kjv Acts:13-46. SEEK
Seeker Overlay ON
*
Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers ;
as Barnabas ,
and Simeon that was called Niger ,
and Lucius of Cyrene ,
and Manaen ,
which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch ,
and Saul .
*
As they ministered to the Lord ,
and fasted ,
the Holy Ghost said ,
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them .
*
And when they had fasted and prayed ,
and laid their hands on them ,
they sent them away .
*
So they ,
being sent forth by the Holy Ghost ,
departed unto Seleucia ;
and from thence they sailed to Cyprus .
*
And when they were at Salamis ,
they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews :
and they had also John to their minister .
*
And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos ,
they found a certain sorcerer ,
a false prophet ,
a Jew ,
whose name was Barjesus :
*
Which was with the deputy of the country ,
Sergius Paulus ,
a prudent man ;
who called for Barnabas and Saul ,
and desired to hear the word of God .
*
But Elymas the sorcerer (
for so is his name by interpretation )
withstood them ,
seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith .
*
Then Saul , (
who also is called Paul ,)
filled with the Holy Ghost ,
set his eyes on him ,
*
And said ,
O full of all subtilty and all mischief ,
thou child of the devil ,
thou enemy of all righteousness ,
wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord ?
*
And now ,
behold ,
the hand of the Lord is upon thee ,
and thou shalt be blind ,
not seeing the sun for a season .
And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness ;
and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand .
*
Then the deputy ,
when he saw what was done ,
believed ,
being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord .
*
Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos ,
they came to Perga in Pamphylia :
and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem .
*
But when they departed from Perga ,
they came to Antioch in Pisidia ,
and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day ,
and sat down .
*
And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them ,
saying ,
Ye men and brethren ,
if ye have any word of exhortation for the people ,
say on .
*
Then Paul stood up ,
and beckoning with his hand said ,
Men of Israel ,
and ye that fear God ,
give audience .
*
The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers ,
and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt ,
and with an high arm brought he them out of it .
*
And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness .
*
And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan ,
he divided their land to them by lot .
*
And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years ,
until Samuel the prophet .
*
And afterward they desired a king :
and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis ,
a man of the tribe of Benjamin ,
by the space of forty years .
*
And when he had removed him ,
he raised up unto them David to be their king ;
to whom also he gave testimony ,
and said ,
I have found David the son of Jesse ,
a man after mine own heart ,
which shall fulfil all my will .
*
Of this man '
s seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour ,
Jesus :
*
When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel .
*
And as John fulfilled his course ,
he said ,
Whom think ye that I am ?
I am not he .
But ,
behold ,
there cometh one after me ,
whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose .
*
Men and brethren ,
children of the stock of Abraham ,
and whosoever among you feareth God ,
to you is the word of this salvation sent .
*
For they that dwell at Jerusalem ,
and their rulers ,
because they knew him not ,
nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day ,
they have fulfilled them in condemning him .
*
And though they found no cause of death in him ,
yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain .
*
And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him ,
they took him down from the tree ,
and laid him in a sepulchre .
*
But God raised him from the dead :
*
And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem ,
who are his witnesses unto the people .
*
And we declare unto you glad tidings ,
how that the promise which was made unto the fathers ,
*
God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children ,
in that he hath raised up Jesus again ;
as it is also written in the second psalm ,
Thou art my Son ,
this day have I begotten thee .
*
And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead ,
now no more to return to corruption ,
he said on this wise ,
I will give you the sure mercies of David .
*
Wherefore he saith also in another psalm ,
Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption .
*
For David ,
after he had served his own generation by the will of God ,
fell on sleep ,
and was laid unto his fathers ,
and saw corruption :
*
But he ,
whom God raised again ,
saw no corruption .
*
Be it known unto you therefore ,
men and brethren ,
that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins :
*
And by him all that believe are justified from all things ,
from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses .
*
Beware therefore ,
lest that come upon you ,
which is spoken of in the prophets ;
*
Behold ,
ye despisers ,
and wonder ,
and perish :
for I work a work in your days ,
a work which ye shall in no wise believe ,
though a man declare it unto you .
*
And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue ,
the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath .
*
Now when the congregation was broken up ,
many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas :
who ,
speaking to them ,
persuaded them to continue in the grace of God .
*
And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God .
*
But when the Jews saw the multitudes ,
they were filled with envy ,
and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul ,
contradicting and blaspheming .
*
Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold ,
and said ,
It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you :
but seeing ye put it from you ,
and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life ,
lo ,
we turn to the Gentiles .
*
For so hath the Lord commanded us ,
saying ,
I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles ,
that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth .
*
And when the Gentiles heard this ,
they were glad ,
and glorified the word of the Lord :
and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed .
*
And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region .
*
But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women ,
and the chief men of the city ,
and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas ,
and expelled them out of their coasts .
*
But they shook off the dust of their feet against them ,
and came unto Iconium .
*
And the disciples were filled with joy ,
and with the Holy Ghost .
*
And it came to pass in Iconium ,
that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews ,
and so spake ,
that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed .
*
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles ,
and made their minds evil affected against the brethren .
*
Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord ,
which gave testimony unto the word of his grace ,
and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands .
*
But the multitude of the city was divided :
and part held with the Jews ,
and part with the apostles .
*
And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles ,
and also of the Jews with their rulers ,
to use them despitefully ,
and to stone them ,
*
They were ware of it ,
and fled unto Lystra and Derbe ,
cities of Lycaonia ,
and unto the region that lieth round about :
*
And there they preached the gospel .
*
And there sat a certain man at Lystra ,
impotent in his feet ,
being a cripple from his mother '
s womb ,
who never had walked :
*
The same heard Paul speak :
who stedfastly beholding him ,
and perceiving that he had faith to be healed ,
*
Said with a loud voice ,
Stand upright on thy feet .
And he leaped and walked .
*
And when the people saw what Paul had done ,
they lifted up their voices ,
saying in the speech of Lycaonia ,
The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men .
*
And they called Barnabas ,
Jupiter ;
and Paul ,
Mercurius ,
because he was the chief speaker .
*
Then the priest of Jupiter ,
which was before their city ,
brought oxen and garlands unto the gates ,
and would have done sacrifice with the people .
*
Which when the apostles ,
Barnabas and Paul ,
heard of ,
they rent their clothes ,
and ran in among the people ,
crying out ,
*
And saying ,
Sirs ,
why do ye these things ?
We also are men of like passions with you ,
and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God ,
which made heaven ,
and earth ,
and the sea ,
and all things that are therein :
*
Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways .
*
Nevertheless he left not himself without witness ,
in that he did good ,
and gave us rain from heaven ,
and fruitful seasons ,
filling our hearts with food and gladness .
*
And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people ,
that they had not done sacrifice unto them .
*
And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium ,
who persuaded the people ,
and ,
having stoned Paul ,
drew him out of the city ,
supposing he had been dead .
*
Howbeit ,
as the disciples stood round about him ,
he rose up ,
and came into the city :
and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe .
*
And when they had preached the gospel to that city ,
and had taught many ,
they returned again to Lystra ,
and to Iconium ,
and Antioch ,
*
Confirming the souls of the disciples ,
and exhorting them to continue in the faith ,
and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God .
*
And when they had ordained them elders in every church ,
and had prayed with fasting ,
they commended them to the Lord ,
on whom they believed .
*
And after they had passed throughout Pisidia ,
they came to Pamphylia .
*
And when they had preached the word in Perga ,
they went down into Attalia :
*
And thence sailed to Antioch ,
from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled .
*
And when they were come ,
and had gathered the church together ,
they rehearsed all that God had done with them ,
and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles .
*
And there they abode long time with the disciples .
*
And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren ,
and said ,
Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses ,
ye cannot be saved .
*
When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them ,
they determined that Paul and Barnabas ,
and certain other of them ,
should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question .
*
And being brought on their way by the church ,
they passed through Phenice and Samaria ,
declaring the conversion of the Gentiles :
and they caused great joy unto all the brethren .
*
And when they were come to Jerusalem ,
they were received of the church ,
and of the apostles and elders ,
and they declared all things that God had done with them .
*
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed ,
saying ,
That it was needful to circumcise them ,
and to command them to keep the law of Moses .
*
And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter .
*
And when there had been much disputing ,
Peter rose up ,
and said unto them ,
Men and brethren ,
ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us ,
that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel ,
and believe .
*
And God ,
which knoweth the hearts ,
bare them witness ,
giving them the Holy Ghost ,
even as he did unto us ;
*
And put no difference between us and them ,
purifying their hearts by faith .
*
Now therefore why tempt ye God ,
to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples ,
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear ?
*
But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved ,
even as they .
*
Then all the multitude kept silence ,
and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul ,
declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them .
*
And after they had held their peace ,
James answered ,
saying ,
Men and brethren ,
hearken unto me :
*
Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles ,
to take out of them a people for his name .
*
And to this agree the words of the prophets ;
as it is written ,
*
After this I will return ,
and will build again the tabernacle of David ,
which is fallen down ;
and I will build again the ruins thereof ,
and I will set it up :
*
That the residue of men might seek after the Lord ,
and all the Gentiles ,
upon whom my name is called ,
saith the Lord ,
who doeth all these things .
*
Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world .
*
Wherefore my sentence is ,
that we trouble not them ,
which from among the Gentiles are turned to God :
*
But that we write unto them ,
that they abstain from pollutions of idols ,
and from fornication ,
and from things strangled ,
and from blood .
*
For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him ,
being read in the synagogues every sabbath day .
*
Then pleased it the apostles and elders ,
with the whole church ,
to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas ;
namely ,
Judas surnamed Barsabas ,
and Silas ,
chief men among the brethren :
*
And they wrote letters by them after this manner ;
The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia :
*
Forasmuch as we have heard ,
that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words ,
subverting your souls ,
saying ,
Ye must be circumcised ,
and keep the law :
to whom we gave no such commandment :
*
It seemed good unto us ,
being assembled with one accord ,
to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul ,
*
Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ .
*
We have sent therefore Judas and Silas ,
who shall also tell you the same things by mouth .
*
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost ,
and to us ,
to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things ;
*
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols ,
and from blood ,
and from things strangled ,
and from fornication :
from which if ye keep yourselves ,
ye shall do well .
Fare ye well .
*
So when they were dismissed ,
they came to Antioch :
and when they had gathered the multitude together ,
they delivered the epistle :
*
Which when they had read ,
they rejoiced for the consolation .
*
And Judas and Silas ,
being prophets also themselves ,
exhorted the brethren with many words ,
and confirmed them .
*
And after they had tarried there a space ,
they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles .
*
Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still .
*
Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch ,
teaching and preaching the word of the Lord ,
with many others also .
*
And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas ,
Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord ,
and see how they do .
*
And Barnabas determined to take with them John ,
whose surname was Mark .
*
But Paul thought not good to take him with them ,
who departed from them from Pamphylia ,
and went not with them to the work .
*
And the contention was so sharp between them ,
that they departed asunder one from the other :
and so Barnabas took Mark ,
and sailed unto Cyprus ;
*
And Paul chose Silas ,
and departed ,
being recommended by the brethren unto the grace of God .
*
And he went through Syria and Cilicia ,
confirming the churches .
*
Then came he to Derbe and Lystra :
and ,
behold ,
a certain disciple was there ,
named Timotheus ,
the son of a certain woman ,
which was a Jewess ,
and believed ;
but his father was a Greek :
*
Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium .
*
Him would Paul have to go forth with him ;
and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters :
for they knew all that his father was a Greek .
*
And as they went through the cities ,
they delivered them the decrees for to keep ,
that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem .
*
And so were the churches established in the faith ,
and increased in number daily .
*
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia ,
and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia ,
*
After they were come to Mysia ,
they assayed to go into Bithynia :
but the Spirit suffered them not .
*
And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas .
*
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night ;
There stood a man of Macedonia ,
and prayed him ,
saying ,
Come over into Macedonia ,
and help us .
*
And after he had seen the vision ,
immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia ,
assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them .
*
Therefore loosing from Troas ,
we came with a straight course to Samothracia ,
and the next day to Neapolis ;
*
And from thence to Philippi ,
which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia ,
and a colony :
and we were in that city abiding certain days .
*
And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side ,
where prayer was wont to be made ;
and we sat down ,
and spake unto the women which resorted thither .
*
And a certain woman named Lydia ,
a seller of purple ,
of the city of Thyatira ,
which worshipped God ,
heard us :
whose heart the Lord opened ,
that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul .
*
And when she was baptized ,
and her household ,
she besought us ,
saying ,
If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord ,
come into my house ,
and abide there .
And she constrained us .
*
And it came to pass ,
as we went to prayer ,
a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us ,
which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying :
*
The same followed Paul and us ,
and cried ,
saying ,
These men are the servants of the most high God ,
which shew unto us the way of salvation .
*
And this did she many days .
But Paul ,
being grieved ,
turned and said to the spirit ,
I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her .
And he came out the same hour .
*
And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone ,
they caught Paul and Silas ,
and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers ,
*
And brought them to the magistrates ,
saying ,
These men ,
being Jews ,
do exceedingly trouble our city ,
*
And teach customs ,
which are not lawful for us to receive ,
neither to observe ,
being Romans .
*
And the multitude rose up together against them :
and the magistrates rent off their clothes ,
and commanded to beat them .
*
And when they had laid many stripes upon them ,
they cast them into prison ,
charging the jailor to keep them safely :
*
Who ,
having received such a charge ,
thrust them into the inner prison ,
and made their feet fast in the stocks .
*
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed ,
and sang praises unto God :
and the prisoners heard them .
*
And suddenly there was a great earthquake ,
so that the foundations of the prison were shaken :
and immediately all the doors were opened ,
and every one '
s bands were loosed .
*
And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep ,
and seeing the prison doors open ,
he drew out his sword ,
and would have killed himself ,
supposing that the prisoners had been fled .
*
But Paul cried with a loud voice ,
saying ,
Do thyself no harm :
for we are all here .
*
Then he called for a light ,
and sprang in ,
and came trembling ,
and fell down before Paul and Silas ,
*
And brought them out ,
and said ,
Sirs ,
what must I do to be saved ?
*
And they said ,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ,
and thou shalt be saved ,
and thy house .
*
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord ,
and to all that were in his house .
*
And he took them the same hour of the night ,
and washed their stripes ;
and was baptized ,
he and all his ,
straightway .
*
And when he had brought them into his house ,
he set meat before them ,
and rejoiced ,
believing in God with all his house .
*
And when it was day ,
the magistrates sent the serjeants ,
saying ,
Let those men go .
*
And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul ,
The magistrates have sent to let you go :
now therefore depart ,
and go in peace .
*
But Paul said unto them ,
They have beaten us openly uncondemned ,
being Romans ,
and have cast us into prison ;
and now do they thrust us out privily ?
nay verily ;
but let them come themselves and fetch us out .
*
And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates :
and they feared ,
when they heard that they were Romans .
*
And they came and besought them ,
and brought them out ,
and desired them to depart out of the city .
*
And they went out of the prison ,
and entered into the house of Lydia :
and when they had seen the brethren ,
they comforted them ,
and departed .
*
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia ,
they came to Thessalonica ,
where was a synagogue of the Jews :
*
And Paul ,
as his manner was ,
went in unto them ,
and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures ,
*
Opening and alleging ,
that Christ must needs have suffered ,
and risen again from the dead ;
and that this Jesus ,
whom I preach unto you ,
is Christ .
*
And some of them believed ,
and consorted with Paul and Silas ;
and of the devout Greeks a great multitude ,
and of the chief women not a few .
*
But the Jews which believed not ,
moved with envy ,
took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort ,
and gathered a company ,
and set all the city on an uproar ,
and assaulted the house of Jason ,
and sought to bring them out to the people .
*
And when they found them not ,
they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city ,
crying ,
These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also ;
*
Whom Jason hath received :
and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar ,
saying that there is another king ,
one Jesus .
*
And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city ,
when they heard these things .
*
And when they had taken security of Jason ,
and of the other ,
they let them go .
*
And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea :
who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews .
*
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica ,
in that they received the word with all readiness of mind ,
and searched the scriptures daily ,
whether those things were so .
*
Therefore many of them believed ;
also of honourable women which were Greeks ,
and of men ,
not a few .
*
But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea ,
they came thither also ,
and stirred up the people .
*
And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea :
but Silas and Timotheus abode there still .
*
And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens :
and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed ,
they departed .
*
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens ,
his spirit was stirred in him ,
when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry .
*
Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews ,
and with the devout persons ,
and in the market daily with them that met with him .
*
Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans ,
and of the Stoicks ,
encountered him .
And some said ,
What will this babbler say ?
other some ,
He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods :
because he preached unto them Jesus ,
and the resurrection .
*
And they took him ,
and brought him unto Areopagus ,
saying ,
May we know what this new doctrine ,
whereof thou speakest ,
is ?
*
For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears :
we would know therefore what these things mean .
* (
For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else ,
but either to tell ,
or to hear some new thing .)
*
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars '
hill ,
and said ,
Ye men of Athens ,
I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious .
*
For as I passed by ,
and beheld your devotions ,
I found an altar with this inscription ,
TO THE UNKNOWN GOD .
Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship ,
him declare I unto you .
*
God that made the world and all things therein ,
seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth ,
dwelleth not in temples made with hands ;
*
Neither is worshipped with men '
s hands ,
as though he needed any thing ,
seeing he giveth to all life ,
and breath ,
and all things ;
*
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth ,
and hath determined the times before appointed ,
and the bounds of their habitation ;
*
That they should seek the Lord ,
if haply they might feel after him ,
and find him ,
though he be not far from every one of us :
*
For in him we live ,
and move ,
and have our being ;
as certain also of your own poets have said ,
For we are also his offspring .
*
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God ,
we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold ,
or silver ,
or stone ,
graven by art and man '
s device .
*
And the times of this ignorance God winked at ;
but now commandeth all men every where to repent :
*
Because he hath appointed a day ,
in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ;
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men ,
in that he hath raised him from the dead .
*
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead ,
some mocked :
and others said ,
We will hear thee again of this matter .
*
So Paul departed from among them .
*
Howbeit certain men clave unto him ,
and believed :
among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite ,
and a woman named Damaris ,
and others with them .
*
After these things Paul departed from Athens ,
and came to Corinth ;
*
And found a certain Jew named Aquila ,
born in Pontus ,
lately come from Italy ,
with his wife Priscilla ; (
because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome :)
and came unto them .
*
And because he was of the same craft ,
he abode with them ,
and wrought :
for by their occupation they were tentmakers .
*
And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath ,
and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks .
*
And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia ,
Paul was pressed in the spirit ,
and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ .
*
And when they opposed themselves ,
and blasphemed ,
he shook his raiment ,
and said unto them ,
Your blood be upon your own heads ;
I am clean :
from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles .
*
And he departed thence ,
and entered into a certain man '
s house ,
named Justus ,
one that worshipped God ,
whose house joined hard to the synagogue .
*
And Crispus ,
the chief ruler of the synagogue ,
believed on the Lord with all his house ;
and many of the Corinthians hearing believed ,
and were baptized .
*
Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision ,
Be not afraid ,
but speak ,
and hold not thy peace :
*
For I am with thee ,
and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee :
for I have much people in this city .
*
And he continued there a year and six months ,
teaching the word of God among them .
*
And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia ,
the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul ,
and brought him to the judgment seat ,
*
Saying ,
This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law .
*
And when Paul was now about to open his mouth ,
Gallio said unto the Jews ,
If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness ,
O ye Jews ,
reason would that I should bear with you :
*
But if it be a question of words and names ,
and of your law ,
look ye to it ;
for I will be no judge of such matters .
*
And he drave them from the judgment seat .
*
Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes ,
the chief ruler of the synagogue ,
and beat him before the judgment seat .
And Gallio cared for none of those things .
*
And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while ,
and then took his leave of the brethren ,
and sailed thence into Syria ,
and with him Priscilla and Aquila ;
having shorn his head in Cenchrea :
for he had a vow .
*
And he came to Ephesus ,
and left them there :
but he himself entered into the synagogue ,
and reasoned with the Jews .
*
When they desired him to tarry longer time with them ,
he consented not ;
*
But bade them farewell ,
saying ,
I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem :
but I will return again unto you ,
if God will .
And he sailed from Ephesus .
*
And when he had landed at Caesarea ,
and gone up ,
and saluted the church ,
he went down to Antioch .
*
And after he had spent some time there ,
he departed ,
and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order ,
strengthening all the disciples .
*
And a certain Jew named Apollos ,
born at Alexandria ,
an eloquent man ,
and mighty in the scriptures ,
came to Ephesus .
*
This man was instructed in the way of the Lord ;
and being fervent in the spirit ,
he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord ,
knowing only the baptism of John .
*
And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue :
whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard ,
they took him unto them ,
and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly .
*
And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia ,
the brethren wrote ,
exhorting the disciples to receive him :
who ,
when he was come ,
helped them much which had believed through grace :
*
For he mightily convinced the Jews ,
and that publickly ,
shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ .
*
And it came to pass ,
that ,
while Apollos was at Corinth ,
Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus :
and finding certain disciples ,
*
He said unto them ,
Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed ?
And they said unto him ,
We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost .
*
And he said unto them ,
Unto what then were ye baptized ?
And they said ,
Unto John '
s baptism .
*
Then said Paul ,
John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance ,
saying unto the people ,
that they should believe on him which should come after him ,
that is ,
on Christ Jesus .
*
When they heard this ,
they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus .
*
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them ,
the Holy Ghost came on them ;
and they spake with tongues ,
and prophesied .
*
And all the men were about twelve .
*
And he went into the synagogue ,
and spake boldly for the space of three months ,
disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God .
*
But when divers were hardened ,
and believed not ,
but spake evil of that way before the multitude ,
he departed from them ,
and separated the disciples ,
disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus .
*
And this continued by the space of two years ;
so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus ,
both Jews and Greeks .
*
And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul :
*
So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons ,
and the diseases departed from them ,
and the evil spirits went out of them .
*
Then certain of the vagabond Jews ,
exorcists ,
took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus ,
saying ,
We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth .
*
And there were seven sons of one Sceva ,
a Jew ,
and chief of the priests ,
which did so .
*
And the evil spirit answered and said ,
Jesus I know ,
and Paul I know ;
but who are ye ?
*
And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them ,
and overcame them ,
and prevailed against them ,
so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded .
*
And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus ;
and fear fell on them all ,
and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified .
*
And many that believed came ,
and confessed ,
and shewed their deeds .
*
Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together ,
and burned them before all men :
and they counted the price of them ,
and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver .
*
So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed .
*
After these things were ended ,
Paul purposed in the spirit ,
when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia ,
to go to Jerusalem ,
saying ,
After I have been there ,
I must also see Rome .
*
So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him ,
Timotheus and Erastus ;
but he himself stayed in Asia for a season .
*
And the same time there arose no small stir about that way .
*
For a certain man named Demetrius ,
a silversmith ,
which made silver shrines for Diana ,
brought no small gain unto the craftsmen ;
*
Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation ,
and said ,
Sirs ,
ye know that by this craft we have our wealth .
*
Moreover ye see and hear ,
that not alone at Ephesus ,
but almost throughout all Asia ,
this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people ,
saying that they be no gods ,
which are made with hands :
*
So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought ;
but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised ,
and her magnificence should be destroyed ,
whom all Asia and the world worshippeth .
*
And when they heard these sayings ,
they were full of wrath ,
and cried out ,
saying ,
Great is Diana of the Ephesians .
*
And the whole city was filled with confusion :
and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus ,
men of Macedonia ,
Paul '
s companions in travel ,
they rushed with one accord into the theatre .
*
And when Paul would have entered in unto the people ,
the disciples suffered him not .
*
And certain of the chief of Asia ,
which were his friends ,
sent unto him ,
desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre .
*
Some therefore cried one thing ,
and some another :
for the assembly was confused ;
and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together .
*
And they drew Alexander out of the multitude ,
the Jews putting him forward .
And Alexander beckoned with the hand ,
and would have made his defence unto the people .
*
But when they knew that he was a Jew ,
all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out ,
Great is Diana of the Ephesians .
*
And when the townclerk had appeased the people ,
he said ,
Ye men of Ephesus ,
what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana ,
and of the image which fell down from Jupiter ?
*
Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against ,
ye ought to be quiet ,
and to do nothing rashly .
*
For ye have brought hither these men ,
which are neither robbers of churches ,
nor yet blasphemers of your goddess .
*
Wherefore if Demetrius ,
and the craftsmen which are with him ,
have a matter against any man ,
the law is open ,
and there are deputies :
let them implead one another .
*
But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters ,
it shall be determined in a lawful assembly .
*
For we are in danger to be called in question for this day '
s uproar ,
there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse .
*
And when he had thus spoken ,
he dismissed the assembly .
*
And after the uproar was ceased ,
Paul called unto him the disciples ,
and embraced them ,
and departed for to go into Macedonia .
*
And when he had gone over those parts ,
and had given them much exhortation ,
he came into Greece ,
*
And there abode three months .
And when the Jews laid wait for him ,
as he was about to sail into Syria ,
he purposed to return through Macedonia .
*
And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea ;
and of the Thessalonians ,
Aristarchus and Secundus ;
and Gaius of Derbe ,
and Timotheus ;
and of Asia ,
Tychicus and Trophimus .
*
These going before tarried for us at Troas .
*
And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread ,
and came unto them to Troas in five days ;
where we abode seven days .
*
And upon the first day of the week ,
when the disciples came together to break bread ,
Paul preached unto them ,
ready to depart on the morrow ;
and continued his speech until midnight .
*
And there were many lights in the upper chamber ,
where they were gathered together .
*
And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus ,
being fallen into a deep sleep :
and as Paul was long preaching ,
he sunk down with sleep ,
and fell down from the third loft ,
and was taken up dead .
*
And Paul went down ,
and fell on him ,
and embracing him said ,
Trouble not yourselves ;
for his life is in him .
*
When he therefore was come up again ,
and had broken bread ,
and eaten ,
and talked a long while ,
even till break of day ,
so he departed .
*
And they brought the young man alive ,
and were not a little comforted .
*
And we went before to ship ,
and sailed unto Assos ,
there intending to take in Paul :
for so had he appointed ,
minding himself to go afoot .
*
And when he met with us at Assos ,
we took him in ,
and came to Mitylene .
*
And we sailed thence ,
and came the next day over against Chios ;
and the next day we arrived at Samos ,
and tarried at Trogyllium ;
and the next day we came to Miletus .
*
For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus ,
because he would not spend the time in Asia :
for he hasted ,
if it were possible for him ,
to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost .
*
And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus ,
and called the elders of the church .
*
And when they were come to him ,
he said unto them ,
Ye know ,
from the first day that I came into Asia ,
after what manner I have been with you at all seasons ,
*
Serving the Lord with all humility of mind ,
and with many tears ,
and temptations ,
which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews :
*
And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you ,
but have shewed you ,
and have taught you publickly ,
and from house to house ,
*
Testifying both to the Jews ,
and also to the Greeks ,
repentance toward God ,
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ .
*
And now ,
behold ,
I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem ,
not knowing the things that shall befall me there :
*
Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city ,
saying that bonds and afflictions abide me .
*
But none of these things move me ,
neither count I my life dear unto myself ,
so that I might finish my course with joy ,
and the ministry ,
which I have received of the Lord Jesus ,
to testify the gospel of the grace of God .
*
And now ,
behold ,
I know that ye all ,
among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God ,
shall see my face no more .
*
Wherefore I take you to record this day ,
that I am pure from the blood of all men .
*
For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God .
*
Take heed therefore unto yourselves ,
and to all the flock ,
over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers ,
to feed the church of God ,
which he hath purchased with his own blood .
*
For I know this ,
that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you ,
not sparing the flock .
*
Also of your own selves shall men arise ,
speaking perverse things ,
to draw away disciples after them .
*
Therefore watch ,
and remember ,
that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears .
*
And now ,
brethren ,
I commend you to God ,
and to the word of his grace ,
which is able to build you up ,
and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified .
*
I have coveted no man '
s silver ,
or gold ,
or apparel .
*
Yea ,
ye yourselves know ,
that these hands have ministered unto my necessities ,
and to them that were with me .
*
I have shewed you all things ,
how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak ,
and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus ,
how he said ,
It is more blessed to give than to receive .
*
And when he had thus spoken ,
he kneeled down ,
and prayed with them all .
*
And they all wept sore ,
and fell on Paul '
s neck ,
and kissed him ,
*
Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake ,
that they should see his face no more .
And they accompanied him unto the ship .
*
And it came to pass ,
that after we were gotten from them ,
and had launched ,
we came with a straight course unto Coos ,
and the day following unto Rhodes ,
and from thence unto Patara :
*
And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia ,
we went aboard ,
and set forth .
*
Now when we had discovered Cyprus ,
we left it on the left hand ,
and sailed into Syria ,
and landed at Tyre :
for there the ship was to unlade her burden .
*
And finding disciples ,
we tarried there seven days :
who said to Paul through the Spirit ,
that he should not go up to Jerusalem .
*
And when we had accomplished those days ,
we departed and went our way ;
and they all brought us on our way ,
with wives and children ,
till we were out of the city :
and we kneeled down on the shore ,
and prayed .
*
And when we had taken our leave one of another ,
we took ship ;
and they returned home again .
*
And when we had finished our course from Tyre ,
we came to Ptolemais ,
and saluted the brethren ,
and abode with them one day .
*
And the next day we that were of Paul '
s company departed ,
and came unto Caesarea :
and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist ,
which was one of the seven ;
and abode with him .
*
And the same man had four daughters ,
virgins ,
which did prophesy .
*
And as we tarried there many days ,
there came down from Judaea a certain prophet ,
named Agabus .
*
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 Ghost ,
So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle ,
and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles .
*
And when we heard these things ,
both we ,
and they of that place ,
besought him not to go up to Jerusalem .
*
Then Paul answered ,
What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart ?
for I am ready not to be bound only ,
but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus .
*
And when he would not be persuaded ,
we ceased ,
saying ,
The will of the Lord be done .
*
And after those days we took up our carriages ,
and went up to Jerusalem .
*
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 .
*
And when we were come to Jerusalem ,
the brethren received us gladly .
*
And the day following Paul went in with us unto James ;
and all the elders were present .
*
And when he had saluted them ,
he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry .
*
And when they heard it ,
they glorified the Lord ,
and said unto him ,
Thou seest ,
brother ,
how many thousands of Jews there are which believe ;
and they are all zealous of the law :
*
And they are informed of thee ,
that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses ,
saying that they ought not to circumcise their children ,
neither to walk after the customs .
*
What is it therefore ?
the multitude must needs come together :
for they will hear that thou art come .
*
Do therefore this that we say to thee :
We have four men which have a vow on them ;
*
Them take ,
and purify thyself with them ,
and be at charges with them ,
that they may shave their heads :
and all may know that those things ,
whereof they were informed concerning thee ,
are nothing ;
but that thou thyself also walkest orderly ,
and keepest the law .
*
As touching the Gentiles which believe ,
we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing ,
save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols ,
and from blood ,
and from strangled ,
and from fornication .
*
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 that an offering should be offered for every one of them .
*
And when the seven days were almost ended ,
the Jews which were of Asia ,
when they saw him in the temple ,
stirred up all the people ,
and laid hands on him ,
*
Crying out ,
Men of Israel ,
help :
This is the man ,
that teacheth all men every where against the people ,
and the law ,
and this place :
and further brought Greeks also into the temple ,
and hath polluted this holy place .
* (
For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian ,
whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple .)
*
And all the city was moved ,
and the people ran together :
and they took Paul ,
and drew him out of the temple :
and forthwith the doors were shut .
*
And as they went about to kill him ,
tidings came unto the chief captain of the band ,
that all Jerusalem was in an uproar .
*
Who immediately took soldiers and centurions ,
and ran down unto them :
and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers ,
they left beating of Paul .
*
Then the chief 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 .
*
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 castle .
*
And when he came upon the stairs ,
so it was ,
that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people .
*
For the multitude of the people followed after ,
crying ,
Away with him .
*
And as Paul was to be led into the castle ,
he said unto the chief captain ,
May I speak unto thee ?
Who said ,
Canst thou speak Greek ?
*
Art not thou that Egyptian ,
which before these days madest an uproar ,
and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers ?
*
But Paul said ,
I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus ,
a city in Cilicia ,
a citizen of no mean city :
and ,
I beseech thee ,
suffer me to speak unto the people .
*
And when he had given him licence ,
Paul stood on the stairs ,
and beckoned with the hand unto the people .
And when there was made a great silence ,
he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue ,
saying ,
*
Men ,
brethren ,
and fathers ,
hear ye my defence which I make now unto you .
* (
And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them ,
they kept the more silence :
and he saith ,)
*
I am verily a man which am 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 perfect manner of the law of the fathers ,
and was zealous toward God ,
as ye all are this day .
*
And I persecuted this way unto the death ,
binding and delivering into prisons both men and women .
*
As also the high priest doth bear me witness ,
and all the estate of the elders :
from whom also I received letters unto the brethren ,
and went to Damascus ,
to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem ,
for to be punished .
*
And it came to pass ,
that ,
as I made my journey ,
and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon ,
suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me .
*
And I fell unto the ground ,
and heard a voice saying unto me ,
Saul ,
Saul ,
why persecutest thou me ?
*
And I answered ,
Who art thou ,
Lord ?
And he said unto me ,
I am Jesus of Nazareth ,
whom thou persecutest .
*
And they that were with me saw indeed the light ,
and were afraid ;
but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me .
*
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 .
*
And when I could not see for the glory of that light ,
being led by the hand of them that were with me ,
I came into Damascus .
*
And one Ananias ,
a devout man according to the law ,
having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there ,
*
Came unto me ,
and stood ,
and said unto me ,
Brother Saul ,
receive thy sight .
And the same hour I looked up upon him .
*
And he said ,
The God of our fathers hath chosen thee ,
that thou shouldest know his will ,
and see that Just One ,
and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth .
*
For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard .
*
And now why tarriest thou ?
arise ,
and be baptized ,
and wash away thy sins ,
calling on the name of the Lord .
*
And it came to pass ,
that ,
when I was come again to Jerusalem ,
even while I prayed in the temple ,
I was in a trance ;
*
And saw him saying unto me ,
Make haste ,
and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem :
for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me .
*
And I said ,
Lord ,
they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee :
*
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 them that slew him .
*
And he said unto me ,
Depart :
for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles .
*
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 .
*
And as they cried out ,
and cast off their clothes ,
and threw dust into the air ,
*
The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle ,
and bade that he should be examined by scourging ;
that he might know wherefore they cried so against him .
*
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 ?
*
When the centurion heard that ,
he went and told the chief captain ,
saying ,
Take heed what thou doest :
for this man is a Roman .
*
Then the chief captain came ,
and said unto him ,
Tell me ,
art thou a Roman ?
He said ,
Yea .
*
And the chief captain answered ,
With a great sum obtained I this freedom .
And Paul said ,
But I was free born .
*
Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him :
and the chief captain also was afraid ,
after he knew that he was a Roman ,
and because he had bound him .
*
On the morrow ,
because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews ,
he loosed him from his bands ,
and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear ,
and brought Paul down ,
and set him before them .
*
And Paul ,
earnestly beholding the council ,
said ,
Men and brethren ,
I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day .
*
And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth .
*
Then said Paul unto him ,
God shall smite thee ,
thou whited wall :
for sittest thou to judge me after the law ,
and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law ?
*
And they that stood by said ,
Revilest thou God '
s high priest ?
*
Then said Paul ,
I wist not ,
brethren ,
that he was the high priest :
for it is written ,
Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people .
*
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 :
of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question .
*
And when he had so said ,
there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees :
and the multitude was divided .
*
For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection ,
neither angel ,
nor spirit :
but the Pharisees confess both .
*
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 hath spoken to him ,
let us not fight against God .
*
And when there arose a great dissension ,
the chief captain ,
fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them ,
commanded the soldiers to go down ,
and to take him by force from among them ,
and to bring him into the castle .
*
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 bear witness also at Rome .
*
And when it was day ,
certain of the Jews banded together ,
and bound themselves under a curse ,
saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul .
*
And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy .
*
And they came to the chief priests and elders ,
and said ,
We have bound ourselves under a great curse ,
that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul .
*
Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow ,
as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him :
and we ,
or ever he come near ,
are ready to kill him .
*
And when Paul '
s sister '
s son heard of their lying in wait ,
he went and entered into the castle ,
and told Paul .
*
Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him ,
and said ,
Bring this young man unto the chief captain :
for he hath a certain thing to tell him .
*
So he took him ,
and brought him to the chief captain ,
and said ,
Paul the prisoner called me unto him ,
and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee ,
who hath something to say unto thee .
*
Then the chief captain took him by the hand ,
and went with him aside privately ,
and asked him ,
What is that thou hast to tell me ?
*
And he said ,
The Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into the council ,
as though they would enquire somewhat of him more perfectly .
*
But do not thou yield unto them :
for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men ,
which have bound themselves with an oath ,
that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him :
and now are they ready ,
looking for a promise from thee .
*
So the chief captain then let the young man depart ,
and charged him ,
See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me .
*
And he called unto him two centurions ,
saying ,
Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea ,
and horsemen threescore and ten ,
and spearmen two hundred ,
at the third hour of the night ;
*
And provide them beasts ,
that they may set Paul on ,
and bring him safe unto Felix the governor .
*
And he wrote a letter after this manner :
*
Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting .
*
This man was taken of the Jews ,
and should have been killed of them :
then came I with an army ,
and rescued him ,
having understood that he was a Roman .
*
And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him ,
I brought him forth into their council :
*
Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law ,
but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds .
*
And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man ,
I sent straightway to thee ,
and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him .
Farewell .
*
Then the soldiers ,
as it was commanded them ,
took Paul ,
and brought him by night to Antipatris .
*
On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him ,
and returned to the castle :
*
Who ,
when they came to Caesarea ,
and delivered the epistle to the governor ,
presented Paul also before him .
*
And when the governor had read the letter ,
he asked of what province he was .
And when he understood that he was of Cilicia ;
*
I will hear thee ,
said he ,
when thine accusers are also come .
And he commanded him to be kept in Herod '
s judgment hall .
*
And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders ,
and with a certain orator named Tertullus ,
who informed the governor against Paul .
*
And when he was called forth ,
Tertullus began to accuse him ,
saying ,
Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness ,
and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence ,
*
We accept it always ,
and in all places ,
most noble Felix ,
with all thankfulness .
*
Notwithstanding ,
that I be not further tedious unto thee ,
I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words .
*
For we have found this man a pestilent fellow ,
and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world ,
and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes :
*
Who also hath gone about to profane the temple :
whom we took ,
and would have judged according to our law .
*
But the chief captain Lysias came upon us ,
and with great violence took him away out of our hands ,
*
Commanding his accusers to come unto thee :
by examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things ,
whereof we accuse him .
*
And the Jews also assented ,
saying that these things were so .
*
Then Paul ,
after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak ,
answered ,
Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation ,
I do the more cheerfully answer for myself :
*
Because that thou mayest understand ,
that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship .
*
And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man ,
neither raising up the people ,
neither in the synagogues ,
nor in the city :
*
Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me .
*
But this I confess unto thee ,
that after the way which they call heresy ,
so worship I the God of my fathers ,
believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets :
*
And have hope toward God ,
which they themselves also allow ,
that there shall be a resurrection of the dead ,
both of the just and unjust .
*
And herein do I exercise myself ,
to have always a conscience void of offence toward God ,
and toward men .
*
Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation ,
and offerings .
*
Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple ,
neither with multitude ,
nor with tumult .
*
Who ought to have been here before thee ,
and object ,
if they had ought against me .
*
Or else let these same here say ,
if they have found any evil doing in me ,
while I stood before the council ,
*
Except it be for this one voice ,
that I cried standing among them ,
Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day .
*
And when Felix heard these things ,
having more perfect knowledge of that way ,
he deferred them ,
and said ,
When Lysias the chief captain shall come down ,
I will know the uttermost of your matter .
*
And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul ,
and to let him have liberty ,
and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him .
*
And after certain days ,
when Felix came with his wife Drusilla ,
which was a Jewess ,
he sent for Paul ,
and heard him concerning the faith in Christ .
*
And as he reasoned of righteousness ,
temperance ,
and judgment to come ,
Felix trembled ,
and answered ,
Go thy way for this time ;
when I have a convenient season ,
I will call for thee .
*
He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul ,
that he might loose him :
wherefore he sent for him the oftener ,
and communed with him .
*
But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix '
room :
and Felix ,
willing to shew the Jews a pleasure ,
left Paul bound .
*
Now when Festus was come into the province ,
after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem .
*
Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul ,
and besought him ,
*
And desired favour against him ,
that he would send for him to Jerusalem ,
laying wait in the way to kill him .
*
But Festus answered ,
that Paul should be kept at Caesarea ,
and that he himself would depart shortly thither .
*
Let them therefore ,
said he ,
which among you are able ,
go down with me ,
and accuse this man ,
if there be any wickedness in him .
*
And when he had tarried among them more than ten days ,
he went down unto Caesarea ;
and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought .
*
And when he was come ,
the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about ,
and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul ,
which they could not prove .
*
While he answered for himself ,
Neither against the law of the Jews ,
neither against the temple ,
nor yet against Caesar ,
have I offended any thing at all .
*
But Festus ,
willing to do the Jews a pleasure ,
answered Paul ,
and said ,
Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem ,
and there be judged of these things before me ?
*
Then said Paul ,
I stand at Caesar '
s judgment seat ,
where I ought to be judged :
to the Jews have I done no wrong ,
as thou very well knowest .
*
For if I be an offender ,
or have committed any thing worthy of death ,
I refuse not to die :
but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me ,
no man may deliver me unto them .
I appeal unto Caesar .
*
Then Festus ,
when he had conferred with the council ,
answered ,
Hast thou appealed unto Caesar ?
unto Caesar shalt thou go .
*
And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus .
*
And when they had been there many days ,
Festus declared Paul '
s cause unto the king ,
saying ,
There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix :
*
About whom ,
when I was at Jerusalem ,
the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me ,
desiring to have judgment against him .
*
To whom I answered ,
It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die ,
before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face ,
and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him .
*
Therefore ,
when they were come hither ,
without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat ,
and commanded the man to be brought forth .
*
Against whom when the accusers stood up ,
they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed :
*
But had certain questions against him of their own superstition ,
and of one Jesus ,
which was dead ,
whom Paul affirmed to be alive .
*
And because I doubted of such manner of questions ,
I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem ,
and there be judged of these matters .
*
But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus ,
I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar .
*
Then Agrippa said unto Festus ,
I would also hear the man myself .
To morrow ,
said he ,
thou shalt hear him .
*
And on the morrow ,
when Agrippa was come ,
and Bernice ,
with great pomp ,
and was entered into the place of hearing ,
with the chief captains ,
and principal men of the city ,
at Festus '
commandment Paul was brought forth .
*
And Festus said ,
King Agrippa ,
and all men which are here present with us ,
ye see this man ,
about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me ,
both at Jerusalem ,
and also here ,
crying that he ought not to live any longer .
*
But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death ,
and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus ,
I have determined to send him .
*
Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord .
Wherefore I have brought him forth before you ,
and specially before thee ,
O king Agrippa ,
that ,
after examination had ,
I might have somewhat to write .
*
For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner ,
and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him .
*
Then Agrippa said unto Paul ,
Thou art permitted to speak for thyself .
Then Paul stretched forth the hand ,
and answered for himself :
*
I think myself happy ,
king Agrippa ,
because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews :
*
Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews :
wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently .
*
My manner of life from my youth ,
which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem ,
know all the Jews ;
*
Which knew me from the beginning ,
if they would testify ,
that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee .
*
And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers :
*
Unto which promise our twelve tribes ,
instantly serving God day and night ,
hope to come .
For which hope '
s sake ,
king Agrippa ,
I am accused of the Jews .
*
Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you ,
that God should raise the dead ?
*
I verily thought with myself ,
that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth .
*
Which thing I also did in Jerusalem :
and many of the saints did I shut up in prison ,
having received authority from the chief priests ;
and when they were put to death ,
I gave my voice against them .
*
And I punished them oft in every synagogue ,
and compelled them to blaspheme ;
and being exceedingly mad against them ,
I persecuted them even unto strange cities .
*
Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests ,
*
At midday ,
O king ,
I saw in the way a light from heaven ,
above the brightness of the sun ,
shining round about me and them which journeyed with me .
*
And when we were all fallen to the earth ,
I heard a voice speaking unto me ,
and saying in the Hebrew tongue ,
Saul ,
Saul ,
why persecutest thou me ?
it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks .
*
And I said ,
Who art thou ,
Lord ?
And he said ,
I am Jesus whom thou persecutest .
*
But rise ,
and stand upon thy feet :
for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose ,
to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen ,
and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee ;
*
Delivering thee from the people ,
and from the Gentiles ,
unto whom now I send thee ,
*
To open their eyes ,
and to turn them from darkness to light ,
and from the power of Satan unto God ,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins ,
and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me .
*
Whereupon ,
O king Agrippa ,
I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision :
*
But shewed first unto them of Damascus ,
and at Jerusalem ,
and throughout all the coasts of Judaea ,
and then to the Gentiles ,
that they should repent and turn to God ,
and do works meet for repentance .
*
For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple ,
and went about to kill me .
*
Having therefore obtained help of God ,
I continue unto this day ,
witnessing both to small and great ,
saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come :
*
That Christ should suffer ,
and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead ,
and should shew light unto the people ,
and to the Gentiles .
*
And as he thus spake for himself ,
Festus said with a loud voice ,
Paul ,
thou art beside thyself ;
much learning doth make thee mad .
*
But he said ,
I am not mad ,
most noble Festus ;
but speak forth the words of truth and soberness .
*
For the king knoweth of these things ,
before whom also I speak freely :
for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him ;
for this thing was not done in a corner .
*
King Agrippa ,
believest thou the prophets ?
I know that thou believest .
*
Then Agrippa said unto Paul ,
Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian .
*
And Paul said ,
I would to God ,
that not only thou ,
but also all that hear me this day ,
were both almost ,
and altogether such as I am ,
except these bonds .
*
And when he had thus spoken ,
the king rose up ,
and the governor ,
and Bernice ,
and they that sat with them :
*
And when they were gone aside ,
they talked between themselves ,
saying ,
This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds .
*
Then said Agrippa unto Festus ,
This man might have been set at liberty ,
if he had not appealed unto Caesar .
*
And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy ,
they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius ,
a centurion of Augustus '
band .
*
And entering into a ship of Adramyttium ,
we launched ,
meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia ;
one Aristarchus ,
a Macedonian of Thessalonica ,
being with us .
*
And the next day we touched at Sidon .
And Julius courteously entreated Paul ,
and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself .
*
And when we had launched from thence ,
we sailed under Cyprus ,
because the winds were contrary .
*
And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia ,
we came to Myra ,
a city of Lycia .
*
And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy ;
and he put us therein .
*
And when we had sailed slowly many days ,
and scarce were come over against Cnidus ,
the wind not suffering us ,
we sailed under Crete ,
over against Salmone ;
*
And ,
hardly passing it ,
came unto a place which is called The fair havens ;
nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea .
*
Now when much time was spent ,
and when sailing was now dangerous ,
because the fast was now already past ,
Paul admonished them ,
*
And said unto them ,
Sirs ,
I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage ,
not only of the lading and ship ,
but also of our lives .
*
Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship ,
more than those things which were spoken by Paul .
*
And because the haven was not commodious to winter in ,
the more part advised to depart thence also ,
if by any means they might attain to Phenice ,
and there to winter ;
which is an haven of Crete ,
and lieth toward the south west and north west .
*
And when the south wind blew softly ,
supposing that they had obtained their purpose ,
loosing thence ,
they sailed close by Crete .
*
But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind ,
called Euroclydon .
*
And when the ship was caught ,
and could not bear up into the wind ,
we let her drive .
*
And running under a certain island which is called Clauda ,
we had much work to come by the boat :
*
Which when they had taken up ,
they used helps ,
undergirding the ship ;
and ,
fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands ,
strake sail ,
and so were driven .
*
And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest ,
the next day they lightened the ship ;
*
And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship .
*
And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared ,
and no small tempest lay on us ,
all hope that we should be saved was then taken away .
*
But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them ,
and said ,
Sirs ,
ye should have hearkened unto me ,
and not have loosed from Crete ,
and to have gained this harm and loss .
*
And now I exhort you to be of good cheer :
for there shall be no loss of any man '
s life among you ,
but of the ship .
*
For there stood by me this night the angel of God ,
whose I am ,
and whom I serve ,
*
Saying ,
Fear not ,
Paul ;
thou must be brought before Caesar :
and ,
lo ,
God hath given thee all them that sail with thee .
*
Wherefore ,
sirs ,
be of good cheer :
for I believe God ,
that it shall be even as it was told me .
*
Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island .
*
But when the fourteenth night was come ,
as we were driven up and down in Adria ,
about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country ;
*
And sounded ,
and found it twenty fathoms :
and when they had gone a little further ,
they sounded again ,
and found it fifteen fathoms .
*
Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks ,
they cast four anchors out of the stern ,
and wished for the day .
*
And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship ,
when they had let down the boat into the sea ,
under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship ,
*
Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers ,
Except these abide in the ship ,
ye cannot be saved .
*
Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat ,
and let her fall off .
*
And while the day was coming on ,
Paul besought them all to take meat ,
saying ,
This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting ,
having taken nothing .
*
Wherefore I pray you to take some meat :
for this is for your health :
for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you .
*
And when he had thus spoken ,
he took bread ,
and gave thanks to God in presence of them all :
and when he had broken it ,
he began to eat .
*
Then were they all of good cheer ,
and they also took some meat .
*
And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls .
*
And when they had eaten enough ,
they lightened the ship ,
and cast out the wheat into the sea .
*
And when it was day ,
they knew not the land :
but they discovered a certain creek with a shore ,
into the which they were minded ,
if it were possible ,
to thrust in the ship .
*
And when they had taken up the anchors ,
they committed themselves unto the sea ,
and loosed the rudder bands ,
and hoised up the mainsail to the wind ,
and made toward shore .
*
And falling into a place where two seas met ,
they ran the ship aground ;
and the forepart stuck fast ,
and remained unmoveable ,
but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves .
*
And the soldiers '
counsel was to kill the prisoners ,
lest any of them should swim out ,
and escape .
*
But the centurion ,
willing to save Paul ,
kept them from their purpose ;
and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea ,
and get to land :
*
And the rest ,
some on boards ,
and some on broken pieces of the ship .
And so it came to pass ,
that they escaped all safe to land .
*
And when they were escaped ,
then they knew that the island was called Melita .
*
And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness :
for they kindled a fire ,
and received us every one ,
because of the present rain ,
and because of the cold .
*
And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks ,
and laid them on the fire ,
there came a viper out of the heat ,
and fastened on his hand .
*
And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand ,
they said among themselves ,
No doubt this man is a murderer ,
whom ,
though he hath escaped the sea ,
yet vengeance suffereth not to live .
*
And he shook off the beast into the fire ,
and felt no harm .
*
Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen ,
or fallen down dead suddenly :
but after they had looked a great while ,
and saw no harm come to him ,
they changed their minds ,
and said that he was a god .
*
In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island ,
whose name was Publius ;
who received us ,
and lodged us three days courteously .
*
And it came to pass ,
that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux :
to whom Paul entered in ,
and prayed ,
and laid his hands on him ,
and healed him .
*
So when this was done ,
others also ,
which had diseases in the island ,
came ,
and were healed :
*
Who also honoured us with many honours ;
and when we departed ,
they laded us with such things as were necessary .
*
And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria ,
which had wintered in the isle ,
whose sign was Castor and Pollux .
*
And landing at Syracuse ,
we tarried there three days .
*
And from thence we fetched a compass ,
and came to Rhegium :
and after one day the south wind blew ,
and we came the next day to Puteoli :
*
Where we found brethren ,
and were desired to tarry with them seven days :
and so we went toward Rome .
*
And from thence ,
when the brethren heard of us ,
they came to meet us as far as Appii forum ,
and The three taverns :
whom when Paul saw ,
he thanked God ,
and took courage .
*
And when we came to Rome ,
the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard :
but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him .
*
And it came to pass ,
that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together :
and when they were come together ,
he said unto them ,
Men and brethren ,
though I have committed nothing against the people ,
or customs of our fathers ,
yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans .
*
Who ,
when they had examined me ,
would have let me go ,
because there was no cause of death in me .
*
But when the Jews spake against it ,
I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar ;
not that I had ought to accuse my nation of .
*
For this cause therefore have I called for you ,
to see you ,
and to speak with you :
because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain .
*
And they said unto him ,
We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee ,
neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee .
*
But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest :
for as concerning this sect ,
we know that every where it is spoken against .
*
And when they had appointed him a day ,
there came many to him into his lodging ;
to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God ,
persuading them concerning Jesus ,
both out of the law of Moses ,
and out of the prophets ,
from morning till evening .
*
And some believed the things which were spoken ,
and some believed not .
*
And when they agreed not among themselves ,
they departed ,
after that Paul had spoken one word ,
Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers ,
*
Saying ,
Go unto this people ,
and say ,
Hearing ye shall hear ,
and shall not understand ;
and seeing ye shall see ,
and not perceive :
*
For the heart of this people is waxed gross ,
and their ears are dull of hearing ,
and their eyes have they closed ;
lest they should see with their eyes ,
and hear with their ears ,
and understand with their heart ,
and should be converted ,
and I should heal them .
*
Be it known therefore unto you ,
that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles ,
and that they will hear it .
*
And when he had said these words ,
the Jews departed ,
and had great reasoning among themselves .
*
And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house ,
and received all that came in unto him ,
*
Preaching the kingdom of God ,
and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ ,
with all confidence ,
no man forbidding him .