Acts 25-28

American Standard Version

25 Festus therefore, ^[a]having come into the province, after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ² And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they besought him, ³ asking a favor against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem; laying a plot to kill him on the way. ⁴ Howbeit Festus answered, that Paul was kept in charge at Caesarea, and that he himself was about to depart thither shortly. ⁵ Let them therefore, saith he, that are of power among you go down with me, and if there is anything amiss in the man, let them accuse him.

⁶ And when he had tarried among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down unto Caesarea; and on the morrow he sat on the judgment-seat, and commanded Paul to be brought. ⁷ And when he was come, the Jews that had come down from Jerusalem stood round about him, bringing against him many and grievous charges which they could not prove; ⁸ while Paul said in his defence, Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I sinned at all. ⁹ But Festus, desiring to gain favor with the Jews, answered Paul and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me? ¹⁰ But Paul said, I am standing before Caesar’s judgment-seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou also very well knowest. ¹¹ If then I am a wrong-doer, and have committed anything worthy of death, I refuse not to die; but if none of those things is true whereof these accuse me, no man can ^[b]give me up unto them. I appeal unto Caesar. ¹² Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Thou hast appealed unto Caesar: unto Caesar shalt thou go.

¹³ Now when certain days were passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea, ^[c]and saluted Festus. ¹⁴ And as they tarried there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix; ¹⁵ about whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, asking for sentence against him. ¹⁶ To whom I answered, that it is not the custom of the Romans to ^[d]give up any man, before that the accused have the accusers face to face, and have had opportunity to make his defence concerning the matter laid against him. ¹⁷ When therefore they were come together here, I made no delay, but on the next day sat on the judgment-seat, and commanded the man to be brought. ¹⁸ Concerning whom, when the accusers stood up, they brought no charge of such evil things as I supposed; ¹⁹ but had certain questions against him of their own ^[e]religion, and of one Jesus, who was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. ²⁰ And I, being perplexed how to inquire concerning these things, asked whether he would go to Jerusalem and there be judged of these matters. ²¹ But when Paul had appealed to be kept for the decision of ^[f]the emperor, I commanded him to be kept till I should send him to Caesar. ²² And Agrippa said unto Festus, I also ^[g]could wish to hear the man myself. To-morrow, saith he, thou shalt hear him.

²³ So on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and they were entered into the place of hearing with the ^[h]chief captains and the principal men of the city, at the command of Festus Paul was brought in. ²⁴ And Festus saith, King Agrippa, and all men who are here present with us, ye behold this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews made suit to me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying that he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵ But I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death: and as he himself appealed to ^[i]the emperor I determined to send him. ²⁶ Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I may have somewhat to write. ²⁷ For it seemeth to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not withal to signify the charges against him.

26 And Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth his hand, and made his defence:

² I think myself happy, king Agrippa, that I am to make my defence before thee this day touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews: ^3 [j]especially because thou art expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. ⁴ My manner of life then from my youth up, which was from the beginning among mine own nation and at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; ⁵ having knowledge of me from the first, if they be willing to testify, that after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. ⁶ And now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; ⁷ unto which promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. And concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O king! ⁸ Why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth raise the dead? ⁹ I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them. ¹¹ And punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities. ^12 [k]Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against ^[l]the goad. ¹⁵ And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. ¹⁶ But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things ^[m]wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee; ¹⁷ delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee, ¹⁸ to open their eyes, ^[n]that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me. ¹⁹ Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: ²⁰ but declared both to them of Damascus first, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of ^[o]repentance. ²¹ For this cause the Jews seized me in the temple, and assayed to kill me. ²² Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand unto this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses did say should come; ^23 [p]how that the Christ ^[q]must suffer, and ^[r]how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.

²⁴ And as he thus made his defence, Festus saith with a loud voice, Paul, thou art mad; thy much learning ^[s]is turning thee mad. ²⁵ But Paul saith, I am not mad, most excellent Festus; but speak forth words of truth and soberness. ²⁶ For the king knoweth of these things, unto whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him; for this hath not been done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. ²⁸ And Agrippa said unto Paul, ^[t]With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian. ²⁹ And Paul said, I would to God, that ^[u]whether with little or with much, not thou only, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds.

³⁰ And the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them: ³¹ and when they had withdrawn, they spake one to another, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. ³² And Agrippa said unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.

27 And when it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan ^[v]band. ² And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail unto the places on the coast of Asia, we put to sea, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. ³ And the next day we touched at Sidon: and Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him leave to go unto his friends and ^[w]refresh himself. ⁴ And putting to sea from thence, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. ⁵ And when we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. ⁶ And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy; and he put us therein. ⁷ And when we had sailed slowly many days, and were come with difficulty over against Cnidus, the wind not ^[x]further suffering us, we sailed under the lee of Crete, over against Salmone; ⁸ and with difficulty coasting along it we came unto a certain place called Fair Havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea.

⁹ And when much time was spent, and the voyage was now dangerous, because the Fast was now already gone by, Paul admonished them, ¹⁰ and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the lading and the ship, but also of our lives. ¹¹ But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ship, than to those things which were spoken by Paul. ¹² And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to put to sea from thence, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there; which is a haven of Crete, looking ^[y]north-east and south-east. ¹³ And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close in shore. ¹⁴ But after no long time there beat down from it a tempestuous wind, which is called Euraquilo: ¹⁵ and when the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven. ¹⁶ And running under the lee of a small island called ^[z]Cauda, we were able, with difficulty, to secure the boat: ¹⁷ and when they had hoisted it up, they used helps, under-girding the ship; and, fearing lest they should be cast upon the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and so were driven. ¹⁸ And as we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw the freight overboard; ¹⁹ and the third day they cast out with their own hands the ^[aa]tackling of the ship. ²⁰ And when neither sun nor stars shone upon us for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was now taken away. ²¹ And when they had been long without food, then Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have set sail from Crete, and have gotten this injury and loss. ²² And now I exhort you to be of good cheer; for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For there stood by me this night an angel of the God whose I am, whom also I serve, ²⁴ saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must stand before Caesar: and lo, God hath granted thee all them that sail with thee. ²⁵ Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even so as it hath been spoken unto me. ²⁶ But we must be cast upon a certain island.

²⁷ But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven to and fro in the sea of Adria, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some country: ²⁸ and they sounded, and found twenty fathoms; and after a little space, they sounded again, and found fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ And fearing lest haply we should be cast ashore on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and ^[ab]wished for the day. ³⁰ And as the sailors were seeking to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, under color as though they would lay out anchors from the foreship, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. ³³ And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take some food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing. ³⁴ Wherefore I beseech you to take some food: for this is for your safety: for there shall not a hair perish from the head of any of you. ³⁵ And when he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all; and he brake it, and began to eat. ³⁶ Then were they all of good cheer, and themselves also took food. ³⁷ And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. ³⁸ And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. ³⁹ And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they perceived a certain bay with a beach, and they took counsel whether they could ^[ac]drive the ship upon it. ⁴⁰ And casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosing the bands of the rudders; and hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. ⁴¹ But lighting upon a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the foreship struck and remained unmoveable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves. ⁴² And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. ⁴³ But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stayed them from their purpose; and commanded that they who could swim should cast themselves overboard, and get first to the land; ⁴⁴ and the rest, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. And so it came to pass, that they all escaped safe to the land.

28 And when we were escaped, then we knew that the island was called ^[ad]Melita. ² And the barbarians showed us no common kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us all, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. ³ But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out ^[ae]by reason of the heat, and fastened on his hand. ⁴ And when the barbarians saw the venomous creature hanging from his hand, they said one to another, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped from the sea, yet Justice hath not suffered to live. ⁵ Howbeit he shook off the creature into the fire, and took no harm. ⁶ But they expected that he would have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but when they were long in expectation and beheld nothing amiss came to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

⁷ Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius; who received us, and entertained us three days courteously. ⁸ And it was so, that the father of Publius lay sick of fever and dysentery: unto whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laying his hands on him healed him. ⁹ And when this was done, the rest also that had diseases in the island came, and were cured: ¹⁰ who also honored us with many honors; and when we sailed, they put on board such things as we needed.

¹¹ And after three months we set sail in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered in the island, whose sign was ^[af]The Twin Brothers. ¹² And touching at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. ¹³ And from thence we ^[ag]made a circuit, and arrived at Rhegium: and after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli; ¹⁴ where we found brethren, and were entreated to tarry with them seven days: and so we came to Rome. ¹⁵ And from thence the brethren, when they heard of us, came to meet us as far as The Market of Appius and The Three Taverns; whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.

¹⁶ And when we entered into Rome, ^[ah]Paul was suffered to abide by himself with the soldier that guarded him.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, that after three days he called together ^[ai]those that were the chief of the Jews: and when they were come together, he said unto them, I, brethren, though I had done nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, yet was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans: ¹⁸ who, when they had examined me, desired to set me at liberty, because there was no cause of death in me. ¹⁹ But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had aught whereof to accuse my nation. ²⁰ For this cause therefore did I ^[aj]entreat you to see and to speak with me: for because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. ²¹ And they said unto him, We neither received letters from Judaea concerning thee, nor did any of the brethren come hither and report or speak any harm of thee. ²² But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against.

²³ And when they had appointed him a day, they came to him into his lodging in great number; to whom he expounded the matter, testifying the kingdom of God, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning till evening. ²⁴ And some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. ²⁵ And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Spirit through Isaiah the prophet unto your fathers, ²⁶ saying,

²⁸ Be it known therefore unto you, that this salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles: they will also hear.^[al]

³⁰ And he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him, ³¹ preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, none forbidding him.