Beginning

Paul’s journey by ship. Of Philip the evangelist, and of Agabus the prophet, who warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem. He remains steadfast in his purpose, and is taken in the temple.

21 And once we had launched forth and drawn away from them, we went with a straight course to Cos, and the day following to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. ² And we found a ship ready to sail to Phoenicia, and went aboard and set sail. ³ Then we came in sight of Cyprus, and we passed it on the left hand and sailed to Syria. We put in at Tyre, because the ship was to unload her cargo there.  ⁴ And when we found brethren, we stayed there seven days. And they told Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

⁵ And when the days were ended, we departed and went our ways; and they all brought us on our way, with their wives and children, till we got to the outskirts of the city. And we kneeled down on the shore and prayed. And when we had taken our leave of one another, ⁶ we boarded ship, and they returned home again.

⁷ When we had completed the voyage from Tyre, we went on to Ptolemais and greeted the brethren, and stayed with them one day. ⁸ The next day, we who were of Paul’s company departed and went to Caesarea. And we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven deacons, and stayed with him. ⁹ This man had four daughters, virgins who prophesied.

¹⁰ And while we tarried there a good many days, there came a certain prophet from Judea named Agabus. ¹¹ When he had come to us, he took Paul’s girdle and bound his hands and feet, and said, Thus says the Holy Spirit: in this manner the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man that owns this girdle, and will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

¹² When we heard this, both we and others of the same place besought Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered and said, What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁴ When we could not turn his mind, we gave up, saying, May the will of the Lord be fulfilled.

¹⁵ After those days we made ourselves ready and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and they brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we would lodge. ¹⁷ And when we got to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. ¹⁸ And on the morrow, Paul went in with us to James. And all the elders came together. ¹⁹ And when he had greeted them, he told in order all the things that God had wrought among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰ And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord and said to him, You see, brother, how many thousand Jews there are who believe, and they are all zealous over the law. ²¹ And they are informed of you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, and say that they ought not to circumcise their children, nor live according to the customs. ²² What then? This group is bound to get together, because they will hear that you have come. ²³ Do therefore what we say to you: We have four men who are under a vow. ²⁴ Take them, and purify yourself with them, and bear their expenses so that they can shave their heads, and everyone will know that those things that they have heard concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk keeping the law. ²⁵ For concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and concluded that they need observe no such things, but should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication.

²⁶ Then the next day Paul took the men and purified himself with them, and entered into the temple, declaring that he was observing the days of purification until an offering should be offered for every one of them.

²⁷ And as the seven days were almost ended, the Jews of Asia, when they saw Paul in the temple, moved all the people, and laid hands on him, ²⁸ crying, Men of Israel, help! This is the man that teaches everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place. Moreover, he has also brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled this holy place. ²⁹ (For they had seen one Trophimus, an Ephesian, with him in the city, and they supposed Paul had brought him into the temple.)

³⁰ And all the city was moved, and the people swarmed together. And they took Paul and drew him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut to.

³¹ As they went about to kill him, a report came to the high captain of the soldiers that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² He immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the high captain and the soldiers, the people stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the captain came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and demanded who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ And one shouted this and another that among the people. And when he could not ascertain the facts due to the tumult, the captain commanded Paul to be taken into the castle. ³⁵ And when Paul came to a flight of stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the people. ³⁶ For the crowd of people followed after, crying, Away with him!

³⁷ And as Paul began to be led into the castle, he said to the high captain, May I speak to you? He said, Can you speak Greek? ³⁸ Are you not that Egyptian who before these days caused a riot, and led out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?

³⁹ But Paul said, I am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city. I beseech you, allow me to speak to the people.

⁴⁰ When he had given him leave, Paul stood on the steps and beckoned with his hand to the people, and there was a great silence. And he spoke to them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,

Paul answers to the Jews, is scourged, and is put in prison again.

22 Men, brethren and fathers, hear my answer, which I make to you.

² When they heard that he spoke in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence.

And he said, ³ I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and thoroughly taught in the law of the fathers. And I was fervent-minded toward God, as you all are this same day. ⁴ And I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prison both men and women, ⁵ as the chief priest bears me witness, and all the elders – from whom also I received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring those who were there as prisoners to Jerusalem, to be punished.

⁶ But it came to pass, as I made my journey and had come near to Damascus about noon, that suddenly a great light from heaven shone round about me. ⁷ And I fell to the earth and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? ⁸ And I answered, Who are you, Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute.

⁹ And those who were with me saw a light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of him who spoke with me. ¹⁰ And I said, What shall I do Lord? And the Lord said to me, Arise and go into Damascus, and there it will be told you all the things that are appointed for you to do.

¹¹ And when I could not see anything due to the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus. ¹² And one Ananias, a godly man, and as pertaining to the law having a good report among all the Jews who dwelt there, ¹³ came to me. And he stood and said to me, Brother Saul, look up! And that same hour I received my sight, and could see him. ¹⁴ And he said, The God of our fathers has fore-ordained you to know his will, and to see that which is rightful, and to hear the voice of his mouth. ¹⁵ For you shall be his witness to all people of those things that you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now, why tarry? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, in calling on the name of the Lord.

¹⁷ And it happened, when I returned again to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance, ¹⁸ and saw him saying to me, Make haste, and get quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive the witness that you bear of me.

¹⁹ And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed on you. ²⁰ And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I also stood by and consented to his death, and minded the garments of those who slew him. ²¹ Then he said to me, Depart, for I will send you far from here, to the Gentiles.

²² The people listened to him until these words, and then lifted up their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth! It is a pity that he should live! ²³ And as they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air, ²⁴ the high captain ordered him to be brought into the castle, and commanded him to be scourged and examined in order to find out why the people cried out so against him. ²⁵ And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and without a trial? ²⁶ When the centurion heard that, he went and told the high captain, saying, What do you intend to do? This man is a Roman.

²⁷ Then the high captain came and said to him, Tell me, are you a Roman? He said, Yes. ²⁸ And the captain answered, With a great sum I obtained this freedom. And Paul said, I was free born.

²⁹ Then the soldiers who were to have examined him straightaway drew back from him. And the high captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, because he had bound him.

³⁰ On the day following, because he wanted to know exactly what Paul was accused of by the Jews, the captain released him from his bonds, and commanded the high priests and all the council to come together, and brought Paul and set him before them.

Paul comes before the council. Debate arises among the people. The high captain delivers him. God comforts him.

23 Paul beheld the council and said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. ² Then the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by to strike him on the mouth.

³ Then Paul said to him, God smite you, you painted wall! Do you sit and judge me according to the law, and command me to be struck contrary to the law?

⁴ And those who stood by said, Do you revile God’s high priest?

⁵ Then Paul said, I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest. For it is written: You shall not curse the ruler of your people.

⁶ When Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. It is concerning the hope and resurrection from death that I am on trial.

⁷ And when he had said this, there arose a quarrel between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and also no angels or spirits. But the Pharisees grant both. ⁹ And there arose a great cry, and the scribes who were of the Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, We find no evil in this man. And if a spirit or an angel has appeared to him, let us not strive against God.

¹⁰ And when great controversy arose, the captain, fearing lest Paul should be pulled apart by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him from among them, and to bring him into the castle. ¹¹ The night following, the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul. For as you have testified of me in Jerusalem, so must you bear witness at Rome.

¹² When day came, certain of the Jews gathered themselves together and made a vow, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. ¹³ There were about forty who conspired this together. ¹⁴ And they went to the chief priests and elders and said, We have bound ourselves with a vow that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. ¹⁵ Now therefore, petition the high captain and the council to bring him forth to us tomorrow, as though we want to better understand something concerning him. But we, before he comes near, are ready meanwhile to kill him.

¹⁶ When the son of Paul’s sister heard of their plan to lie in wait, he went and entered into the castle and told Paul. ¹⁷ And Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, Bring this young man to the high captain, because he has a certain thing to tell him. ¹⁸ And he brought him and said, Paul the prisoner called me to him, and asked me to bring this young man to you, who has a certain matter to tell you of.

¹⁹ The high captain took him by the hand and went apart with him privately, and asked him, What have you to say to me? ²⁰ And he said, The Jews have resolved to ask you to bring forth Paul tomorrow into the council, as though they want to make further enquiries of him. ²¹ But do not go along with them, because there will be more than forty men lying in wait for him, who have bound themselves with a vow that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready and waiting for your word.

²² The high captain let the young man depart, and instructed him, See you tell no one that you have told these things to me. ²³ And he called to him two centurions, saying, Make ready 200 soldiers to go to Caesarea, and 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen, at the third hour of the night. ²⁴ And provide horses to put Paul on, and bring him safe to Felix, the governor. ²⁵ And he wrote a letter in this manner:

²⁶ Claudius Lysias to the most noble Governor Felix, sends greetings. ²⁷ This man was taken by the Jews, and was near to being killed by them. Then I came with soldiers and rescued him, and learned that he was a Roman. ²⁸ And when I wished to know the offence for which they accused him, I brought him forth into their council. ²⁹ There I could see that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but was not guilty of anything worthy of death or of bonds. ³⁰ Afterward, when it was reported to me that the Jews were lying in wait for the man, I sent him straightaway to you, and directed his accusers, if they had anything against him, to tell it to you. Farewell.

³¹ Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³² The next day they left horsemen to go with him and returned to the castle.

³³ When the horsemen got to Caesarea, they delivered the epistle to the governor and presented Paul before him. ³⁴ When the governor had read the letter, he asked what province he was from. And when he understood that he was from Cilicia, he said, ³⁵ I will hear you when your accusers have come also.

And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s palace.