Beginning

21 When we had said goodbye to them, we left them. We went straight across the water to the island of Cos. The next day we came to the island of Rhodes. Then we went to the city of Patara.

² There we found a boat going to the country of Phoenicia, so we went there.

³ When we saw the island of Cyprus, we went on the right side of it to Syria. We landed at Tyre because they unloaded the boat there.

⁴ We found some Christians and stayed for seven days. The Holy Spirit spoke through them to Paul, `Do not go on to Jerusalem.'

⁵ When the seven days had passed, we left and went on our way. All of the men, women, and children went with us out of the city. There by the sea we kneeled down and talked to God.

⁶ We said goodbye to each other. Then we got on the boat and they went back to their homes.

⁷ From Tyre we went to Ptolemais. There we greeted the Christian brothers and stayed with them one day.

⁸ The next day we left and came to Caesarea. We went into the house of Philip. He was a man who went out telling the good news. He was one of the seven helpers in the church.

⁹ He had four daughters who spoke words from God. They were not married.

¹⁰ While we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came from Judea.

¹¹ When he came to us, he took Paul's belt. He tied his own hands and feet with it. Then he said, `The Holy Spirit has told me that in the same way the leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem will tie the man who owns this belt. They will give him over to the people who are not Jews.'

¹² When we heard this, both we and the people there talked to Paul and begged him not to go to Jerusalem.

¹³ Then Paul answered, `Why are you crying and making me sad like this? I am ready to be tied and also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.'

¹⁴ So when we saw that he would not change his mind, we stopped begging him. We said, `May the Lord do what he wants to be done.'

¹⁵ After that, we took our things and went to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ Some of the Christians from Caesarea went with us. One of them was Mnason, a man born in Cyprus. He was one of the first Christian believers. We stayed in his house.

¹⁷ When we reached Jerusalem, the Christian brothers were glad to see us.

¹⁸ The next day Paul went with us to see James. All the church leaders were there.

¹⁹ First, Paul greeted them. Then he told them one by one the things God had done as he worked among the people who were not Jews.

²⁰ When they heard it, they praised the Lord. They said to Paul, `Brother, there are many thousands of Jews who believe. They all say we must obey the law of Moses.

²¹ They have heard that you teach all the Jews who live in other lands. They heard that you tell them not to obey Moses' law: that they need not circumcise their children like the Jews do; and they can leave the Jewish ways of living.

²² What should we do about it? Many people will gather together because they will surely hear that you have come.

²³ Now then, do the thing we tell you. We have four men who have made a promise.

²⁴ Take them with you. Make yourself clean with them, the way the law says to do. Pay the cost for having their hair cut. Then all the people will know that all the things they heard about you are not true. They will know that you live the way the law says you should live.

²⁵ We sent a letter to those who are not Jews and have believed. Here is what we told them they must not do. They must not touch things that have been given to idols. They must not taste blood. They must not eat the meat of animals that were killed by choking. And they must not take part in any kind of wrong sexual behaviour between men and women.'

²⁶ Then Paul took the men with him. The next day he made himself clean with them the way the law says to do. Then he went into the temple. He told the priests which day they would finish making themselves clean. On that day a sacrifice would be made for each one of them.

²⁷ The seven days were almost over. The Jewish leaders from Asia Minor saw Paul in the temple. They got all the people there excited. They caught hold of him.

²⁸ They shouted, `All you men of Israel, come and help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere not to respect our people. He says we need not obey the law or respect this temple. And what is more, he has brought Greek people into the temple. He has made this holy place unclean.'

²⁹ They said this because they had seen a man from Ephesus named Trophimus. He was in the city with Paul. And they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰ So all the people in the city were excited. They came running. They caught Paul and took him out of the temple by force. Then the doors were shut behind them.

³¹ They were trying to kill him. The officer in charge of the soldiers heard that all the people of Jerusalem were making trouble.

³² Right away he took some soldiers and officers with him and ran down to the people. When the people saw them they stopped beating Paul.

³³ Then the officer came up and took Paul. He had him tied with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.

³⁴ Some of the crowd shouted one thing and some of them shouted something else. The captain could not find out what was true. The people were shouting too much. So he told his soldiers to take Paul into their army house.

³⁵ When Paul came to the steps, the soldiers carried him because the people were fighting to get him.

³⁶ They were all following, shouting, `Kill him!'

^37-38 ust as the soldiers were going to take Paul into their army house, he said to the officer, `May I tell you something?' `So, you speak the Greek language!' said the officer. `I thought you were the man from the country of Egypt who made trouble a while ago. I thought you were the one who led four thousand bad men into the desert.'

³⁹ Paul said, `I am a Jew. I was born in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia. I belong to a great city. Please let me talk to these people.'

⁴⁰ So the officer let him talk. Paul stood on the steps and put up his hand. Then all the people were very quiet. He talked to them in the Jews' language.

22 Paul said, `Men, brothers, and fathers, listen while I tell you my side of this matter.'

^2-3 hen the people heard him speak in the Jews' language, they were even more quiet. Then Paul said, `I am a Jew. I was born in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia. But I was raised here in this city. Gamaliel was my teacher. He taught me very well in the law of our fathers. I was trying hard to obey God, just as you all are today.

⁴ I troubled very much the people who believed this Way. I even killed them. I had men and women tied and put into prison.

⁵ The high priest and all the leaders know that this is true about me. They wrote letters for me to carry to the leaders of the Jews in the city of Damascus. I went to have the Christians there tied and brought to Jerusalem to be punished.'

⁶ `I was on my way and was near Damascus. It was about midday. All at once a very bright light from the sky shone all around me.

⁷ I fell to the ground and heard someone say to me, "Saul, Saul, why are you troubling me?"

⁸ I said, "Who are you, Lord?" He answered, "I am Jesus of Nazareth. You are troubling me."

⁹ The men who were with me saw the light. They were afraid. But they did not hear the one who spoke to me.

¹⁰ Then I said, "Lord, what shall I do?" And the Lord said to me, "Get up and go to Damascus. There someone will tell you all you must do."

¹¹ I could not see because the light was so bright. My friends led me by the hand to Damascus.

¹² `A man named Ananias was there. He obeyed the law of Moses, and all the Jews who lived there spoke well of him.

¹³ He came to see me. He stood by my side and said to me, "Brother Saul, you can see again!" And right then I was able to see him.

¹⁴ He said, "The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will. He chose you to see the One who is right and to hear him speak.

¹⁵ You will speak for him. You will tell all the people what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶ Now, why do you wait? Get up and be baptised. Wash away your wrong ways by calling on the name of the Lord!" '

¹⁷ `After I went back to Jerusalem, I was talking to God in the temple one day. Something like a dream came over me.

¹⁸ I heard the Lord say to me, "Leave Jerusalem quickly, right away. The people will not listen to the things you say about me."

¹⁹ And I said, "Lord, they know that I put in prison those who believed in you. I beat them in all the meeting houses.

²⁰ And I stood by and let people kill Stephen. He was one who talked for you. I looked after the clothes of the men who killed him."

²¹ But the Lord said to me, "Go! I will send you far away to the people who are not Jews." '

²² The people listened to Paul until he said that. Then they shouted, `Kill him and get him off the earth. A man like that should not live!'

²³ The people shouted. They waved their clothes about and threw dust in the air.

²⁴ The man in charge of the soldiers ordered Paul to be brought into the army house. He said that he should be beaten hard to make him tell why the people shouted so much at him.

²⁵ When they had tied him with ropes, Paul said to the captain who was standing by, `Is it right for you to beat a man who belongs to Rome without judging his case?'

²⁶ When the captain heard this, he told the commanding officer. He said, `What are you going to do? This man is a Roman!'

²⁷ Then the commanding officer came to Paul and said, `Tell me, are you a Roman?' `Yes, I am,' replied Paul.

²⁸ Then the officer said, `I paid much money to become a Roman.' Paul said, `I was born a Roman.'

²⁹ Then the men who were going to beat him left him. The officer was afraid when he knew Paul was a Roman, because he had tied him up.

³⁰ The officer wanted to know the real reason why the Jewish leaders were angry with Paul. So the next day he had Paul untied. He called the chief priests and the leaders to hold a court meeting. Then he took Paul down and brought him in before them.

23 Paul looked at the members of the court and said, `My brothers, I have done what I thought God wanted me to do, right up to this day.'

² Ananias, the high priest, said to those who were standing near Paul, `Hit his mouth!'

³ Paul said, `God will hit you down, you dirty wall painted white! You sit there to judge me by the law and you break the law by telling them to hit me.'

⁴ The people who stood near Paul said, `Do you say a wrong thing like that to God's high priest?'

⁵ Paul said, `I did not know that he is a high priest. The holy writings say, "You shall not say anything wrong about a ruler of your people." '

⁶ Paul knew that some of the men were from the Sadducee group and some of them were from the Pharisee group. So he called out in the court, `My brothers, I am a Pharisee. My fathers were Pharisees. I am being judged because I believe that the dead will be raised to life again.'

⁷ When he had said that, the Pharisees and the Sadducees began to talk back and forth. The men in the court were divided.

⁸ The Sadducees say the dead will not be raised again. They say there is no angel or spirit. But the Pharisees believe in all these three things.

⁹ There was much shouting. Some of the clever men who were Pharisees got up. They said, `We do not think this man has done wrong. Perhaps some angel or spirit really did speak to him.'

¹⁰ The people started fighting. The commanding officer was afraid they would tear Paul into pieces. So he told the soldiers to take Paul and bring him into the army house.

¹¹ The next night the Lord stood beside Paul. He said, `Be glad, Paul. You have told people about me in Jerusalem. You must also talk about me in Rome.'

¹² In the morning, some of the Jewish leaders planned together. They made a promise that they would not eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³ There were more than forty Jews who made this secret plan together.

¹⁴ They came to the chief priests and leaders and said, `We have made a promise for ourselves. We will not eat anything until we have killed Paul.

¹⁵ So now, you and the members of the court send word to the commanding officer. Tell him to bring Paul down to you. Make him think you want to find out more about Paul. We will be ready to kill him before he gets there.'

¹⁶ The son of Paul's sister heard about their secret plan. So he went into the army house and told Paul.

¹⁷ Paul called one of the officers and said to him, `Take this young man to the commanding officer. He has something to tell him!'

¹⁸ So the officer took him to the commanding officer. He said, `Paul, the prisoner, called me. He asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.'

¹⁹ The officer took the young man by the arm. He went to one side so they could be alone. He asked, `What do you want to tell me?'

²⁰ The young man said, `The leaders of the Jews have made a plan. They will ask you to bring Paul down to court tomorrow. They will say that they wish to find out more about him.

²¹ But you must not do this. More than forty Jews are waiting for him. They have made a promise to themselves. They will not eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now and waiting for your agreement.'

²² So the commanding officer sent the young man away. He said, `You must not tell anyone that you have told me about these things.'

²³ The commanding officer called two officers to him. He said, `Get two hundred soldiers ready by nine o'clock tonight to go to Caesarea. Send seventy men with them who will ride on horses and two hundred men who will carry spears.

²⁴ Also have horses ready for Paul to ride. Take him safely to Felix, the ruler.'

²⁵ The officer wrote a letter to Felix like this:

²⁶ `Claudius Lysias sends greetings to you, great ruler Felix.

²⁷ This man was caught by the Jews. They were ready to kill him. But I came with my soldiers and took him away, because I found out that he is a Roman.

²⁸ I wanted to find out what complaint they had against him, so I brought him into their court.

²⁹ I found out that their complaints were to do with their law. But he had not done anything wrong enough to die or to be put into prison.

³⁰ When I heard that the Jewish leaders were planning to catch him, I sent him to you at once. I told those who are making complaints against him that they must bring the matter to you.'

³¹ So the soldiers took Paul as they had been told to do. They went with him that night as far as the town of Antipatris.

³² The next day the soldiers went back to the barracks. Only the men who were riding horses went with Paul.

³³ When they reached Caesarea, they gave the letter to the ruler and brought Paul to him.

^34-35 e read the letter. Then he asked Paul what country he came from. He heard that Paul was from Cilicia. Then he said, `I will hear all you have to say when the men who have made the complaint come here.' He ordered Paul to be kept in the house which is called Herod's palace.