people living in
that area knew that Timothy's father was not Jewish (* literally, a
Greek).
Therefore, Paul took
Timothy and circumcised (* to cut off the foreskin of the male sex
organ as a
sign of God's
agreement with
other towns (*where Paul had been on his first journey). They gave the
believers the rules and
decisions from the apostles and elders in
these rules. 5 So, the congregations were becoming stronger in the
faith and
they were growing
every day.
Paul Sees A Vision
6 Paul and Timothy went through the
countries of
allow them to preach the Good News in the country of
near the
didn't let them go in. 8 So they passed by
Paul saw a vision. In this vision, a man from the country of
stood there begging him, "Come across to
vision, immediately we prepared to leave for
understood that God had called us to tell the Good News to those
people.
In
11 We left
town of
12 Then we went to
Romans. We stayed there for a few days. 13 On the Sabbath day, we went
through
the city gate
to the river. At the river we went to a special place accustomed for
prayer.
Some women had
gathered there. So, we sat down and talked with them. 14 There was a
woman
named
the city of
to Paul. The Lord opened her heart and she believed the things which
Paul said.
15 She and all
of the people living in her house were immersed. Then
"If you think I am truly a believer in the Lord Jesus, then come stay
in
my house." She persuaded
us.
A Slave-Girl
16 Once we were going to the place for
prayer. A
slave-girl met us. She had an evil spirit (* a
demon. The people believed that she could predict the future by the
power of
Apollo, a Greek
god) in her. This spirit gave her the power to tell what would happen
in the
future. By doing this,
she earned a lot of money for the men who owned her. 17 This girl
followed Paul
and us
everywhere. She said loudly, "These men are servants of the Highest
God!
They are telling you
how you can be saved!" 18 She continued doing this for many days. This
bothered Paul, so he
turned and said to the spirit, "By the authority of Jesus Christ, I
order
you to come out of her!" At
that moment, the spirit came out. 19 The men who owned the slave-girl
saw this.
These men
knew that they could no longer use her to make money. So they grabbed
Paul and
Silas and
dragged them into the meeting place of the city. The city officials
were there.
20 The men brought
Paul and Silas to the leaders and said, "These men are Jews who are
making
trouble in our city.
21 They are telling the people to do things which are not right for us.
We are
Roman citizens and
cannot do these things." 22 The crowd was against Paul and Silas. Then
the
leaders tore off the
clothes of Paul and Silas and ordered some men to beat them with rods.
23 The
men beat them
many times. Then the leaders threw Paul and Silas in jail. The leaders
commanded the jailor,
"Guard them very carefully!" 24 The jailor heard this special order.
So he put Paul and Silas
into the inner prison far inside the jail. He locked their feet in
wooden
stocks.
Paul and Silas in Jail
25 About
were listening to them. 26 Suddenly, there was a great earthquake. It
was so
strong that it shook
the foundations of the jail. Then all the doors of the jail quickly
opened. All
prisoners were freed
from their chains. 27 The jailor woke up. He saw that the jail doors
were open.
He thought that
the prisoners had escaped. So the jailor took his sword and was ready
to kill
himself (* The
keeper of the jail would be killed if he let even one prisoner escape).
28 But
Paul shouted, "Don't
hurt yourself! We are all here!"
29 The jailor told someone to bring a
light. Then
he ran inside. He was shaking. He fell down
in front of Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and asked,
"Men, what must I do to
be saved?”
31 They said to him, "Commit yourself to
the
Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved--you
and all the people living in your house." 32 So, Paul and Silas told
the
story of the Lord Jesus to
the jailor and to all the people in his house. 33 It was late at night,
but the
jailor took Paul and
Silas and washed their wounds. The jailor and all of his people were
immersed
in water right
away. 34 After this, the jailor took Paul and Silas and gave them some
food.
All of the people
were very happy because they now trusted in God.
35 The next morning, the leaders sent some
soldiers
to tell the jailor this: "Let these men go
free!”
36 The jailor said to Paul, "The leaders
have
sent these soldiers to set you free. You may leave
now. Go in peace."
37 But Paul said to the soldiers, "Your
leaders did not prove that we did anything wrong, yet
they beat us in public and put us in jail. We are Roman citizens (*
Roman
citizens could not be
tortured or beaten until they had a fair trial). Now the leaders want
to make
us go away quietly.
No! The leaders must come and bring us out!"
38 The soldiers told the leaders what Paul
had
said. When the leaders heard that Paul and Silas
were Roman citizens, they were afraid. 39 So, the leaders came and told
Paul
and Silas how sorry
they were. The leaders led them out of jail and kept asking them to
leave the
city. 40 But when
they came out of the jail, they went to
encouraged them. Then Paul and Silas left.
In Thessalonica
17 Paul and Silas
traveled
through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia. Then they came to
the city of
he went to them in this synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he
reasoned with
them from the
Scriptures. 3 Paul explained and clearly showed that the Messiah must
die and
then rise from
death. Paul said, "This Jesus, whom I announce to you, is the Messiah!"
4 Some of the Jews
believed Paul and Silas and joined them. In the synagogue there
were many
Greeks (* non-Jewish
people who wanted to worship with the Jews). They worshiped the true
God. There
were also
many important women. They joined Paul and Silas, too.
5 But the Jews who didn't believe became
jealous.
They hired some evil men from the city to
gather many people and make trouble in the city. The people went to
Jason's
house looking for
Paul and Silas. The men wanted to bring them out to the people. 6 But
the group
didn't find them.
So, the people dragged Jason and some of the other brothers to the
leaders of
the city. The people
all cried out, "These men have made trouble everywhere in the world.
And
now they have come
here, too! 7 Jason is keeping them in his house. All of them do things
against
the laws of Caesar
(* The title of the supreme Roman rulers. "Caesar" became the title
of each emperor). They say
that there is another king named Jesus." 8 The leaders of the city and
the
crowd heard these
things. They became very upset. 9 They made Jason and the other
brothers post
bond. Then they
let them go free.
In
10 That same night, the brothers sent Paul
and
Silas to another town named
Paul and Silas went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 These Jews were better
people
than the ones in
Thessalonica. These Jews were very happy to listen to the things which
Paul and
Silas said. They
wanted to know whether these things were true or not. They studied the
Old Testament
Scriptures every day. 12 Many of these Jews believed. Many important
Greek men
and women
also believed. 13 But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul
was
telling God's message
in
and they caused trouble. 14 So the believers quickly sent Paul away to
the sea
(* the
Sea
the city of
"Come to me as soon as you can!"
In
16 Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy
in
that the city was full of idols. 17 In the synagogue, Paul debated with
the
Jews and the Greeks
who worshiped the true God. Every day he also debated with some people
in the
business district
of the city, with people who just happened to be there. 18 Some of the
Epicurean and Stoic
philosophers argued with him.
Some of them said, "This man doesn't really
know what he is talking about. What is he trying
to say?" Paul was telling them the Good News about Jesus rising from
death. So, they said, "He
seems to be telling us about some other gods." 19 They got Paul and
took
him to a meeting of the
Areopagus Council. They said, "Please explain to us this new idea which
you have been teaching.
20 The things that you are saying are so new to us. We have never heard
these
things before. We
want to know what this teaching means." 21 (All the people of
countries who lived there always used their time to talk about any new
idea).
22 Then Paul stood before the meeting of
the
Areopagus Council. Paul said, "Men of Athens, I
can see that you are very religious in all things. 23 I was going
through your
city and I saw the
things you worship. I found an altar which had these words written on
it:
'TO THE GOD WHO IS NOT KNOWN.'
You worship a God you don't know. This is
the God I
am telling you about! 24 He is the God
who made the whole world and everything in it. He is the Lord of the
heavens
and the earth. He
doesn't live in temples which men build! 25 This God is the One who
gives men
life, breath, and
everything else. He doesn't need any help from men; God has everything
He
needs. 26 God made
of one blood (*Adam) all the different people in the world to live
everywhere.
God decided
exactly when and where they must live. 27 He wanted the people to look
for Him.
Perhaps they
could search all around for Him and find Him--He is not far from any of
us:
28 'In Him, we live, we walk, we are.'
Some of your own writers have said:
'For we are God's children' (* written by Aratus in Phaenomena 5).
29 Therefore, we are God's children. So you must not think that God
is
something like what man
imagines or makes out of silver or stone. 30 In the past, although man
didn't
understand God,
God ignored this, but now, God commands every person in the world to
change his
heart. 31 God
has set a day when He will judge the whole world. He will be fair,
using a man
to do this. He
chose this man a long time ago. God proved it to everyone by raising
that man
from death!”
Paul Is Successful
32 When the people heard about Jesus rising
from
death, some of them began to laugh at Paul.
The people said, "We will hear more about this from you later." 33
Paul left them. 34 However,
some of the people did believe Paul and joined him. One of them was
Dionysius,
a member of the
Areopagus Council. Another was a woman named Damaris. There were some
others,
too.
In
18 Later Paul left
named
recently moved to
commanded all Jews to get out of
makers, the same as Paul. Paul was staying there and working with them.
4 Every
Sabbath day
Paul debated with the Jews and Greeks in the synagogue. He tried to
persuade
them to believe.
5 Silas and Timothy came down from
pressed in the spirit, used all his time to tell the Jews that Jesus is
the
Messiah. 6 But the Jews
would not accept Paul's teaching. They said some terrible things. So,
Paul
shook off the dust from
his clothes (* a gesture meaning that one would have nothing more to do
with
those people). He
said to the Jews, "If you are not saved, it will be your own fault! I
have
done all that I can do!
After this, I will go to non-Jewish people!" 7 Paul left the synagogue
and
moved into the home of
Titius Justus. This man worshiped the true God. His house was next door
to the
synagogue. 8
Crispus was the leader of that synagogue. Crispus and all of the people
who
were living in his
house trusted in the Lord Jesus. Many other people in Corinth also
listened to
Paul. They too
believed and were immersed. 9 Paul had a vision during the night. The
Lord said
to him, "Don't be
afraid! Keep on talking to people; don't be quiet! 10 I am with you. No
one
will be able to hurt
you. I have many people in this city." 11 Paul stayed there for a year
and
a half, teaching God's
message to the people.
Gallio
12 Some of the Jews came together with only
one
thing in mind--to stop Paul. They took him
to court. Gallio had become the governor of the country of Achaia. 13
The Jews
said to Gallio,
"This man is influencing people to worship God in a way that is against
our law!"
14 Paul was ready to say something, but
Gallio
spoke to the Jews. Gallio said, "I would listen
to you Jews if you were complaining about a terrible crime or some
wrong. 15
But the things you
are claiming are only questions about words and names -- arguments
about your
own law. You
must solve this problem yourselves. I don't want to be a judge over
these
matters." 16 Then Gallio
made them leave the courtroom.
17 So, all the Greeks grabbed Sosthenes.
(Sosthenes
was now leader of the synagogue). They
were beating him in front of the court house, but this didn't bother
Gallio at
all.
Paul Sails for Syria
18 Paul stayed with the brothers for many
days.
Then he left and sailed for Syria. Priscilla and
Aquila were also with him. At Cenchrea, Paul cut off his hair (* This
was
similar to a Nazarite
vow - Numbers 6:13-21). This showed that he had made a vow to God. Then
he left
Priscilla and
Aquila. 19 While Paul was in Ephesus, he went into the synagogue and
debated
with the Jews. 20
The Jews asked Paul to stay longer, but he said no. 21 As Paul was
leaving
them, he said, “I must
by all means keep this feast that comes in Jerusalem. I will come to
you again,
if God wants me
to." And so, Paul sailed away from Ephesus.
22 Paul went down to the city of Caesarea.
Then he
went up and greeted the congregation in
Jerusalem. After that, he went down to the city of Antioch in Syria. 23
Paul
stayed in Antioch for
a while. Then he left Antioch and went through the countries of Galatia
and
Phrygia. He traveled
from town to town in these areas. He made all of the followers of Jesus
stronger.
Apollos
24 A Jewish man named Apollos came to
Ephesus.
Apollos was born in the city of Alexandria.
He was an educated man. His knowledge of the Scriptures was very
powerful. 25
He had been
taught the way of the Lord Jesus. Apollos was always very enthusiastic
when he
talked to
people about Jesus. The things he taught about Jesus were correct, but
the only
immersion that he
knew was the immersion which John (* See Matthew 3:1-17; Mark 1:1-11;
Luke
3:1-22; John
1:6-8,15,19-34; 3:22-30) taught. 26 Apollos began to speak very boldly
in the
synagogue.
Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak. They took him home and
helped him
understand the way of
God better. 27 Apollos wanted to go to the country of
Achaia. So,
the brothers in Ephesus
helped pay his expenses. They wrote a letter to the followers of
Jesus in
Achaia. In the letter,
they asked them to accept Apollos. The followers of Jesus in
Achaia had
believed in Jesus
through God’s gracious love. When Apollos went there, he helped
them very much. 28 He
argued very convincingly in public against the Jews. Apollos
clearly
proved that they were
wrong. He used the Scriptures to show that Jesus is the Messiah.
In Ephesus
19 While Apollos was in
the city
of Corinth, Paul was visiting some places along the northern
route to the city of Ephesus. In Ephesus, Paul found some followers of
John. 2
Paul asked them,
"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?"
These followers answered him, "We have never even heard of a Holy Spirit!"
3 So Paul asked them, "What kind of immersion did you receive?"
They said, "It was the immersion which John taught."
4 Paul said, "John immersed people after
they
changed their hearts. John told people to trust in
the one who would come after him. That person is Christ Jesus."
5 When these followers of John heard this,
they
were immersed by the authority of the Lord
Jesus. 6 Then Paul put his hands on them (* a common practice when
appointing
people to special
duties - Numbers 27:22-23) and the Holy Spirit came upon them. They
began
speaking different
languages and prophesying. 7 In this group there were about twelve men.
8 Paul went into the synagogue and began to
speak
very boldly. Paul did this for three months.
He debated with the Jews and he tried to persuade them to believe in
the
kingdom of God, 9 but
some of the Jews became stubborn. They refused to believe. They said
some
terrible things about
The Way. The people heard these things. So Paul left and took the
followers of
Jesus with him.
He went to a place where a man named Tyrannus had a school. There he
reasoned
with people
every day. 10 He did this for two years. Because of this work, every
Jew and
Greek in the country
of Asia (* modern Turkey) heard the message of the Lord Jesus.
An Evil Spirit Attacks
11 God was using Paul to perform some very
unusual
miracles. 12 Some people carried
handkerchiefs and clothes which Paul had worn. The people put these
things on
sick people.
When they did this, the sick people were healed and evil spirits left
them.
13-14 Some wandering Jews were also trying
to make
evil spirits go out of people. The seven
sons of Sceva were doing this. (Sceva was an important Jewish priest).
These
Jews were using the
name of the Lord Jesus to do this. They all said, "By the same Jesus
whom
Paul proclaims, I
order you to come out!"
15 One time, an evil spirit said to these
Jews,
"I have heard about Jesus, and I know Paul, but
who are you?"
16 Then the man who had the evil spirit
jumped on
these Jews. He was much stronger than
they were. He beat them up and tore off their clothes. They ran away
from that
house. 17 All of
the people who lived in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks (* non-Jews), learned
about
this. They all
began to have great respect for God. The people were giving more and
more honor
to the name
of the Lord Jesus. 18 Many of the believers began to admit all of the
evil
things they had done. 19
Some of the believers had used magic. These believers brought their
books of
evil magic and
burned them up before everyone. Those books were worth about two
million
dollars (* literally,
50,000 drachmas. A drachma was worth about one day's pay). 20 This is
how the
message of the
Lord was influencing more and more people in a powerful way.
Paul Plans to Travel
21 After these things, Paul made plans to
go to
Jerusalem. Paul planned to go through the
countries of Macedonia and Achaia, and then go to Jerusalem. Paul
thought,"After
I visit
Jerusalem, I must also visit Rome." 22 Timothy and Erastus were two of
Paul's helpers. Paul sent
them ahead to the country of Macedonia, but he stayed in Asia (* not
the
continent of Asia, but
rather, a Roman state in Western Turkey) for a while.
Trouble
23 However, during that time, there was
some bad
trouble in Ephesus. It was about The Way.
This is how it all happened:
24 There was a man named Demetrius, a silver-worker. He made little
silver
models which looked
like the temple of the goddess Artemis (* the Greek name given to one
believed
to be the mother
of gods and men; her Roman name was Diana). The men who did work like
this made
lots of
money from it. 25 Demetrius had a meeting with some other men who did
the same
kind of work.
Demetrius told them, "Men, you know that we make a lot of money from
our
business. 26 But,
Paul has influenced many people. He has done this in Ephesus and all
over the
whole country of
Asia! (* modern Turkey). Look at what this man Paul is doing! Listen to
what he
is saying! He
says that the gods which men make are fake. 27 This might turn the
people
against our work. But
there is also another danger: People will begin to think that the
temple of the
great goddess
Artemis is not important! Her greatness will be destroyed. Artemis is
the
goddess that everyone in
Asia and the whole world worships."
28 When the men heard this, they became
very angry.
The men shouted, "Artemis, the goddess
of the city of Ephesus, is great!” 29 All the people in the city became
very upset. The people
grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, men from Macedonia. (These men always
traveled
with Paul).
Then all the people ran together to the stadium with a single purpose.
30 Paul
wanted to go in and
talk to the people, but the followers of Jesus wouldn't let him go. 31
Also,
some leaders of the
country were friends of Paul. These leaders sent him a message, begging
him not
to come into the
stadium. 32 Some people were yelling one thing and others were yelling
something
else. The
meeting was very confused. Most of the people didn't even know why they
had
come there. 33
The Jews had a man stand before the people. His name was Alexander. The
Jews
told him what to
do. Alexander waved his hand, because he wanted to explain things to
the
people. 34 But when
the people realized that Alexander was a Jew, they all continued
shouting
together for two hours.
They shouted, "Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis of
Ephesus...
!"
35 Then the main city official made the
crowd be
quiet. He said, "Men of Ephesus, everyone
knows that Ephesus is the city which keeps the temple of the great
goddess,
Artemis, and her holy
rock (* literally, from the sky. It was probably a meteorite). 36 No
one can
say that this is not
true. So, you should be quiet. You must stop and think before you do
anything
wrong. 37 They
have not stolen anything from her temple or said anything bad about
her. 38 We
have courts of
law and there are judges. Do Demetrius and those men who work with him
have a
charge against
anyone? They should go to the courts! That is where they can accuse
each other!
39 Is there
anything else you want to talk about? Then come to the regular town
meeting of
the people. It
can be decided there. 40 I say this because someone might see this
trouble
today and say that we
were rioting. We could not explain all of this trouble, because there
is no
real reason for this
mob." 41 After the official said these things, he told the people to go
home. Then all of the people
left.
Paul Leaves
20 When the trouble stopped,
Paul
invited the followers of Jesus to come visit him. He wanted to
encourage them. Then Paul said good-bye and left. He went to the
country of
Macedonia. 2 He
encouraged the followers in the different places on his way through
Macedonia.
He told the
followers many things. Then Paul went to Achaia (* the southern part of
Greece). 3 He stayed
there three months. He was ready to sail for Syria, but some Jews were
planning
something evil
against him. So, Paul decided to go back to Syria through Macedonia. 4
Some men
were with
him. They were:
Sopater (the son of Pyrrhus, from the town of Berea)
Aristarchus and Secundus (from the city of Thessalonica)
Gaius (from the town of Derbe)
Timothy
Tychicus and Trophimus (from Asia) [*modern Turkey].
5 These men went first, ahead of Paul. They were waiting for us in
the city
of Troas. 6 We sailed
from the city of Philippi after the Jewish Festival of Unleavened Bread
(* a
yearly feast when
bread without yeast was eaten for seven days - Leviticus 23:4-8). We
met these
men in Troas five
days later. We stayed there for seven days.
Paul Talks All Night
7 On Sunday (* literally, the first day of
the
week. According to Jewish custom, the first day of
the week began at sundown [when the Sabbath ended] and lasted until the
next
sundown) we all
met together to eat the supper of the Lord (* literally, to break
bread, a
Greek idiom usually
referring to the Lord’s supper). Paul was talking with the group. He
was
ready to leave the next
day. Paul continued his speech until midnight. 8 There were many
torches in the
room where we
were gathered. The room was upstairs. 9 There was a young man named
Eutychus
sitting in the
window. As Paul talked on and on, Eutychus became sleepier and
sleepier.
Finally, Eutychus went
to sleep and fell out of the window. He fell to the ground from the
third
floor. When they got to
him, he was dead. 10 Paul went down to Eutychus. He kneeled down and
hugged
him. Paul said
to the other believers, "Don't worry. He is alive now." 11-12 They
brought the young man inside.
He was alive, and they were very much comforted. Paul went upstairs
again.
After he broke off
some of the bread and ate it, Paul spoke to them a long time. When he
finished
talking, it was
early morning.
Traveling
13 We sailed for the town of Assos. We went
first,
ahead of Paul. He planned to meet us in
Assos and join us on the ship there. Paul told us to do this, because
he wanted
to walk to Assos.
14 Later we met Paul at Assos and there he came onto the ship with us.
Then we
all went to the
town of Mitylene. 15 The next day, we sailed away from Mitylene and
came to a
place near the
island of Chios. The next day we sailed to the island of Samos, and
waited at
Trogyllium. A day
later we came to the town of Miletus. 16 Paul had already decided not
to stop
at Ephesus. He
didn't want to stay in Asia (* modern Turkey) too long. He was
hurrying,
because he wanted to
be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost (* a Jewish feast of the wheat
harvest
which was held
around early June. It came in the springtime 50 days after the Passover
feast.
Many people would
gather in Jerusalem. It would be a good opportunity to tell the Good
News about
Jesus) if that
were possible.
Paul Meets with the Elders
17 Paul sent a message back to Ephesus from
Miletus. He invited the elders of the
congregation in Ephesus to come to him. 18-19 When the elders came,
Paul said
to them, "Do
you remember when I came to you on my first day in Asia? (* modern
Turkey). I
stayed with you
the whole time. The Jewish leaders planned evil things against me.
Although
this troubled me very
much (sometimes I even cried), I always served the Lord. I never
thought about
myself first. 20 I
always did what was best for you, telling you the Good News about Jesus
in
public and also in
your homes. 21 I told both Jewish and non-Jewish (* literally, Greeks)
people
to change their
hearts and turn to God. I told them all to trust in our Lord Jesus
Christ. 22
But now I must obey
the Holy Spirit and go to Jerusalem. I don't know what will happen to
me there.
23 I only know
that, in every town, the Holy Spirit warns me that troubles and even
jail wait
for me. 24 My life
doesn't matter. The most important thing is that I finish the race--the
work
which the Lord Jesus
gave me to do, telling people the Good News about God's gracious love.
25 "And now listen to me. I know that none
of
you will ever see my face again! During the
whole time I was with you, I was preaching to you about the kingdom of
God. 26
So, today I can
tell you one thing that I am sure of: I'm not to blame, if some of you
will not
be saved! (* literally,
"I am clean [innocent] from the blood of all)." 27 I can say this,
because I know I told you
everything that God wants you to know. 28 Watch out for yourselves and
for all
the people God
has given you. The Holy Spirit chose you to guard this flock. You must
shepherd
the Lord's
people whom he bought with his own blood (* Some manuscripts have:
“God” for “Lord.” Some
manuscripts have: “the blood of His own”). 29 I know that after I
leave, some men will
come into your group. They will be like vicious wolves, trying to
destroy the
flock. 30 Also, men
from your own group will begin to teach things which are wrong, leading
some
followers away
from the truth. 31 So, be alert! Always remember: I was with you for
three
years. During this
time, I never stopped warning each one of you. I taught you night and
day. I
often cried over you.
32 "Now I am giving you to God. I am
depending on the message of God’s gracious love to
make you strong. That story is able to give you the blessings
which God
gives to all His holy
people. 33 When I was with you, I never wanted anybody's money or fine
clothes.
34 You know I
always worked to take care of my own needs and the needs of the people
who were
with me. 35 I
always showed you that you should work as I did and help people who are
weak. I
taught you to
remember the words of the Lord Jesus. Jesus once said, 'You will be
happier
when you give than
when you receive.'"
36 When Paul finished saying these things, he
kneeled
down and they all prayed together.
37-38 They all cried and cried and cried. They were especially sad,
because
Paul had said that
they would never see his face again. They hugged Paul and kept on
kissing him.
They went with
him to the ship to say good-bye.
Headed for Jerusalem
21 After we all said good-bye
to the
elders, we sailed away, straight for Cos Island. The next day we went
to the
island of Rhodes. From Rhodes we went to Patara. 2 At Patara, we found
a ship
which was going to Phoenicia. We went aboard the ship and sailed away.
3 We
sailed near the
island of Cyprus. We could see it on the north side, but we did not
stop. We
sailed to the country
of Syria. We stopped at the city of Tyre, because the ship needed to
unload its
cargo there. 4 In
Tyre, we found some followers of Jesus, and we stayed with them for
seven days.
They warned
Paul not to go to Jerusalem because of what the Holy Spirit had told
them. 5
But when we
finished our visit, we left and continued our trip. All the followers
of Jesus,
including the women
and children, came outside the city with us to say good-bye. We all
kneeled
down on the beach
and prayed. 6 Then we said good-bye to one another. We went aboard the
ship and
they went
back home.
7 We continued our trip from Tyre and went
to the city
of Ptolemais. We greeted the brothers
there and stayed with them one day. 8 The next day we who were with
Paul left
Ptolemais and
went to the city of Caesarea. We went into the home of Philip and
stayed with
him. Philip was a
preacher of the Good News. He was one of the seven servants (See Acts
6:3). 9
He had four
virgin daughters. These daughters had the gift of prophesying. 10 After
we had
stayed there for
many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 He came to
us and
borrowed
Paul's belt. Then Agabus used the belt to bind his own hands and feet.
Agabus
said, "The Holy
Spirit tells me, 'This is how the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind
the man
who wears this belt
(* referring to Paul). Then they will hand him over to non-Jewish
people.'"
12 We all heard these words. So, we and the
local
followers of Jesus kept begging Paul not to
go up to Jerusalem. 13 But Paul asked, "Why are you crying? Why are you
making me so sad? I
am ready to be bound in Jerusalem. I am even ready to die for the name
of the
Lord Jesus!"
14 We could not persuade him to stay away
from
Jerusalem. So, we stopped trying and said,
"We pray that what the Lord wants will be done."
15 After this, we got ready and started on
our way
up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the followers
of Jesus from Caesarea went with us. These followers took us to the
home of
Mnason, a man
from Cyprus. Mnason was one of the first people to become a follower of
Jesus.
They took us to
his home, so that we could stay with him.
Arriving in Jerusalem
17 Later we arrived in Jerusalem, the
brothers
there were very happy to see us. 18 The next
day Paul went with us to visit James. All of the elders were there,
too. 19
Paul greeted all of
them. Then he told them exactly how God had used him to do many things
among
non-Jewish
people. 20 When the leaders heard these things, they gave glory to God.
Then
they said to Paul,
"Brother, you can see that thousands of Jews have become believers, and
they all think it is very
important to obey the law of Moses. 21These Jews have heard that you
tell Jews
who live in other
countries among non-Jews to abandon the law of Moses. They heard that
you tell
those Jews not
to circumcise (* to cut off the foreskin of the male sex organ as a
sign of
God's agreement with
Israel - see Genesis 17:9-14) their children and not to obey Jewish
customs. 22
Therefore what
should we do? The people will come together, for the Jewish believers
here will
learn that you
have come. 23 We advise you to do this: Four of our men have made a vow
to God.
24 Take
these men with you and share in their washing ceremony (* See Numbers
6:2-21).
Pay their
expenses, so that they may shave their heads (* A Nazarite who
contacted a dead
body would do
this - Numbers 6:4; 19:11-19). Do this and it will prove to everyone
that the
things they have
heard about you are not true. They will see that you yourself respect
the law
of Moses in your
own life. 25 But, as for non-Jewish believers, we have already sent a
letter saying
they do not
have to observe such things. The letter also said:
"Do not eat food which has been given to idols.
Do not taste blood.
Do not eat animals which have been strangled.
Do not commit any kind of sexual sin."
26 Then Paul took the four men with him.
The next
day Paul shared in the washing ceremony.
Then he went to the temple. He announced the time when the days of the
cleansing ceremony
would be ended. On the last day an offering would be given for each of
the men.
The Riot
27 The seven days were almost over, but
some Jews
from Asia (* modern Turkey) saw Paul at
the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd. They grabbed Paul 28 and
shouted,
"Men of Israel,
help us! This is the man who is teaching things which are against the
law of
Moses, against our
people, and against this place. This man is teaching these things to
all people
everywhere. And
now he has even brought some non-Jewish (* literally, Greeks) men into
the
temple! He has made
this holy place unclean!" 29 (These Jews said this, because they had
seen
Trophimus with Paul in
Jerusalem. Trophimus was a non-Jewish man from the city of Ephesus.
They
thought that Paul
had taken him into the temple).
30 All of the people in Jerusalem became
very
upset. They all ran together and grabbed Paul.
They dragged him out of the temple courtyard. Immediately the temple
gates were
closed. 31 The
people were trying to kill Paul. Then the commander of the Roman army
in
Jerusalem learned
that there was much confusion in the whole city of Jerusalem. 32 Right
away the
commander ran
down to the place where the people were. He brought some officers and
soldiers
with him. The
people saw the commander and his soldiers. Then they stopped beating
Paul. 33
The commander
went to Paul and arrested him. He ordered his soldiers to bind Paul
with two
chains. Then the
commander asked, "Who is this man? What has he done wrong?" 34 Some
people there were
yelling one thing and other people were yelling something else. Because
of all
this confusion and
shouting, the commander could not learn the truth about what had
happened. So
the commander
ordered the soldiers to take Paul to the fortress (* the tower of
Antonio at
the northwest corner
of the temple courtyard. Part of the Roman army was stationed
there).
35-36 All of the people
were following them. When the soldiers came to the steps, they had to
carry
Paul. They did this to
protect him, because the people were so wild. The people shouted, "Kill
him!"
37 The soldiers were ready to take Paul
into the
fortress, but Paul spoke to the commander.
Paul asked, "Do I have the right to say something to you?"
The commander said, "Oh! Do you speak
Greek?
38 Then you are not the man I thought you
were. I thought you were the Egyptian man who started some trouble
against the
government not
long ago. He led 4,000 murderers out to the desert."
39 Paul said, "No, I am a Jew from Tarsus,
in
the country of Cilicia. I am a citizen of that
important city. Please, let me speak to the people.”
40 The commander allowed Paul to speak to
the
people. So Paul stood on the steps. He made
signs with his hands, so that the people would be quiet. The people
became even
quieter when
Paul used the Aramaic language to speak to them (* a language much more
dear to
them than
Greek, because it was their own language).
Paul's Speech
22 Paul said, "My
brothers
and fathers, listen to me! I will make my defense to you now." 2 The
Jews heard Paul speaking in Aramaic (* the native language of the
Jews), so
they became very
quiet. Paul said, 3 "I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus in the country of
Cilicia. I grew up in this city
of Jerusalem. I was a student of Gamaliel (* Acts 5:34). He carefully
taught me
everything about
the law of our ancestors. I was very serious about serving God, the
same as all
of you here today.
4 I persecuted the people who believed in the way of Jesus. Some of
them were
killed because of
me. I arrested men and women, and I put them in jail. 5 The high priest
and the
whole council of
the Jewish elders can tell you that this is true! One time these
leaders gave
me some letters. The
letters were to the Jewish brothers in the city of Damascus. I was
going there
to arrest the
followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment."
How I Met Jesus
6 "However, something happened to me on my
way
to Damascus. It was about noon, when I
came close to the city. Suddenly, a bright light from the sky shined
all around
me. 7 I fell to the
ground. I heard a voice saying to me: 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute
me?' 8
I asked, 'Who are
you, Lord?’ The voice answered, 'I am Jesus from Nazareth, the one you
are persecuting.' 9-10 I
said, 'What should I do, Lord?' The Lord Jesus answered, 'Get up and go
into
Damascus. There
you will be told about all of the things I have planned for you to do.'
The men
who were with me
did not understand the voice, but they saw the light and were afraid.
11 I
couldn't see, because
the bright light had blinded me. So, the men led me into Damascus.
12 "In Damascus, a man named Ananias (*
There
are three different men named Ananias in
Acts - 5:1; 9:10; 23:2) came to me. He was a devout man; he
obeyed the
law of Moses. All of the
Jews who lived there respected him. 13 Ananias came to me, stood over
me, and
said, 'Brother
Saul, you can see again!' At that moment I was able to see him. 14
Ananias told
me, 'The God of
our ancestors chose you a long time ago to know His plan. God wanted
you to see
the righteous
one (* Jesus) and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his
witness to
all men. You will
tell men about the things you have seen and heard. 16 Now, don't wait
any
longer. Rise up, get
yourself immersed and get your sins washed away, trusting in the name
of the
Lord.'
17 "Later I came back to Jerusalem. I was
praying in the temple courtyard, and I saw a vision.
18 I saw Jesus, and he said to me: 'Hurry! Leave Jerusalem now! The
people here
won't accept
the truth about me.' 19 I said, 'But Lord, the people know that I was
the one
who put the
believers in jail and beat them. I went through all the synagogues to
find and
arrest those who
believe in you. 20 The people also know that I was there when Stephen,
your
witness, was killed.
I stood there and agreed that they should kill him. I even held the
robes of
the men who were
killing him!' 21 But Jesus said to me, 'Leave now. I will send you far
away to
non-Jewish people.'"
22 The people stopped listening when Paul
spoke
this last sentence. They all shouted, "Kill
him! Get him out of the world! A man like this should not be allowed to
live!" 23 They yelled and
threw off their robes. They threw dust into the air (* a way of showing
extreme
anger). 24 Then
the commander ordered the soldiers to take Paul into the fortress. He
told the
soldiers to beat
Paul. The commander wanted to force Paul to tell him why the people
Were
shouting against him
like this. 25 As the soldiers were tying Paul, preparing to beat him,
Paul
asked an officer who was
standing there, "Do you have the right to beat a Roman citizen (* Roman
citizens could not be
tortured or beaten until they had a fair trial) who has not been proven
guilty?”
26 When the officer heard this, he went to
the
commander and told him about it. The officer
asked, "Do you know what you are doing? This man is a Roman citizen!"
27 The commander came to Paul and asked, "Tell me, are you really a Roman citizen?”
Paul answered, "Yes."
28 The commander said, "I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen."
But Paul said, "I was born a citizen."
29 The men who were preparing to torture
Paul moved
away from him immediately. The
commander was afraid, because he had already bound Paul, and Paul was a
Roman
citizen.
Paul Speaks to the Sanhedrin
30 The next day, the commander decided to
learn why
the Jews were accusing Paul. So, he
commanded the most important priests and the entire Jewish Council to
meet
together. Then he
brought Paul out and took his chains off. Then he made Paul stand
before their
meeting.
23 Paul looked straight at the
Jewish
Council and said, "My Jewish brothers, I have always lived
my life before God in all good conscience, and that includes today!" 2
Ananias (* There
are three different men named Ananias in Acts - 5:1; 9:10; 23:2) the
high
priest, was there.
Ananias heard Paul and told the men who were standing near Paul to hit
him on
the mouth. 3 Paul
said to Ananias, "God will hit you, too! You are like a dirty wall
which
has been painted white!
You sit there and judge me, using the law of Moses, yet you are telling
them to
hit me. That is
against the law!"
4 The men standing near Paul said to him, "You must not talk like that to God's high priest!"
5 Paul said, "Brothers, I didn't know this
man
was the high priest. It is written in the
Scriptures,
'You must not say evil things about a ruler of your people.'" Exodus 22:28
6 Some of the men in the meeting were
Sadducees and
some others were Pharisees. Paul knew
this. Therefore, he said to them, so that everyone could hear, "My
brothers, I am a Pharisee and
my father was a Pharisee! I am on trial here, because I believe that
people
will rise from death!”
7 When Paul said this, it caused a big
argument
between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The
group was divided. 8 (The Sadducees believe that after people die, they
cannot
live again. The
Sadducees also teach that there are no angels or spirits, but the
Pharisees
believe in all these
things). 9 All these Jews began shouting louder and louder. Some of the
teachers of the law, who
were Pharisees, stood up and argued: "We find nothing wrong with this
man!
Perhaps an angel or
a spirit did speak to him on the road to Damascus. We should not fight
against
God!”
10 The argument turned into a fight. The
commander
was afraid that the Jews would tear Paul
to pieces. So the commander ordered the soldiers to go down and take
Paul away
from them and
put him in the fortress.
11 The next night the Lord Jesus came and
stood by
Paul. He said, "Be strong! You have told
the people in Jerusalem the truth about me. You must also go to Rome to
do the
same thing
there!"
A Plot to Kill Paul
12 The next morning some of the Jews made a
plan.
They wanted to kill Paul. These Jews
vowed to themselves that they would not eat or drink anything until
they had
killed Paul! 13
There were more than 40 Jews who plotted this. 14 They went and talked
to the
most important
priests and the older Jewish leaders. These Jews said, "We have vowed
to
ourselves that we won't
eat or drink until we have killed Paul! 15 So, this is what we want you
to do:
Send a message to
the commander from you and the Jewish Council. Tell the commander that
you want
him to bring
Paul out to you tomorrow, as if you want to ask Paul more questions.
While he
is on the way
here, we will be waiting to kill him."
16 But Paul's nephew heard about this plan.
He went
to the fortress and told Paul. 17 Then
Paul called one of the officers and said to him, "Take this young man
to
the commander. He has a
message for him." 18 So, the officer brought Paul's nephew to the
commander. The officer said,
"The prisoner Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He wants to
tell you something."
19 The commander led the young man to a
place where
they could be alone. The commander
asked, "What do you want to tell me?"
20 The young man said, "The Jewish leaders
have decided to ask you to bring Paul down to
their council tomorrow. They want you to think that they plan to ask
Paul more
questions. 21 But
don't believe them! There are more than 40 Jews who are hiding and
waiting to
kill Paul. They
have all vowed not to eat or drink, until they have killed him! They
are now
waiting for you to say
yes."
22 The commander ordered him, "Don't tell
anyone that you have told me this." Then the
commander sent the young man away. 23 After this the commander called
two
officers. He said to
them, "I need some men to go to Caesarea. Get 200 soldiers ready. Also,
get 70 horsemen and
200 men to carry spears. Be ready to leave at nine o'clock tonight. 24
Get some
horses for Paul to
ride. He must be safely taken to Governor Felix." 25 The commander
wrote a
letter. This is what
it said:
26 From Claudius Lysias
To the Most Excellent Governor Felix:
Greetings.
27 The Jews had taken this man, and they were about to kill him, but I
learned
that he is a Roman
citizen (* Roman citizens could not be tortured or beaten until they
had a fair
trial). I went with
my soldiers and saved him. 28 I wanted to know why they were accusing
him, so I
brought him
before their council. 29 This is what I learned: The Jews said that
Paul did
some things which
were wrong, but these charges were about their own Jewish laws. None of
these
things were
worthy of jail or death. 30 I was told that some of the Jews were
plotting to
kill Paul. Therefore, I
sent him to you. I also ordered those Jews to tell you the things they
have
against him.
31 The soldiers did the things they were
told. They
got Paul and took him to the town of
Antipatris that night. 32 The next day, the horsemen went with Paul to
Caesarea, but the
soldiers and the spearmen went back to the fortress in Jerusalem. 33
The
horsemen entered
Caesarea and gave the letter to the governor (* Felix). Then they gave
Paul to
him. 34 The
governor read the letter. He asked Paul, “What country are you
from?" He learned that Paul was
from Cilicia. 35 The governor said, "I will hear your case when the
Jews
who are accusing you
come here, too." Then the governor gave orders for Paul to be kept in
the
palace. (This building
had been built by Herod the Great).
In Caesarea
24 Five days later,
Ananias went
down to the city of Caesarea. Ananias was the high priest. He
also brought some of the older Jewish leaders and a lawyer named
Tertullus.
They went to
Caesarea to make charges against Paul before the governor. 2 Paul was
called
into the meeting,
and Tertullus began to make his charges.
Tertullus said, "Our people have enjoyed
much
peace, because you are a wise reformer (* a
good leader who brings improvement to government), 3 Most Excellent
Felix. We
are very
thankful to accept these things from you, always and in every place. 4
But, I
don't want to use any
more of your time. So I will say only a few words. Please be patient. 5
This
man Paul is a
troublemaker. He stirs up trouble among the Jews everywhere in the
world. He is
a ringleader of
the Nazarene sect (* Jesus grew up in Nazareth - Luke 2:39-52). 6 He
was also
trying to make
the temple unclean when we stopped him. 7 (* Some manuscripts have part
of the
last of verse 6,
all of verse 7, and the beginning of verse 8: "We planned to judge him
according to our own law,
7 but the commander Lysias came and, with great violence, took him from
us. 8
Then Lysias gave
orders that his accusers should come before you"). 8 You can decide
whether all of our charges
are true or not. Ask him some questions yourself." 9 The other Jews
agreed. They said, "These
things are really true!"
10 The governor signaled for Paul to speak.
So Paul
answered, "Governor Felix, I know that
you have been a judge over this nation (* Israel) for many years. So I
am happy
to defend myself
before you. 11 I went up to worship in Jerusalem only twelve days ago.
You can
learn for
yourself that this is true. 12 These Jews who are accusing me didn't
find me
arguing with anyone
in the temple. I wasn't stirring up a crowd. And I wasn't causing
trouble or
arguing in the
synagogues or any place else in the city. 13 They cannot prove the
things they
are claiming against
me now. 14 However, I will admit this to you: I worship the God of our
ancestors as a follower
of the way of Jesus. The Jewish leaders claim that the way is a 'sect,'
but I
too believe everything
which is taught in the law of Moses and everything which is written in
the
books of the prophets.
15 I have the same belief in God that these Jews have--the hope that
all
people, good and bad,
will be raised from death. 16 This is why I always try to do what I
believe is
right before God and
men.
17 I was away from Jerusalem for many
years. I went
back there to bring money to my people
and to give some offerings. 18 I was doing this when some Jews found me
in the
temple
courtyard. I had just finished the cleansing ceremony. No crowd was
gathered
around me. I had
not caused any trouble. 19 However, some Jews from Asia (* modern
Turkey) were
there. They
should be here, standing before you. If I have really done anything
wrong,
those Jews from Asia
are the ones who should accuse me. 20 Ask these Jews here if they found
any
wrong in me when I
stood before the Jewish Council in Jerusalem. 21 I did say one thing
when I
stood before them: I
said, loud enough for all to hear, 'You are judging me today because I
believe
that people will rise
from death!'"
22 Felix already understood much about the
way of
Jesus. He stopped the hearing (* a session
in which testimony is heard by a judge before a formal trial) and said,
"When commander Lysias
comes here, I will decide on these things." 23 Felix ordered the
officer
to keep Paul guarded, but
he told the officer to give him some freedom and to let Paul's friends
bring
the things that he
needed.
Felix and Drusilla
24 After a few days, Felix came with his
wife,
Drusilla. She was a Jewish woman (* She was
the younger sister of Herod Agrippa II - see Acts 25:13). Felix asked
for Paul
to be brought to
him. He listened to Paul talk about believing in Christ Jesus. 25
However,
Felix became afraid
when Paul spoke about such things as righteousness, self-control, and
the
Judgment Day, which
will come in the future. Felix said, "Go away now! When I have time, I
will call for you." 26 Felix
hoped that Paul would pay him a bribe for his freedom. So, Felix sent
for Paul
often and talked
with him.
27 After two years, Portius Festus became
governor.
So, Felix was no longer governor, but
Felix left Paul in prison, because he wanted to do something to please
the
Jewish leaders.
Festus
25 So, Festus became
governor, and
three days later he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. 2
The most important priests and the important Jewish leaders made
charges
against Paul before
Festus. 3 They asked Festus to do something for them; they wanted
Festus to
send Paul back to
Jerusalem. They had a plan to kill Paul along the way. 4 But Festus
answered,
"No! Paul will be
kept in Caesarea. I myself will go to Caesarea soon. 5 Some of your
leaders
should go down with
me. They can accuse the man there in Caesarea, if he really has done
something
wrong."
6 Festus stayed in Jerusalem another eight
or ten
days. Then he went back down to Caesarea.
The next day Festus ordered the solders to bring Paul before him.
Festus was
seated on the
judgment seat. 7 Paul came into the room. The Jews who had come down
from
Jerusalem stood
around him. They said that Paul had done many serious crimes, but they
couldn't
prove any of
them. 8 This is what Paul said to defend himself: "I have done nothing
wrong against the Jewish
law, against the temple, or against Caesar!" (* The title of the
supreme
Roman rulers. “Caesar”
became the title of each emperor).
9 However, Festus wanted to please the
Jewish
leaders. So he asked Paul, "Do you want to go
up to Jerusalem? Do you want me to judge you there on these charges?"
10 Paul said, "I am standing at Caesar's
judgment seat now. This is where I must be judged! I
have done nothing wrong to the Jews; you know this is true. 11 If I
have done
anything wrong,
and the law says I must die, then I agree that I should die. I don't
ask to be
spared from death. But
if these charges are not true, then no one can give me to these Jews.
No! I
want Caesar (* Every
Roman citizen had the right to appeal his case to the emperor in Rome)
to hear
my case!"
12 Festus talked about this with his
advisors. Then
he said, "You have asked to see Caesar, so
to Caesar you will go!"
Agrippa and Bernice
13 A few days later, King Herod Agrippa II
and
Bernice (* She was another sister of Herod
Agrippa II - see Acts 24:24) came to Caesarea to visit Festus. 14 They
stayed
there many
days. Festus told the king about Paul's case. Festus said, "There is a
man
whom Felix left in
prison. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the most important priests and the
Jewish
elders made
charges against him. These Jews wanted me to order his death. 16 But I
answered, ‘When a man
is accused of doing something worthy of death, Romans do not give the
man to
other people to
judge. First, the man must face the people who are accusing him. Then
he must
be allowed to
defend himself against their charges.’ 17 Some Jews came here to
Caesarea
for the trial. I didn't
waste any time. The next day I sat on the judgment seat and ordered
that the
man (* Paul) be
brought in. 18 The Jewish leaders stood up and accused him. They didn't
accuse
him of any of the
crimes I thought they would. 19 They wanted to argue about their own
religion
and about a man
named Jesus. Jesus died, but Paul said that Jesus is still alive. 20 I
didn't
know much about these
things, so I didn't ask questions. Instead I asked Paul, 'Do you want
to go to
Jerusalem and be
judged there?' 21 But Paul asked to be kept in Caesarea. He wants a
decision
from the Emperor
(* The Greek title for "Caesar" is used here). So I commanded that
Paul be held until I could send
him to Caesar in Rome."
22 Agrippa said to Festus, "I would also like to hear this man."
Festus said, "You can hear him tomorrow!"
23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice
appeared. They
dressed and acted like very important
people. Agrippa and Bernice, the army leaders, and the important men of
Caesarea went into the
courtroom. Festus ordered the soldiers to bring Paul in. 24 Festus
said,
"King Agrippa and all of
you men gathered here with us, you see this man. All the Jewish people,
here
and in Jerusalem,
have complained to me about him. They cry out that he should not be
allowed to
live anymore.
25 When I judged him, I could find nothing wrong. I found no reason to
order
his death, but he
asked to be judged by the Emperor (* Caesar). So, I have decided to
send him to
Rome. 26 But, I
really don't know what to tell Caesar that this man has done.
Therefore, I have
brought him before
all of you--especially you, King Agrippa. I hope that you will question
him,
and give me
something to write to Caesar. 27 I think it is foolish to send a
prisoner to
Caesar without making
some charges against him."
Paul Defends Himself
26 Agrippa said to Paul, "You
are
now permitted to defend yourself." Then Paul raised his hand
(* a common gesture calling for attention) and began to speak. 2 He
said,
"King Agrippa, I will
answer all of the charges that the Jews make against me. I think it is
a
privilege that I can stand
here before you today and do this. 3 I am very happy to talk to you,
because
you know much
about all of the Jewish customs and issues. Please listen to me
patiently.
4 "All the Jewish people know about my
whole
life. They know the way I lived, from the
beginning among my own people and later in Jerusalem. 5 These Jews have
known
me for a long
time. If they want to, they can tell you that I was a Pharisee. And the
Pharisees obey the laws of
the Jewish faith more carefully than any other group of Jewish people.
6-7 Now
I am on trial
because I believe in God's promise which all the twelve tribes of our
people
hope to receive. For
this hope, the Jews earnestly serve God day and night. O King, the Jews
have
accused me because
I hope for this same promise!
8 "Why do you think it is impossible for
God to
raise people from death? 9 Even I thought that
I must do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And in
Jerusalem I did persecute
the holy people. The most important priests gave me authority to put
many of
these people in jail.
When they were being killed, I voted for it. 11 In every synagogue, I
punished
them. I tried to
force them to say evil things against Jesus. I was so crazed against
these
people that I hunted
them down to other towns."
Paul Preaches to King Agrippa
12 "Once the most important priests gave me
permission and authority to go to the city of
Damascus. 13 It was noon, O King. I was on my way to Damascus. I saw a
light
from the sky. It
was brighter than the sun. The light shined all around me and the men
who were
traveling with
me. 14 We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice talking to me in
the
Aramaic language (*
The Jews had a special reverence for their native language). The voice
said,
'Saul, Saul, why are
you persecuting me? By fighting me you are only hurting yourself' (*
literally,
It is hard for you to
kick against the pricks). 15 I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' The Lord
said, 'I am
Jesus. I am the one
you are persecuting. 16 Get up! Stand on your feet! I have chosen you
to be my
servant. You will
be my witness telling people the things that you have seen and the
things I
will show you. This is
why I have appeared to you today. 17 I will rescue you from your own
people and
from
non-Jewish people to whom I am sending you. 18 You will show the
non-Jewish
people the truth.
They will turn away from darkness to light (* or, from sin to
righteousness),
turning from the
power of Satan back to God. Then they can receive forgiveness of their
sins.
They will have a
share with those people who have been made holy by trusting in me.'"
What Happened Later
19 Paul continued speaking: "King Agrippa,
after I had this vision from heaven, I obeyed it. 20
First, in Damascus, I began to tell Jews that they should change their
hearts.
I told them to turn
back to God. I also went to Jerusalem and to the area around Judea and
I said,
'Change your lives
and do good things. This will show that you have truly changed your
hearts.' 21
This is why some
Jews took hold of me and tried to kill me in the temple courtyard. 22
But God
helped me, and He
is still helping me today. With God's help I am standing here today and
telling
all people, whether
'important' or 'unimportant,' the things I have seen. I am saying
nothing new;
I am only saying the
same things which Moses and the prophets said would take place: 23 They
said
that the Messiah
would die and be the first to rise from death; and that the Messiah
would bring
light to Jewish
people and non-Jewish people."
Festus Interrupts
24 While Paul was saying these things to defend
himself,
Festus shouted, "Paul, are you crazy?
Too much education has made you crazy!"
25 Paul said, "Most Excellent Festus, I'm
not
crazy. The things I say are true. My words are
not the words of a foolish man; I am serious. 26 King Agrippa knows
about these
matters. I can
speak freely to him. I know that he has heard about all of these
things,
because these things
happened where everyone could see (* literally, have not been done in a
corner). 27 King
Agrippa, do you believe what the prophets wrote? I know you believe!"
28 King Agrippa asked Paul, "Do you think
you
can persuade me to become a Christian so
easily?"
29 Paul said, "It doesn't matter whether it
is
easy or hard; I pray to God that not only you, but
everyone who is listening to me today, could be like me--except for
these
chains!"
30 When Paul finished speaking, King
Agrippa,
Governor Felix, Bernice, and all of the people
sitting with them got up 31 and left the room. They began to talk to
each
other. They said, "This
man should not be killed or put in prison; he has done nothing that
bad!"
32 And Agrippa said to
Festus, "We could have let this man go free, but he has already asked
to
be judged by Caesar" (*
The title of supreme Roman rulers. “Caesar” became the title
of each emperor).
They Sail for Italy
27 It was decided that
we would
sail for Italy. A Roman officer named Julius guarded Paul and
some other prisoners. Julius served in the Emperor's regiment. 2 We
went aboard
a ship which
was from the city of Adramyttium. It was ready to sail for ports along
the
coast of Asia (* modern
Turkey). Then we set sail. Aristarchus went with us. He was a man from
the city
of Thessalonica
in Macedonia. 3 The next day we came to the city of Sidon. Julius was
very kind
to Paul. He gave
Paul freedom to go visit Paul's friends who took care of his needs. 4
We left
the city of Sidon. We
sailed south of the island of Cyprus, because the wind was blowing
against us.
5 We went across
the sea next to Cilicia and Pamphylia. Then we came to the town of Myra
in
Lycia. 6 In Myra the
Roman officer found a ship from the city of Alexandria. This ship was
going to
Italy. So he put us
on it.
7 We sailed slowly for many days. It was
hard for
us to reach the town of Cnidus, because the
wind was blowing against us. We could not go any further that way. So
we sailed
past the south
side of the island of Crete, near the town of Salmone. 8 We sailed
along the
coast, but sailing
was hard. Then we came to a place called Safe Harbors. The town of
Lasea was
near there.
9 However, we had lost much time. It was
now
dangerous to sail, because it was after
mid-September (* literally, the Fast - Yom Kippur). So Paul warned
them, 10
"Men, I can see that
there will be much destruction on this trip. The ship and the things on
this
ship will be lost. Even
our lives may be lost!” 11 But the captain of the ship and its owner
didn't agree with Paul. The
Roman officer believed what they said, rather than what Paul said. 12
That
harbor was not a good
place for the ship to stay for the winter. Therefore, most of the men
decided
that the ship should
leave there. The men hoped that we could go to Phoenix. The ship could
stay
there for the winter.
(Phoenix was a city on the island of Crete. It had a harbor which faced
southwest and northwest).
The Storm
13 Then a good wind began to blow from the
south.
The men on the ship thought, "This is the
wind we wanted, and now we have it!" So they pulled up anchor. We
sailed
very close to the
island of Crete, 14 but then a very strong wind named "the
Northeaster" (* literally, Euraquilo)
came down from the island. 15 This wind took the ship and carried it
away. The
ship couldn't hold
against the wind. So, we stopped trying to resist and let the wind blow
us. 16
We went below a
small island named Cauda. Then (* while the island protected them from
the
strong wind) we
were able to bring in the lifeboat. (It was very hard to do this). 17
After the
men took the lifeboat
in, they tied ropes around the ship to hold the ship together. The men
were
afraid that the ship
would hit the sandbanks of Syrtis (* an area off the African coast
where many
ships sank). So
they lowered the sail and let the wind carry the ship along. 18 The
next day
the storm was
blowing us so hard that the men threw some things out of the ship (*
They threw
the cargo
overboard) to make the ship lighter. 19 A day later they threw out the
ship's
equipment. 20 For
many days we couldn't see the sun or the stars to guide us. The storm
was very
bad. We lost all
hope of staying alive--we thought we would die.
21 For a long time the men didn't eat. Then
one day
Paul stood up before them and said,
"Men, I told you not to leave Crete. You should have listened to me.
Then
you would not have
had all of this trouble and loss. 22 But now I am telling you to cheer
up. None
of you will die!
However, the ship will be lost. 23 Last night an angel came to me from
the true
God. This is the
God I worship. I am His. 24 God's angel said, 'Paul, don't be afraid!
You must
stand before
Caesar. And God has promised to give you something good: He will save
the lives
of all those
sailing with you.' 25 So men, cheer up! I trust in God. Everything will
happen
just as His angel
told me. 26 But, we will run aground on an island."
27 On the 14th night, we were floating
around in
the Adriatic Sea (* literally, Adria, the
central part of the Mediterranean Sea). The sailors sensed that we were
close
to land. 28 They
threw a rope into the water with a weight on the end of it. They found
that the
water was 120 feet
deep. They went a little further and threw the rope in again. It was 90
feet
deep. 29 The sailors
were afraid that we would hit the rocks. So, they threw four anchors
into the
water. Then they
prayed for daylight to come. 30 Some of the sailors wanted to leave the
ship.
They lowered the
lifeboat to the water, trying to make the other men think that they
were
throwing out more
anchors from the front of the ship. 31 But Paul told the officer and
the other
soldiers, "If these
men don't stay in the ship, then your lives cannot be saved!" 32 So the
soldiers cut the ropes and
let the lifeboat fall into the water.
33 Just before dawn, Paul started
persuading
everyone to eat something. He said, "For the past
two weeks you have been waiting and watching. You have not eaten for 14
days.
34 Now, I beg
you, eat something! You need it to stay alive. Not one of you will lose
even
one hair of your
head." 35 After he said this, Paul took some bread and, in front of
them
all, thanked God for it.
He broke off a piece and began to eat. 36 All of the men felt better.
They all
started to eat, too.
37 (There were 276 people on the ship). 38 We ate all we wanted. Then
we began
to make the
ship lighter by throwing the wheat into the sea.
Shipwreck
39 When daylight came, the sailors saw
land, but
they did not know where we were. We saw a
bay with a beach. The sailors wanted to sail the ship to the beach, if
they
could. 40 So the men cut
the ropes to the anchors and left the anchors in the sea. At the same
time, the
men untied the
ropes which were holding the rudders. Then the men raised the front
sail into
the wind and sailed
toward the beach, 41 but the ship hit a sandbank and the front of the
ship
stuck there; the ship
could not move. Then the big waves began to break up the back of the
ship.
42 The soldiers decided to kill the
prisoners, so
that none of the prisoners could swim away
and escape, 43 but the officer wanted to let Paul live. Therefore, he
didn't
allow the soldiers to kill
the prisoners. Julius ordered the people who could swim to jump into
the water
and swim toward
land. 44 Others used wooden boards or pieces from the ship. This is how
all of
the people got to
land. No one died.
On Malta
28 When we were safe on
land, we
realized that the island was called Malta. 2 It was very cold
and raining. The people who lived there were very kind to us. They made
a fire
for us and
welcomed us all. 3 Paul picked up a pile of sticks for the fire. He was
putting
the sticks on the
fire. Then, because of the heat, a poisonous snake came out and bit him
on the
hand. 4 The people
living on the island saw the snake hanging from Paul's hand. They said
to each
other, "Surely this
man is a murderer! He didn't die in the ocean, but Justice (* blind
fate. Here
it is personified) will
not permit him to live 5 However, Paul shook off the snake into the
fire. He
was not hurt. 6 The
people expected him to swell up or to suddenly fall down dead.
For a long
time the people waited
and watched him, but nothing bad happened to him. So the people changed
their
minds and they
began to say, "He is a god!"
7 There were some fields around that same
area. A
very important man on the island owned
these fields. His name was Publius. He welcomed us into his home.
Publius was
very kind to us.
We stayed in his house for three days. 8 Publius' father was very sick.
He had
a fever and
dysentery, but Paul went to him and prayed for him. Paul put his hands
on the
man and healed
him. 9 After this occurred all the other sick people on the island
began to
come to Paul. Paul
healed them, too. 10-11 The people on the island gave us many honors.
We stayed
there three
months. When we were ready to leave, the people gave us the things we
needed.
Heading for Rome
We got on a ship from the city of
Alexandria. The
ship had stayed on the island of Malta
during the winter. On the front of the ship was the sign for the twin
gods (*
literally, Dioscuri,
sons of Jupiter [Castor and Pollux] who were believed to protect
sailors). 12
We stopped at the
town of Syracuse and stayed there for three days. 13 Then we came to
the town
of Rhegium. The
next day a wind began to blow from the southwest, so we were able to
leave. A day later we
came to the town of Puteoli. 14 We found some brothers there. They
asked us to
stay with them
seven days. Finally, we came near to Rome. 15 The believers in Rome
heard that
we were there.
They came out to meet us at the Market of Appius and at the Three Inns.
When
Paul saw these
believers, he felt better. He thanked God.
Arrival in Rome
16 Then we went to Rome. There the officer
gave the
prisoners to the captain of the guard.
Paul was allowed to live alone, but a soldier stayed with Paul to guard
him.
17 Three days later Paul sent for some of
the most
important Jewish leaders. When they came
together, Paul said to them, "My Jewish brothers, I have done nothing
against our people or
against the customs of our ancestors, yet I was arrested in Jerusalem
and
handed over to the
Romans. 18 The Romans asked me many questions, but they couldn't find
any
reason why I
should be put to death. They wanted to let me go free. 19 However, the
Jewish
leaders there
didn't want me to go free. So, I was forced to ask to have my trial
before
Caesar in Rome (* Any
Roman citizen had the privilege of standing trial before Caesar himself
in
Rome. However, it was
very expensive to claim this right). I am not accusing my people of
anything
wrong. 20 This is the
reason I wanted to see you and talk with you. I am bound with this
chain,
because I believe in the
hope of Israel" (* the resurrection - Compare Acts 26:6-8; 13:32-37).
21 These Jews answered Paul, "We have
received
no letters from Judea about you. None of
our Jewish brothers who have traveled from Judea brought any news about
you or
told us
anything bad about you. 22 We do want to hear your ideas. We know that
people
everywhere are
speaking against this sect."
23 Paul and the Jewish leaders set a day
for a
meeting. On that day many more of these Jews
met with Paul at his house. Paul spoke to them all day long. He
explained to
them the truth about
the kingdom of God. Using the law of Moses and the writings of the
prophets,
Paul tried to
persuade them about Jesus. 24 Some of the Jews believed the things that
Paul
said, but others did
not believe. 25 They disagreed among themselves. The Jewish leaders
were ready
to leave, but
Paul said one more thing to them: "The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to
your
ancestors through the
prophet Isaiah. He said:
26 'Go to
this people and tell them:
You will certainly hear, but you won't understand!
You will certainly see, but you won't understand!
27
The heart
of this people has become hard.
They have ears, but they don't listen.
They have shut their eyes.
Otherwise, they would see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their minds,
and then turn.
I would heal them.' Isaiah 6:9-10
28 "I want you Jewish leaders to know that
God
has sent His salvation to non-Jewish people.
They will listen!" 29 (* Some manuscripts have verse 29: "And when he
had said these things, the
Jews left, having a great argument among themselves").
30 Paul stayed two full years in his own
rented
house. He welcomed everyone who came to
visit him. 31 Paul was preaching about the kingdom of God and teaching
about
the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was very bold. No one tried to stop him from speaking.
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