Acts 21-28

New Catholic Bible

From Jerusalem to Rome^[a]

Chapter 21

Last Journey to Jerusalem^[b]

Arrival at Tyre. ¹ When we^[c] had finally torn ourselves away from them and set sail, we traveled directly to Cos, and the next day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. ² There, we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, so we went on board and set sail. ³ After sighting Cyprus, we passed by it on our left and sailed to Syria, landing at Tyre where the ship was to unload her cargo.

⁴ We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them for seven days. Through the Spirit, they advised Paul to abandon his plans to move on to Jerusalem. ⁵ However, when our time with them was ended, we left and continued on our journey. All of them, including women and children, escorted us outside the city. Kneeling down on the beach, we prayed ⁶ and then bid farewell to one another. Afterward, we boarded the ship and they returned home.

Arrival at Ptolemais and Caesarea. ⁷ We finished our voyage from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brethren and stayed with them for one day. ⁸ On the next day, we left and came to Caesarea, where we went to the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven,^[d] and stayed with him. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who possessed the gift of prophecy.

¹⁰ After we had been there for several days, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. ¹¹ He came up to us, took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ”

¹² When we heard this, we joined with the people who lived there in begging Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴ Since he would not be dissuaded, we finally gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

Various Events and Paul’s Defenses at Jerusalem

¹⁵ Paul Is Welcomed by the Elders.^[e] At the end of our stay, we made preparations and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the house of Mnason of Cyprus, one of the early disciples, with whom we were to stay.

¹⁷ When we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren gave us a warm welcome. ¹⁸ On the next day, Paul paid a visit to James. We accompanied him, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹ After greeting them, he reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰ When they heard this, they gave praise to God. Then they said to Paul, “You can see, brother, how many thousands of believers there are among the Jews, and all of them are zealous upholders of the Law. ²¹ They have been informed in your regard that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to forsake Moses and that you tell them not to circumcise their children or to observe their custom. ²² What then is to be done? They are sure to hear that you have arrived.

²³ “This is what we suggest that you do. We have four men here who are under a vow. ²⁴ Take these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay the expenses involved with the shaving of their heads. In this way, all will know that there is nothing in these reports they have been given about you and that you observe the Law. ²⁵ As for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have informed them of our decision that they must abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from anything that has been strangled, and from unchastity.”

²⁶ Therefore, on the next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. He then entered the temple to give notice of the date when the period of purification would end and the offerings would be made for each of them.

²⁷ Paul’s Arrest in the Temple.^[f] When the seven days were nearly over, the Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple. Stirring up the whole crowd, they seized him, ²⁸ shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, the Law, and this place. What is more, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” ²⁹ They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.

³⁰ Thus, the entire city was in turmoil, and people came running from all directions. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and the gates were then shut. ³¹ While they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² Immediately, he took soldiers and centurions with him and charged down on them.

When the Jews saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the commander came forward, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Next he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another; and since the commander could not arrive at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. ³⁵ When he came to the steps, the violence of the crowd was so intense that he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶ The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”

³⁷ Just as he was about to be taken into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” The commander replied, “So you speak Greek? ³⁸ Then you are not the Egyptian^[g] who recently started a revolt and led the four thousand assassins into the desert.” ³⁹ Paul asserted, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city. May I have your permission to speak to the people?” ⁴⁰ When the permission was granted, Paul stood on the steps and raised his hand to the people for silence. As soon as quiet was restored, he started speaking to them in Aramaic.^[h]

Chapter 22

Paul’s Speech to the People of Jerusalem.^{[i] 1} “Brethren and fathers, listen to what I have to say to you in my defense.” ² When they heard him addressing them in Aramaic, they became even more quiet than before.

Then he continued, ³ “I am a Jew, born atTarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. As a pupil of Gamaliel, I was thoroughly trained in the Law of our ancestors. I have always been zealous toward God, just as all of you are today. ⁴ I even persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, sending both men and women to prison in chains, ⁵ as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify. From them I also received letters to our brethren in Damascus, and I set out to bring prisoners back from there to Jerusalem for punishment.

⁶ “While I was on my way and drawing near Damascus, around midday a great light from the sky suddenly shone all around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸ I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹ “Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ I asked, ‘What do you want me to do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told everything that you have been appointed to do.’ ¹¹ I could not see because of the brilliance of that light, and so my companions led me by the hand to Damascus.

¹² “A man named Ananias, who was a devout observer of the Law and highly regarded by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³ came to see me. Standing beside me, he said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ Instantly, I saw him.

¹⁴ “Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear him speak. ¹⁵ For you will be his witness^[j] to tell all what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’

¹⁷ “After I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance ¹⁸ and saw Jesus there. ‘Hurry and leave Jerusalem at once,’ he said, ‘because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹ But I replied, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I used to imprison and scourge those who believe in you. ²⁰ And while the blood of your martyr Stephen was being shed, I myself stood by, giving my approval and guarding the coats of his murderers.’ ²¹ Then he said to me, ‘Go! I am sending you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”

²² Paul Claims His Roman Citizenship.^[k] Up to this point, the crowd had listened to him, but then they raised their voices and began to shout, “Rid the earth of this man! He should not be allowed to live.” ²³ And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander ordered that he be brought into the barracks and gave instructions that he be interrogated while being scourged to discover the reason for this outcry against him.

²⁵ But when they had stretched him out and bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing nearby, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and who has not been condemned?” ²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and asked, “What are you going to do? This man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷ Then the commander came to him and inquired, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he answered, “Yes.” ²⁸ The commander responded, “It cost me a great deal of money to acquire this citizenship.” Paul replied, “But I was born a citizen.” ²⁹ Then those who were about to interrogate him withdrew hurriedly, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had put him in chains.

³⁰ Paul’s First Trial—before the Sanhedrin.^[l] Since the commander wanted to learn with certitude what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, he released him on the following day and ordered the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin to meet. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

Chapter 23

¹ Paul looked intently at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brethren, to this very day, I have conducted myself before God with a perfectly clear conscience.” ² At this, the high priest Ananias^[m] ordered his attendants to strike him on the mouth.

³ Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! How can you sit there to judge me according to the Law and then in defiance of the Law order me to be struck?” ⁴ The attendants said, “Do you dare to insult God’s high priest?” ⁵ Paul replied, “Brethren, I did not realize that he was the high priest. It is clearly written: ‘You shall not curse the ruler of your people.’ ”

⁶ Well aware that some of them were Sadducees and the others were Pharisees, Paul called out in the Sanhedrin, “Brethren, I am a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning our hope in the resurrection of the dead.” ⁷ When he said this, a dispute ensued between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection and that there are no angels or spirits, while the Pharisees believe in all three.

⁹ Then a great uproar arose, and some of the scribes belonging to the party of the Pharisees stood up and forcefully stated, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has really spoken to him?” ¹⁰ When a violent dissension arose, the commander was fearful that Paul would be torn to pieces. He ordered the soldiers to go down, seize him from their midst, and bring him into the barracks.

¹¹ On the following night, the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have borne witness to me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.”

¹² A Plot To Kill Paul.^[n] When morning came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath^[o] not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³ There were more than forty who entered this pact. ¹⁴ They went to the chief priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves by a solemn oath not to consume any food until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ You and the Sanhedrin should make an official request to the commander to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to investigate his case more thoroughly. We on our part have arranged to kill him before he arrives.”

¹⁶ However, the son of Paul’s sister learned of the plot. He thereupon went to the barracks and related the news to Paul. ¹⁷ Paul then summoned one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” ¹⁸ He brought him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and requested that I bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”

¹⁹ The commander took him by the hand, drew him aside, and asked him in private, “What is it that you have to report to me?” ²⁰ He replied, “The Jews have agreed to request you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of inquiring more thoroughly into his case. ²¹ Do not believe them. More than forty of them are waiting for your consent to their request, for they have sworn an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now and are waiting only for your consent.” ²² The commander dismissed the young man, ordering him, “Tell no one that you have given me this information.”

Paul’s Imprisonment and Defenses at Caesarea

²³ Paul Is Imprisoned at Caesarea.^[p] Then he summoned two of his centurions and said, “Have two hundred soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea by nine o’clock tonight,^[q] along with seventy cavalrymen and two hundred auxiliaries. ²⁴ Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and deliver him to Felix the governor.” ²⁵ He then wrote a letter as follows:

²⁶ Claudius Lysias,

To his Excellency the governor Felix:^[r]

Greetings.

²⁷ This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them; but when I learned that he was a Roman citizen, I arrived on the scene with my troops and rescued him.

²⁸ Wanting to learn what charge they were making against him, I had him brought before their Sanhedrin. ²⁹ I discovered that the accusation dealt with questions about their Law, but that there was no charge against him that merited death or imprisonment. ³⁰ Now I have been informed of a plot to assassinate this man. I am sending him to you without delay, and I have instructed his accusers to present to you their case against him.

³¹ Therefore, the soldiers, acting in accordance with their orders, took Paul and escorted him during the night to Antipatris. ³² On the next day, they returned to the barracks, leaving the cavalrymen to escort him the rest of the way. ³³ When they arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed over Paul to him.

³⁴ After reading the letter, the governor asked Paul what province he was from, and on learning that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ he said, “I will hear your case as soon as your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that he be held in custody in Herod’s praetorium.

Chapter 24

Paul’s Second Trial—before Felix.^{[s] 1} Five days later, the high priest Ananias came down with some of the elders and an advocate named Tertullus, and they presented charges against Paul to the governor. ² Then Paul was summoned, and Tertullus began the prosecution.

He said, “Because of you we have enjoyed an unbroken period of peace, and reforms have been made in this nation as a result of your caring concern. ³ We acknowledge this everywhere and in every way with the utmost gratitude, most noble Felix.

⁴ “But in order not to detain you needlessly, I beg you to be kind enough to listen to a brief statement. ⁵ We have found this man to be a troublemaker. He is a fomenter of dissension among Jews all over the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. ⁶ When he even tried to profane the temple, we placed him under arrest. [ ⁷ We would have judged him according to our own Law, but the commander Lysias came and forcibly removed him out of our hands, ordering his accusers to appear before you.]^{[t] 8} If you examine him yourself, you will be able to ascertain the validity of all the charges we bring against him.” ⁹ The Jews supported the charge, asserting that these things were true.

¹⁰ Then the governor motioned to Paul to speak, and he replied, “I know that you have administered justice to this nation for many years, and therefore I feel confident in presenting my defense. ¹¹ As you can verify for yourself, no more than twelve days have elapsed since I went up to worship in Jerusalem. ¹² They did not find me disputing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd either in the synagogues or throughout the city. ¹³ Nor can they offer you any proof concerning their charges against me.

¹⁴ “But this much I will admit to you: it is as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect, that I worship the God of my ancestors, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law or is written in the Prophets. ¹⁵ I hold the same hope in God as they do that there will be a resurrection of the righteous and the wicked alike. ¹⁶ Accordingly, I strive at all times to have a clear conscience before God and man.

¹⁷ “After several years, I came to bring charitable gifts to my people and to offer sacrifices. ¹⁸ They found me in the temple after I had completed the rite of purification. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance.

“However, some Jews from the province of Asia were there, ¹⁹ and they are the ones who should have appeared before you to give such evidence if they had any charge against me. ²⁰ At the very least, those who are present here should state what crime they discovered when I was brought before the Sanhedrin, ²¹ unless it has to do with this one declaration I made when I stood up among them, ‘I am on trial on account of the resurrection of the dead.’ ”

²² In the Procurator’s Hall.^[u] Then Felix, who was well informed about the Way, adjourned the hearing with the comment, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I shall issue a ruling on this case.” ²³ He also ordered the centurion to keep Paul in custody, but allow him some freedom, and not to prevent any of his friends from caring for his needs.

²⁴ Several days later, Felix came with his wife Drusilla,^[v] who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ But as Paul discussed justice, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and exclaimed, “Go away for the present. When I have an opportunity, I will send for you.” ²⁶ At the same time, he hoped that Paul would offer him a bribe. Therefore he used to send for him quite often and converse with him.

²⁷ After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus,^[w] and since he wanted to ingratiate himself with the Jews, Felix left Paul in custody.

Chapter 25

Paul’s Third Trial—before Festus.^{[x] 1} Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, ² where the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews informed him about Paul. They urged him ³ as a favor to send for Paul to bring him to Jerusalem. They were going to kill him in an ambush along the way.

⁴ Festus replied that Paul was in custody in Caesarea, and that he himself would be returning there shortly. ⁵ He said, “Let your authorities come down with me, and if this man has done something improper, they can bring a charge against him.”

⁶ After staying with them for eight to ten days, Festus went down to Caesarea. On the next day, he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be summoned. ⁷ When he appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him, and they leveled many serious charges against him that they were unable to prove.

⁸ Paul said in his defense, “I have committed no offense against the Jewish Law, or against the temple, or against the Emperor.” ⁹ Festus, anxious to ingratiate himself with the Jews, asked Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial there before me on these charges?”

¹⁰ Paul replied, “I am standing before the tribunal of Caesar, and this is where I should be tried. I have committed no crime against the Jews, as you yourself well know. ¹¹ If I am guilty of any capital crime, I do not ask to be spared death. However, if there is no substance to the charges they are bringing against me, then no one has the right to turn me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”^{[y] 12} Then, after Festus had conferred with his advisors, he said, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you shall go.”

¹³ Paul’s Fourth Trial—before Agrippa.^[z] Some days later, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. ¹⁴ Since they spent several days there, Festus raised the subject of Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man here who was left in custody by Felix. ¹⁵ When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and requested his condemnation. ¹⁶ I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before he had met his accusers face to face and had had an opportunity to defend himself against their charges.

¹⁷ “Therefore, when they had come here, I wasted no time; the very next day, I took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be summoned. ¹⁸ When the accusers rose, they did not charge him with any of the crimes that I was expecting. ¹⁹ Instead, they had certain points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about someone named Jesus, a dead man who Paul asserted was alive.

²⁰ “Since I did not feel qualified to deal with such questions, I asked him if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem to stand trial on these charges. ²¹ But Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, and I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.” ²² Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man for myself.” He replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”

²³ On the next day, Agrippa and Bernice arrived with great pomp and entered the audience hall, accompanied by officers of high rank and prominent men of the city. Festus ordered Paul to be brought in. ²⁴ Then he said, “King Agrippa and all of you here present with us, you see this man about whom the entire Jewish community petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting loudly that he should not be allowed to live any longer.

²⁵ “I have found nothing deserving of death, but when he made his appeal to the Emperor, I decided to send him. ²⁶ However, I have nothing definite about him to put in writing for our sovereign. Therefore, I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination I may have something to write. ²⁷ For it seems senseless to me to send on a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”

Chapter 26

Paul’s Defense before Agrippa. ¹ Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began to defend himself: ² “I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that it is before you today that I am to defend myself against all the accusations of the Jews, ³ particularly since you are well acquainted with all our Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I implore you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ “The Jews all know my way of life from my youth, which I first lived among my own people and in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known about me from my youth, and they could testify, if they were willing, that I belonged to the strictest sect of our religion and lived as a Pharisee. ⁶ But now I am on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors.

⁷ “Our twelve tribes worship night and day with intense devotion in the hope of seeing its fulfillment. It is because of this hope that I am accused by the Jews, O king. ⁸ Why should it seem incredible to any of you that God raises the dead?

⁹ “I myself once thought that I had to do everything possible against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With the authorization of the chief priests, I not only sent many of the saints^[aa] to prison, but when they were being condemned to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ In all the synagogues, I tried by inflicting repeated punishments to force them to blaspheme, and I was so enraged with fury against them that I even pursued them to foreign cities.

¹² “On one such occasion, I was traveling to Damascus with the authorization and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ At midday, as I was on my way, O king, I saw a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goad.’^[ab]

¹⁵ “I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ Get up now and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as my servant and as a witness to what you have seen of me and what you will yet see. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you. ¹⁸ You are to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light^[ac] and from the power of Satan to God. Thus, they may obtain forgiveness of their sins and an inheritance among those who have been consecrated through faith in me.’

¹⁹ “And so, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision from heaven. ²⁰ Rather, I started to preach, first to the people in Damascus, and then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, calling on them to repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. ²¹ That is why the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

²² “But I have had help from God to this very day, and I stand here and testify to both the lowly and the great. I assert nothing more than what the Prophets and Moses said would occur: ²³ that the Christ must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to the people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ Reactions to Paul’s Speech. While Paul was still speaking in his own defense, Festus exclaimed, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane.” ²⁵ But he replied, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. What I am asserting is true and reasonable. ²⁶ The king understands these matters, and to him I now speak freely. I am confident that none of this has escaped his notice, for all this was not done in a corner.^{[ad] 27} King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets?^[ae] I know that you do.”

²⁸ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a brief time you can persuade me to become a Christian?” ²⁹ Paul responded, “Whether in a short time or longer, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰ Then the king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those who had been seated with them. ³¹ And as they were leaving, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing that deserves death or imprisonment.” ³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

The Journey to Rome^[af]

Chapter 27

Paul’s Voyage toward Rome. ¹ When it was decided that we^[ag] should sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to Julius, a centurion of the Augustan cohort. ² We embarked on a ship from Adramyttium^[ah] that was about to sail to ports in the province of Asia, and we put out to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

³ On the next day, we landed at Sidon,^[ai] and Julius was considerate enough to allow Paul to visit his friends there and be cared for by them. ⁴ From there, we put out to sea again and sailed around the sheltered side of Cyprus because of the headwinds. ⁵ Then, crossing the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia.^[aj]

Storm and Shipwreck. ⁶ There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship^[ak] that was bound for Italy and put us on board. ⁷ For a good many days, we made little headway, and we experienced difficulty in reaching Cnidus.^[al] Then, as the wind continued to pose difficulties, we sailed for the sheltered side of Crete off Salmone. ⁸ We moved along the coast with difficulty and reached a place called Fair Havens,^[am] near the city of Lasea.

⁹ Much time had already been lost, and sailing had now become hazardous, since the time of the Fast^[an] had already gone by. Therefore, Paul gave them this warning, ¹⁰ “Men, I can see that this voyage will be fraught with danger and involve heavy losses, not only of the ship and the cargo but also of our lives.”

¹¹ However, the centurion paid more attention to the advice of the captain and of the ship’s owner than to what Paul said. ¹² Since the harbor was unsuitable for spending the winter, the majority were in favor of putting out to sea from there, in the hope that they could reach Phoenix,^[ao] a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

¹³ When a gentle southerly breeze began to blow, they thought that they would be able to achieve their objective. They weighed anchor and began to sail past Crete, hugging the shore. ¹⁴ But before long a violent wind, called a northeaster, swept down on them. ¹⁵ Since the ship was caught up in it, we had to give way to the wind and let ourselves be driven along.

¹⁶ As we passed along the sheltered side of a small island called Cauda,^[ap] we managed with some difficulty to secure the ship’s lifeboat. ¹⁷ After hoisting it up, they used cables to undergird the ship. Then, afraid of running aground on the shallows of Syrtis,^[aq] they lowered the sea anchor and so let themselves drift.

¹⁸ We were being pounded so violently by the storm that on the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. ¹⁹ Then on the third day, they threw the ship’s gear overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ For many days, neither the sun nor the stars could be seen, and the storm continued to rage until we finally abandoned all hope of being saved.

²¹ When they all had gone without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete. Then you would have avoided all this damage and loss. ²² I urge you now to keep up your courage. There will be no loss of life among you. Only the ship will be lost.

²³ “Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve appeared to me, ²⁴ and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You shall appear before Caesar. Furthermore, for your sake God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.’ ²⁵ Therefore, men, keep up your courage. I have complete trust in God that what he told me will be fulfilled. ²⁶ But we will run aground on some island.”

²⁷ On the fourteenth night, we were still drifting across the Adriatic Sea.^[ar] About midnight, the sailors began to suspect that they were nearing land, ²⁸ so they took soundings and found that the water was twenty feet deep. A little farther on they again took soundings and found fifteen feet.

²⁹ Fearing that we might run aground on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight to come. ³⁰ The sailors then tried to abandon ship. They had already lowered the lifeboat into the sea, on the pretext that they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. ³¹ But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay^[as] with the ship, you cannot be saved.” ³² Then the soldiers cut the ropes of the lifeboat and set it adrift.

³³ Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, “This is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense, going hungry and eating nothing. ³⁴ Therefore, I beg you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose even a hair of his head.”

³⁵ After he had said this, he took bread, gave thanks to God in front of them all, broke it, and began to eat. ³⁶ Then they were all encouraged and began to eat. ³⁷ Altogether, there were two hundred and seventy-six persons on board. ³⁸ After they had eaten as much as they wanted they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

³⁹ In the morning, they did not recognize the land, but they sighted a bay with a sandy beach, and they decided to run the ship aground on this if they could. ⁴⁰ And so they cut loose the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time, they loosened the ropes that held the rudders. Then, hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. ⁴¹ But they struck a reef, and the vessel ran aground. The bow became stuck and remained unmovable, while the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the waves.

⁴² The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners lest any of them might swim away and escape. ⁴³ However, the centurion was determined to spare Paul’s life, and he prevented them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land, ⁴⁴ while the rest were to follow either on planks or on pieces of wreckage from the ship. In this way, all were brought safely to land.

Chapter 28

Paul at Malta. ¹ Once we had made our way to safety, we learned that the island was called Malta.^{[at] 2} The natives^[au] treated us with unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they lit a bonfire and welcomed all of us around it.

³ Paul had gathered an armful of sticks and put them on the fire when a viper, driven out by the heat, attached itself to his hand. ⁴ On seeing the snake hanging from his hand, the natives said to one another, “This man must be a murderer. Although he escaped from the sea, Justice^[av] has not allowed him to live.”

⁵ However, he shook off the snake into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ They were expecting him to swell up or drop dead, but after waiting for a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷ In the vicinity of that place there were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, whose name was Publius.^[aw] He received us and gave us his hospitality for three days. ⁸ It so happened that this man’s father was sick with a fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and cured him by praying and laying hands on him. ⁹ After this happened, the rest of the sick people on the island also came and were cured. ¹⁰ They honored us with many marks of respect, and when we were about to set sail, they put on board all the supplies we needed.

¹¹ From Malta to Rome. Three months later,^[ax] we set sail on a ship that had wintered at the island. The ship was from Alexandria, with the Dioscuri as its figurehead. ¹² We landed at Syracuse^[ay] and spent three days there. ¹³ Then we sailed along the coast and came to Rhegium.^[az] After one day there, a south wind came up, and we reached Puteoli in two days.

¹⁴ In Puteoli, we found some brethren, and we were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. ¹⁵ When the brethren there learned of our arrival, they came out to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius^[ba] and the Three Taverns. On seeing them, Paul gave thanks to God, and his courage was strengthened.

Paul’s Activity at Rome^[bb]

Meetings with the Jewish Leaders. On his arrival in Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier guarding him.^{[bc] 17} Three days later, he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brethren, although I have done nothing against our people or our ancestral customs, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. ¹⁸ After they had examined me, the Romans wanted to release me because they had found nothing against me that deserved the death penalty. ¹⁹ But the Jews objected, and I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, even though I had no accusation to make against my own nation. ²⁰ This is the reason I have asked to see you and speak with you, for it is because of the hope of Israel that I wear these chains.”

²¹ They replied, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, nor have any of the brethren who arrived here reported or spoken anything evil about you. ²² But we would like to hear from you what you think, for all we know about this sect is that it is denounced everywhere.”

²³ And so they agreed on a day to meet with him, and they came to his lodgings in great numbers. From early morning until evening, he presented his case to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and attempting to convince them about Jesus as he argued from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets. ²⁴ Some were persuaded by what he had said, but others refused to believe.

²⁵ Having failed to reach an agreement among themselves, they began to leave. Then Paul made his final statement, “How right the Holy Spirit was when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah, saying,

²⁸ “Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation offered by God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen.” [ ²⁹ And when he had said this, the Jews departed, arguing vigorously among themselves.]^[bd]

³⁰ Conclusion—But Not an End.^[be] Paul remained there in his lodgings for two full years at his own expense. He welcomed all who came to him, ³¹ and without hindrance he boldly proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.