Study Desk

And now I stand here on trial for hope in the promise made by God to our fathers,

to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king!

But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,

For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner.

And Paul said, "Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am--except for these chains."

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.

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.

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 Cni'dus, and as the wind did not allow us to go on, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmo'ne.

And when neither sun nor stars appeared for many a day, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

I now bid you take heart; for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

For this very night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,

So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let out four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come.

So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders; then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach.

but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their purpose. He ordered those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and make for the land,

And the natives showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.

Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.