^43 (A)So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and ^(B)they took possession of it and lived in it. ⁴⁴ And the Lord ^(C)gave them rest on every side, in accordance with everything that He had sworn to their fathers, and ^(D)no one of all their enemies stood before them; ^(E)the Lord handed all their enemies over to them. ^45 (F)Not ^[a]one of the good promises which the Lord had ^[b]made to the house of Israel failed; everything came to pass.

Tribes beyond Jordan Return

22 ^(G)Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ² and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, ^(H)and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you. ³ You have not abandoned your brothers these many days to this day, but have fulfilled the obligation of the commandment of the Lord your God. ⁴ And now ^(I)the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as He spoke to them; therefore turn now and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan. ⁵ Only be very careful to ^[c]follow the commandment and the Law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to ^(J)love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways, and keep His commandments and cling to Him, and serve Him ^(K)with all your heart and with all your soul.” ⁶ So Joshua ^(L)blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

⁷ Now ^(M)to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but ^(N)to the other half Joshua gave a possession among their brothers westward beyond the Jordan. So when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he also blessed them, ⁸ and said to ^[d]them, “Return to your tents with great riches and with very many livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and with very many clothes; ^(O)divide the spoils of your enemies with your brothers.”

Paul’s Defense before Agrippa

26 ^(A)Now Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” Then Paul extended his hand and proceeded to make his defense:

² “Regarding all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today, ^3 [a]especially because you are an expert in all ^(B)customs and ^[b]questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ “So then, all Jews know ^(C)my way of life since my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and in Jerusalem, ⁵ since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a ^(D)Pharisee ^(E)according to the strictest ^(F)sect of our religion. ⁶ And now I am standing trial ^(G)for the hope of ^(H)the promise made by God to our fathers; ⁷ the promise ^(I)to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. For this ^(J)hope, O king, I am being ^(K)accused by Jews. ⁸ Why is it considered incredible among you people ^(L)if God raises the dead?

⁹ “So ^(M)I thought to myself that I had to act in strong opposition to ^(N)the name of Jesus ^[c]of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And this is ^[d]just what I ^(O)did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the ^[e]saints in prisons, after ^(P)receiving authority from the chief priests, but I also ^(Q)cast my vote against them when they were being put to death. ¹¹ And ^(R)as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was ^(S)extremely enraged at them, I kept pursuing them ^(T)even to ^[f]foreign cities.

¹² “^[g]While so engaged, ^(U)as I was journeying 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, ^[h]brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who were journeying with me. ¹⁴ And when we had ^(V)all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the ^[i](W)Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ^[j]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But get up and ^(X)stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to ^(Y)appoint you as a ^(Z)servant and ^(AA)a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, ^17 (AB)rescuing you ^(AC)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸ to ^(AD)open their eyes so that they may turn from ^(AE)darkness to light, and from the ^[k]power of ^(AF)Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AG)forgiveness of sins and an ^(AH)inheritance among those who have been sanctified by ^(AI)faith in Me.’

¹⁹ “For that reason, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but continually proclaimed ^(AJ)to those in Damascus first, and ^(AK)in Jerusalem, and then all the region of Judea, and even ^(AL)to the Gentiles, that they are to ^(AM)repent and turn to God, performing deeds ^(AN)consistent with repentance. ²¹ For these reasons some Jews ^(AO)seized me in the temple and tried ^(AP)to murder me. ²² So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day ^(AQ)testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what ^(AR)the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place, ²³ as to ^(AS)whether the ^[l]Christ was ^[m]to suffer, and whether, as ^(AT)first from the resurrection of the dead, He would proclaim ^(AU)light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ While ^[n]Paul was stating these things in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! ^[o]Your great ^(AV)learning is ^[p]driving you insane.” ²⁵ But Paul *said, “I am not insane, ^(AW)most excellent Festus; on the contrary, I am speaking out with ^[q]truthful and rational words. ²⁶ For the king ^[r](AX)knows about these matters, and I also speak to him with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a ^[s]corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸ Agrippa replied to Paul, “^[t]In a short time you are going to persuade me to ^[u]make a ^(AY)Christian of myself.” ²⁹ And Paul said, “I would ^[v]wish to God that even ^[w]in a short or long time not only you, but also all who hear me this day would become such as I myself am, except for these ^(AZ)chains.”

^30 (BA)The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, ³¹ and when they had gone out, they began talking to one another, saying, “^(BB)This man is not doing anything deserving death or ^[x]imprisonment.” ³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been ^(BC)set free if he had not ^(BD)appealed to Caesar.”

⁹ So the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, ^[a]leaving the sons of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the ^(A)land of Gilead, to the land of their possession in which they had settled, in accordance with the ^[b]command of the Lord ^[c]through Moses.

The Offensive Altar

¹⁰ When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, ^[d]a large altar in appearance. ¹¹ But the sons of Israel ^[e]heard a report: “Behold, the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have ^(B)built an altar at the ^[f]frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.” ¹² And when the sons of Israel heard about it, the entire congregation of the sons of Israel assembled at ^(C)Shiloh to go up against them in battle.

¹³ Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben, to the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, ^(D)Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, ¹⁴ and with him ten leaders, one leader for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and ^(E)each one of them was the head of his father’s household among the ^[g]thousands of Israel. ¹⁵ They came to the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, ¹⁶ “This is what the whole congregation of the Lord says: ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following the Lord this day, by ^(F)building yourselves an altar, to rebel against the Lord this day? ¹⁷ Is ^(G)the wrongdoing of Peor ^[h]not enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although ^[i]a plague came on the congregation of the Lord, ¹⁸ that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, ^(H)He will be angry with the entire congregation of Israel tomorrow. ¹⁹ If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then ^[j]cross into the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s ^[k]tabernacle ^[l]stands, and settle among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us, by ^(I)building an altar for yourselves besides the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰ Did ^(J)Achan the son of Zerah not act unfaithfully in the things designated for destruction, and wrath fall on the entire congregation of Israel? So that man did not perish alone in his guilt.’”

²¹ Then the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the ^[m]families of Israel. ²² “The ^(K)Mighty One, God, the Lord, the Mighty One, God, the Lord! ^(L)He knows, and may Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion, or if in an unfaithful act against the Lord, do not save us this day! ²³ If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if to ^(M)offer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the Lord Himself ^[n]demand it. ²⁴ But truly we have done this out of concern, ^[o]for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may say to our ^[p]sons, “What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? ²⁵ For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the Lord.” So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the Lord.’

²⁶ “Therefore we said, ‘Let’s ^[q]build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; ²⁷ rather, it shall be ^(N)a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to ^(O)perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’ ²⁸ Therefore we said, ‘It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather, it is a witness between us and you.”’ ²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away from following the Lord this day, by ^(P)building an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His ^[r]tabernacle.”

³⁰ So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, that is, the heads of the ^[s]families of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. ³¹ And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben, the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that the ^(Q)Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this unfaithful act against the Lord; now you have saved the sons of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”

³² Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them. ³³ The word pleased the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel ^(R)blessed God; and they did not speak of going up against them in battle to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living. ³⁴ And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad ^(S)called the altar Witness; “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

Paul Is Sent to Rome

27 Now when it was decided that ^(A)we ^(B)would sail for ^(C)Italy, they proceeded to turn Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the Augustan ^[a](D)cohort, named Julius. ² And we boarded an Adramyttian ship that was about to sail to the regions along the coast of ^[b](E)Asia, and put out to sea accompanied by ^(F)Aristarchus, a ^(G)Macedonian of ^(H)Thessalonica. ³ The next day we put in at ^(I)Sidon; and Julius ^(J)treated Paul with consideration and ^(K)allowed him to go to his friends and receive care. ⁴ From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of ^(L)Cyprus, because ^(M)the winds were contrary. ⁵ When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of ^(N)Cilicia and ^(O)Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. ⁶ There the centurion found an ^(P)Alexandrian ship sailing for ^(Q)Italy, and he put us aboard it. ⁷ When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, ^(R)since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of ^(S)Crete, off Salmone; ⁸ and with difficulty ^(T)sailing past it, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

⁹ When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even ^(U)the ^[c]fast was already over, Paul started admonishing them, ¹⁰ saying to them, “Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with ^(V)damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” ¹¹ But the centurion was more persuaded by the ^(W)pilot and the ^[d]captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul. ¹² The harbor was not suitable for wintering, so the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of ^(X)Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

^13 [e]When a moderate south wind came up, thinking that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began ^(Y)sailing along ^(Z)Crete, closer to shore.

Shipwreck

¹⁴ But before very long a violent wind, called ^[f]Euraquilo, ^(AA)rushed down from ^[g]the land; ¹⁵ and when the ship was caught in it and could not head up into the wind, we gave up and let ourselves be driven by the wind. ¹⁶ Running under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, we were able to get the ship’s ^[h]boat under control only with difficulty. ¹⁷ After they had hoisted it up, they used ^[i]supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might ^(AB)run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the ^[j]sea anchor and let themselves be driven along in this way. ¹⁸ The next day as we were being violently tossed by the storm, ^[k]they began to ^(AC)jettison the cargo; ¹⁹ and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was slowly abandoned.

^21 [l]When many had lost their appetites, Paul then stood among them and said, “^[m](AD)Men, you should have followed my advice and not have set sail from ^(AE)Crete, and thereby spared yourselves this ^(AF)damage and loss. ²² And yet now I urge you to ^(AG)keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ²³ For this very night ^(AH)an angel of the God to whom I belong, ^(AI)whom I also serve, ^(AJ)came to me, ²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; ^(AK)you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has graciously granted you ^(AL)all those who are sailing with you.’ ²⁵ Therefore, ^(AM)keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that ^[n]it will turn out exactly as I have been told. ²⁶ But we must ^(AN)run aground on a certain ^(AO)island.”

²⁷ But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that ^[o]they were approaching some land. ²⁸ And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ Fearing that we might ^(AP)run aground somewhere on the ^[p]rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and ^[q]prayed for daybreak. ³⁰ But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down ^(AQ)the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain on the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ^(AR)ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.

³³ Until the day was about to dawn, Paul kept encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken in nothing. ³⁴ Therefore, I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your survival, for ^(AS)not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” ³⁵ Having said this, he took bread and ^(AT)gave thanks to God in the presence of them all, and he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶ All ^(AU)of them ^[r]were encouraged and they themselves also took food. ³⁷ We were 276 ^[s](AV)people on the ship in all. ³⁸ When they had eaten enough, they began lightening the ship by ^(AW)throwing the wheat out into the sea.

³⁹ Now when day came, ^(AX)they ^[t]could not recognize the land; but they did notice a bay with a beach, and they resolved to run the ship onto it if they could. ⁴⁰ And casting off ^(AY)the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders; and they hoisted the foresail to the wind and were heading for the beach. ⁴¹ But they struck a ^[u]reef where two seas met and ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck firmly and remained immovable, while the stern started to break up due to the force of the waves. ⁴² The soldiers’ plan was to ^(AZ)kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape; ⁴³ but the centurion, ^(BA)wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from accomplishing their intention, and commanded that those who could swim were to ^[v]jump overboard first and get to land, ⁴⁴ and the rest were to follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that ^(BB)they all were brought safely to land.