Study Desk

But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and was not hurt.

The people thought he would swell up or fall down dead. They waited and watched him for a long time, but nothing bad happened to him. So they changed their opinion. They said, "He is a god!"

Publius' father was very sick. He had a fever and dysentery, but Paul went to him and prayed for him. He laid his hands on the man and healed him.

When we came to Rome, Paul was allowed to live alone. But a soldier stayed with him to guard him.

Three days later Paul sent for some of the most important Jews. When they came together, he said, "My brothers, I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our fathers. But I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.

They asked me many questions, but they could not find any reason why I should be put to death. So they wanted to let me go free.

But the Jews there did not want that. So I had to ask to come to Rome to have my trial before Caesar. That doesn't mean I am accusing my people of doing anything wrong.

Some of the Jews believed what he said, but others did not believe.

They had an argument among themselves and were ready to leave. But Paul said one more thing to them: "The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet. He said,

‘Go to this people and tell them: You will listen and you will hear, but you will not understand. You will look and you will see, but you will not understand what you see.

Yes, the minds of these people are now closed. They have ears, but they don't listen. They have eyes, but they refuse to see. If their minds were not closed, they might see with their eyes; they might hear with their ears; they might understand with their minds. Then they might turn back to me and be healed.'

The Good News is about God's Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. As a human, he was born from the family of David, but through the Holy Spirit he was shown to be God's powerful Son when he was raised from death.

Brothers and sisters, I want you to know that I have planned many times to come to you, but something always happens to change my plans. I would like to see the same good result among you that I have had from my work among the other non-Jewish people.

There are things about God that people cannot see—his eternal power and all that makes him God. But since the beginning of the world, those things have been easy for people to understand. They are made clear in what God has made. So people have no excuse for the evil they do.

People knew God, but they did not honor him as God, and they did not thank him. Their ideas were all useless. There was not one good thought left in their foolish minds.

They said they were wise, but they became fools.

They know God's law says that anyone who lives like that should die. But they not only continue to do these things themselves, but they also encourage others who do them.

So do you think that you can judge those other people? You are wrong. You too are guilty of sin. You judge them, but you do the same things they do. So when you judge them, you are really condemning yourself.

God has been kind to you. He has been very patient, waiting for you to change. But you think nothing of his kindness. Maybe you don't understand that God is kind to you so that you will decide to change your lives.

But you are so stubborn! You refuse to change. So you are making your own punishment greater and greater. You will be punished on the day when God will show his anger. On that day everyone will see how right God is to judge people.