Beginning

21 ¶ And it came to pass that after we had left them and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from there unto Patara;

² and finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard and set forth.

³ Now when we had sighted Cyprus, we left it on the left hand and sailed into Syria and landed at Tyre, for there the ship was to unload her cargo.

⁴ And finding the disciples, we tarried there seven days, who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

⁵ And when we had accomplished those days, we departed; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, until we were out of the city; and we knelt down on the shore and prayed.

⁶ And when we had taken our leave one of another, we embarked on the ship, and they returned home again.

⁷ And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais and saluted the brethren and abode with them one day.

⁸ ¶ And the next day Paul and those of us that were with him departed and came unto Caesarea; and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and abode with him.

⁹ And he had four daughters, virgins, who prophesied.

¹⁰ And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.

¹¹ And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle and bound his own hands and feet and said, Thus saith the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owns this girdle and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

¹² And when we heard these things, both we and those of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.

¹³ Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

¹⁴ And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, Let the will of the Lord be done.

¹⁵ ¶ And after those days we packed our baggage and went up to Jerusalem.

¹⁶ There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea and brought with them one Mnason of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge.

¹⁷ And when we arrived at Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.

¹⁸ And the day following, Paul went in with us to see James, and all the elders were gathered.

¹⁹ And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.

²⁰ And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous of the law;

²¹ and they are informed of thee that thou teachest all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.

²² What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together, for they will hear that thou art come.

²³ Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men among us who have a vow on them;

²⁴ them take, and purify thyself with them, and pay their expenses, that they may shave their heads, and all may know that those things, of which they were informed concerning thee, are nothing, but that thou thyself dost also walk orderly and keep the law.

²⁵ As touching the Gentiles who believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, except only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols and from blood and from that which has been strangled and from fornication.

²⁶ Then Paul took the men and the next day, purifying himself with them, entered into the temple to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification until an offering should be offered for each one of them.

²⁷ ¶ And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews, who were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people and laid hands on him,

²⁸ crying out, Men of Israel, help; this is the man that teaches everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place and further brought Greeks also into the temple and has polluted this holy place.

²⁹ (For before this they had seen Trophimus, an Ephesian, with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)

³⁰ So that all the city was moved, and the people ran together; and they took Paul and drew him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

³¹ And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the tribunal of the company that all Jerusalem was in an uproar

³² who immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down unto them; and when they saw the tribunal and the soldiers, they left off beating Paul.

³³ Then the tribunal came near and took him and commanded him to be bound with two chains and demanded to know who he was and what he had done.

³⁴ And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude; and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the fortress.

³⁵ And when he came upon the stairs, so it was that he was borne of the soldiers because of the violence of the people.

³⁶ For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.

³⁷ And as Paul was to be led into the fortress, he said unto the tribunal, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?

³⁸ Art not thou that Egyptian, who before these days made an uproar and led four thousand men out into the wilderness that were murderers?

³⁹ But Paul said, I am certainly a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus, a city known in Cilicia; and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.

⁴⁰ And when he had given him license, Paul stood on the stairs and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spoke unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,

22 ¶ Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you.

² (And 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, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel and taught according to the truth of the law of the fathers, zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

⁴ And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

⁵ As also the prince of the priests bears me witness, and all the estate of the elders, from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring those who were bound there unto Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ And it came to pass that, as I made my journey and was come near unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

⁷ And I fell unto the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?

⁸ And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I Am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou dost persecute.

⁹ And those that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of him that spoke to me.

¹⁰ And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

¹¹ And when I could not see for the clarity of that light, being led by the hand of those that were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹² And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good witness of all the Jews who dwelt there,

¹³ came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.

¹⁴ And he said, The God of our fathers has chosen thee that thou should know his will and see that Just One and should hear the voice of his mouth.

¹⁵ For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

¹⁶ And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

¹⁷ And it came to pass that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a rapture of understanding

¹⁸ and saw him saying unto me, Make haste and go quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

¹⁹ And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and in every synagogue beat those that believed on thee;

²⁰ and when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting unto his death and kept the raiment of those that slew him.

²¹ And he said unto me, Depart, for I will send thee far from here unto the Gentiles.

²² ¶ And they gave him audience unto this word and then lifted up their voices and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live.

²³ And as they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air,

²⁴ the tribunal commanded him to be brought into the fortress and bade that he should be examined by scourging that he might know why they cried out so against him.

²⁵ And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned?

²⁶ When the centurion heard that, he went and told the tribunal, saying, Take heed what thou doest, for this man is a Roman.

²⁷ Then the tribunal came and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yes.

²⁸ And the tribunal answered, With a great sum I obtained this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.

²⁹ Then straightway those who should have tormented him departed from him, and the tribunal was also afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman and because he had bound him.

³⁰ On the next day, because he wanted to know of certainty the cause for which he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands and commanded the princes of the priests and all their council to appear and brought Paul down and set him before them.

23 ¶ Then Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.

² And the prince of the priests, Ananias, commanded those that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.

³ Then Paul said unto him, God shall smite thee, thou whitewashed wall, for dost thou sit to judge me after the law and command me to be smitten contrary to the law?

⁴ And those that stood by said, Dost thou revile God’s high priest?

⁵ Then Paul said, I did not know, brethren, that he was the prince of the priests, for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.

⁶ ¶ But 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, and of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question.

⁷ And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the multitude was divided.

⁸ For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.

⁹ And there arose a great cry; and the scribes that were of the Pharisees’ part arose and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.

¹⁰ And when there arose a great dissension, the tribunal, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him by force from among them and to bring him into the fortress.

¹¹ And the night following the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou also bear witness at Rome.

¹² ¶ And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together and they vowed under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

¹³ And they were more than forty who had made this conspiracy.

¹⁴ And they came to the princes of the priests and the elders and said, We have made a vow of anathema that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.

¹⁵ Now therefore ye with the council signify to the tribunal that he bring him down unto you tomorrow, as though ye would enquire something more certain concerning him, and we, before he arrives, are ready to kill him.

¹⁶ And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered into the fortress and told Paul.

¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him and said, Bring this young man unto the tribunal, for he has a certain thing to tell him.

¹⁸ So he took him and brought him to the tribunal and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him and asked me to bring this young man unto thee, who has something to say unto thee.

¹⁹ Then the tribunal took him by the hand and went with him aside privately and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me?

²⁰ And he said, The Jews have agreed to ask thee that thou would bring down Paul tomorrow into the council, as though they would enquire something more certain of him.

²¹ But do not believe them, for more than forty of them lie in wait to ambush him, who have vowed under a curse that they will neither eat nor drink until they have killed him, and now they are ready, looking for a promise from thee.

²² So the tribunal then let the young man depart and charged him, See thou tell no one that thou hast showed these things to me.

²³ And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea and seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, at the third hour of the night

²⁴ and provide them beasts that they may set Paul on and bring him safe unto Felix the governor.

²⁵ And he wrote a letter after this manner:

²⁶ Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sends greeting.

²⁷ This man was taken of the Jews and should have been killed by them; then I came with an army and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman.

²⁸ And when I desired to know the cause of why they accused him, I brought him forth into their council,

²⁹ whom I found to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds.

³⁰ And when it was told me how the Jews lay in wait to ambush the man, I sent straightway to thee and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.

³¹ Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris.

³² On the next day they left the horsemen to go with him and returned to the fortress,

³³ who, when they came to Caesarea and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him.

³⁴ And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia,

³⁵ I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s judgment hall.