So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought.
When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed.
But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.”
Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.”
So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.
And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.
But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And as he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him.
For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.”
“I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,
especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.
They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.
And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers,
Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.
And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
“In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.
And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,
delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you
to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.
For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:
that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”
For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them.
And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.
And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.
The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.
And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us.
And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.
There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board.
We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.
Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.
Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them,
saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.
Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore.
But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land.
And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.
Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat.
After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.
Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo.
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