Luke's Story (27 page)

²⁷
Now when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him,
²⁸
crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all
men
everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”
²⁹
(For they had previously
^a
seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)

³⁰
And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut.
³¹
Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
³²
He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
³³
Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded
him
to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done.
³⁴
And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another.

So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks.
³⁵
When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob.
³⁶
For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, “Away with him!”

 

Addressing the Jerusalem Mob

³⁷
Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I speak to you?”

He replied, “Can you speak Greek?
³⁸
Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹
But Paul said, “I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰
So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to
them
in the Hebrew language, saying,

21:29
^a
M-Text omits
previously.

 

22 “Brethren and fathers, hear my defense before you now.”
²
And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent.

Then he said:
³
“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strictness of our fathers’ law, and was zealous toward God as you all ="3">
²⁸
The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.”

And Paul said, “But I was born
a citizen.
”

²⁹
Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from
him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

 

The Sanhedrin Divided

³⁰
The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from
his
bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them.

 

23 Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men
and
brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”
²
And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
³
Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you,
you
whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?”

⁴
And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?”

⁵
Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written,
‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
^a

⁶
But when Paul perceived that 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; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!”

⁷
And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided.
⁸
For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.
⁹
Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, “We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.”
^a

¹⁰
Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring
him
into the barracks.

 

The Plot Against Paul

¹¹
But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.”

¹²
And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
¹³
Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy.
¹⁴
They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul.
¹⁵
Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you tomorrow,
^a
as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”

23:5
^a
Exodus 22:28
23:9
^a
NU-Text omont>

²
And when he was called upon, Tertullus began his accusation, saying: “Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight,
³
we accept
it
always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.
⁴
Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us.
⁵
For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
⁶
He even tried to profane the temple, and we seized him,
^a
and wanted to judge him according to our law.
⁷
But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took
him
out of our hands,
⁸
commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him.”
⁹
And the Jews also assented,
^a
maintaining that these things were so.

 

The Defense Before Felix

23:30
^a
NU-Text reads
there would be a plot against the man.
24:6
^a
NU-Text ends the sentence here and omits the rest of verse 6, all of verse 7, and the first clause of verse 8.
24:9
^a
NU-Text and M-Text read
joined the attack.

¹⁰
Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered: “Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself,
¹¹
because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship.
¹²
And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd, either in the synagogues or in the city.
¹³
Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me.
¹⁴
But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.
¹⁵
I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of
the
dead,
^a
both of
the
just and
the
unjust.
¹⁶
This
being
so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.

¹⁷
“Now after many years I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation,
¹⁸
in the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with tumult.
¹⁹
They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me.
²⁰
Or else let those who are
here
themselves say if they found any wrongdoing
^a
in me while I stood before the council,
²¹
unless
it is
for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, ‘Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day.’”

 

Felix Procrastinates

²²
But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of
the
Way, he adjourned the proceedings and said, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will make a decision on your case.”
²³
So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let
him
have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visitome days, when Felix came with his wife Dse who journeyed with me.
¹⁴
And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?
It is
hard for you to kick against the goads.’
¹⁵
So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
¹⁶
But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
¹⁷
I will deliver you from the
Jewish
people, as well as
from
the Gentiles, to whom I now
^a
send you,
¹⁸
to open their eyes,
in order
to turn
them
from darkness to light, and
from
the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

 

Paul’s Post-Conversion Life

¹⁹
“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
²⁰
but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and
then
to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
²¹
For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill
me.
²²
Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—
²³
that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the
Jewish
people and to the Gentiles.”

Agrippa Parries Paul’s Challenge

²⁴
Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”

²⁵
But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.
⁴⁵
For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.
²⁷
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”

²⁸
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

²⁹
And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

³⁰
When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them;
³¹
and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”

³²
Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

 

The Voyage to Rome Begins

 

27 And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to
one
named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment.
²
So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristard found
it
to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found
it
to be fifteen fathoms.
²⁹
Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come.
³⁰
And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow,
³¹
Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”
³²
Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.

³³
And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored
them
all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing.
³⁴
Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.”
³⁵
And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken
it
he began to eat.
³⁶
Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves.
³⁷
And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship.
³⁸
So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.

 

Shipwrecked on Malta

³⁹
When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible.
⁴⁰
And they let go the anchors and left
them
in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore.
⁴¹
But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.

⁴²
And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape.
⁴³
But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from
their
purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump
overboard
first and get to land,
⁴⁴
and the rest, some on boards and some on
parts
of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land.

 

Paul’s Ministry on Malta

 

28 Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta.
²
And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.
³
But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid
them
on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
⁴
So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.”
⁵
But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.
⁶
However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷
In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us ds on him and healed him.
⁹
So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.
¹⁰
They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.

 

Arrival at Rome

¹¹
After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figure-head was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island.
¹²
And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days.
¹³
From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli,
¹⁴
where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome.
¹⁵
And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶
Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

 

Paul’s Ministry at Rome

¹⁷
And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: “Men
and
brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,
¹⁸
who, when they had examined me, wanted to let
me
go, because there was no cause for putting me to death.
¹⁹
But when the Jews
^a
spoke against
it,
I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation.
²⁰
For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see
you
and speak with
you,
because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”

28:19
^a
That is, the ruling authorities

²¹
Then they said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you.
²²
But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere.”