The Promise Fulfilled

⁴³ So the Lord gave to Israel ^(A)all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they ^(B)took possession of it and dwelt in it. ^44 (C)The Lord gave them ^(D)rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And ^(E)not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. ^45 (F)Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Eastern Tribes Return to Their Lands

22 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, ² and said to them: “You have kept ^(G)all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, ^(H)and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. ³ You have not ^[a]left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. ⁴ And now the Lord your God has given ^(I)rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, ^(J)which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. ⁵ But ^(K)take^[b] careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, ^(L)to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” ⁶ So Joshua ^(M)blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

⁷ Now to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, ^(N)but to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And indeed, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, ⁸ and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. ^(O)Divide the ^[c]spoil of your enemies with your brethren.”

Paul’s Early Life

26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.”

So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself: ² “I think myself ^(A)happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer ^(B)for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am ^(C)accused by the Jews, ³ especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

⁴ “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. ⁵ They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to ^(D)the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. ^6 (E)And now I stand and am judged for the hope of ^(F)the promise made by God to our fathers. ⁷ To this promise ^(G)our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God ^(H)night and day, ^(I)hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews. ⁸ Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?

^9 (J)“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things ^[a]contrary to the name of ^(K)Jesus of Nazareth. ^10 (L)This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority ^(M)from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ^11 (N)And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Recounts His Conversion^(O)

^12 (P)“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(Q)to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. ¹⁷ I will ^[b]deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, ^(R)to whom I ^[c]now send you, ^18 (S)to open their eyes, in order ^(T)to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, ^(U)that they may receive forgiveness of sins and ^(V)an inheritance among those who are ^(W)sanctified^[d] by faith in Me.’

Paul’s Post-Conversion Life

¹⁹ “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but ^(X)declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do ^(Y)works befitting repentance. ²¹ For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²² Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those ^(Z)which the prophets and ^(AA)Moses said would come— ^23 (AB)that the Christ would suffer, ^(AC)that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and ^(AD)would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

Agrippa Parries Paul’s Challenge

²⁴ Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ^(AE)you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”

²⁵ But he said, “I am not ^[e]mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. ²⁶ For the king, before whom I also speak freely, ^(AF)knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”

²⁸ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

²⁹ And Paul said, ^(AG)“I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰ When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; ³¹ and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, ^(AH)“This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”

³² Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set ^(AI)free ^(AJ)if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

⁹ So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to ^(A)the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

An Altar by the Jordan

¹⁰ And when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan—a great, impressive altar. ¹¹ Now the children of Israel ^(B)heard someone say, “Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the ^[a]frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan—on the children of Israel’s side.” ¹² And when the children of Israel heard of it, ^(C)the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them.

¹³ Then the children of Israel ^(D)sent ^(E)Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, ¹⁴ and with him ten rulers, one ruler each from the chief house of every tribe of Israel; and ^(F)each one was the head of the house of his father among the ^[b]divisions of Israel. ¹⁵ Then they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, ¹⁶ “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord: ‘What ^(G)treachery^[c] is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, ^(H)that you might rebel this day against the Lord? ¹⁷ Is the iniquity ^(I)of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, ¹⁸ but that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? And it shall be, if you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow ^(J)He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. ^19 [d]Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, ^(K)where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God. ^20 (L)Did not Achan the son of Zerah ^[e]commit a trespass in the ^[f]accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’ ”

²¹ Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the ^[g]divisions of Israel: ²² “The Lord ^(M)God of gods, the Lord God of gods, He ^(N)knows, and let Israel itself know—if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against the Lord, do not save us this day. ²³ If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord Himself ^(O)require an account. ²⁴ But in fact we have done it ^[h]for fear, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants, saying, “What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? ²⁵ For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the Lord.” So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord.’ ²⁶ Therefore we said, ‘Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, ²⁷ but that it may be ^(P)a ^[i]witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may ^(Q)perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, “You have no part in the Lord.” ’ ²⁸ Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, ‘Here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.’ ²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn from following the Lord this day, ^(R)to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle.”

³⁰ Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the ^[j]divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. ³¹ Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the Lord is ^(S)among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.”

³² And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. ³³ So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel ^(T)blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

³⁴ The children of Reuben and the children of ^[k]Gad called the altar, Witness, “For it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

The Voyage to Rome Begins

27 And when ^(A)it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment. ² So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. ^(B)Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us. ³ And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius ^(C)treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care. ⁴ When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. ⁵ And when we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. ⁶ There the centurion found ^(D)an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board.

⁷ When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of ^(E)Crete off Salmone. ⁸ Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

Paul’s Warning Ignored

⁹ Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous ^(F)because ^[a]the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, ¹⁰ saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.” ¹¹ Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. ¹² And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there.

In the Tempest

¹³ When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. ¹⁴ But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called ^[b]Euroclydon. ¹⁵ So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her ^[c]drive. ¹⁶ And running under the shelter of an island called ^[d]Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty. ¹⁷ When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the ^[e]Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and so were driven. ¹⁸ And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. ¹⁹ On the third day ^(G)we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands. ²⁰ Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.

²¹ But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. ²² And now I urge you to take ^[f]heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. ^23 (H)For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and ^(I)whom I serve, ²⁴ saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ ²⁵ Therefore take heart, men, ^(J)for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. ²⁶ However, ^(K)we must run aground on a certain island.”

²⁷ Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land. ²⁸ And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms. ²⁹ Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and ^[g]prayed for day to come. ³⁰ And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, ³¹ Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.

³³ And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. ³⁴ Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, ^(L)since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.” ³⁵ And when he had said these things, he took bread and ^(M)gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. ³⁶ Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves. ³⁷ And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six ^(N)persons on the ship. ³⁸ So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.

Shipwrecked on Malta

³⁹ When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible. ⁴⁰ And they ^[h]let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. ⁴¹ But striking ^[i]a place where two seas met, ^(O)they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.

⁴² And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape. ⁴³ But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, ⁴⁴ and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was ^(P)that they all escaped safely to land.