And you see and hear that this Paul has persuaded<n id="1" /> and turned away<n id="2" /> a large crowd,<n id="3" /> not only in Ephesus<n id="4" /> but in practically all of the province of Asia,<n id="5" /> by saying<n id="6" /> that gods made by hands are not gods at all.<n id="7" />

<p class="bodytext">When they arrived, he said to them, &#8220;You yourselves know how I lived<n id="1" /> the whole time I was with you, from the first day I set foot<n id="2" /> in the province of Asia,<n id="3" />

But I do not consider my life<n id="1" /> worth anything<n id="2" /> to myself, so that<n id="3" /> I may finish my task<n id="4" /> and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news<n id="5" /> of God&#8217;s grace.p>

By all these things,<n id="1" /> I have shown you that by working in this way we must help<n id="2" /> the weak,<n id="3" /> and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, &#8216;It is more blessed to give than to receive.&#8217;&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

They have been informed about you &#8211; that you teach all the Jews now living<n id="1" /> among the Gentiles to abandon<n id="2" /> Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children<n id="3" /> or live<n id="4" /> according to our customs.

take them and purify<n id="1" /> yourself along with them and pay their expenses,<n id="2" /> so that they may have their heads shaved.<n id="3" /> Then<n id="4" /> everyone will know there is nothing in what they have been told<n id="5" /> about you, but that you yourself live in conformity with<n id="6" /> the law.<n id="7" />

Paul answered,<n id="1" /> &#8220;I am a Jew<n id="2" /> from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city.<n id="3" /> Please<n id="4" /> allow me to speak to the people.&#8221;

When the argument became<n id="1" /> so great the commanding officer<n id="2" /> feared that they would tear Paul to pieces,<n id="3" /> he ordered the detachment<n id="4" /> to go down, take him away from them by force,<n id="5" /> and bring him into the barracks.<n id="6" />p>

But I confess this to you, that I worship<n id="1" /> the God of our ancestors<n id="2" /> according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law<n id="3" /> and that is written in the prophets.

<t /><p class="bodytext">Some days later, when Felix<n id="1" /> arrived with his wife Drusilla,<n id="2" /> who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak<n id="3" /> about faith in Christ Jesus.<n id="4" />

Paul replied,<n id="1" /> &#8220;I am standing before Caesar&#8217;s<n id="2" /> judgment seat,<n id="3" /> where I should be tried.<n id="4" /> I have done nothing wrong<n id="5" /> to the Jews, as you also know very well.<n id="6" />

And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received<n id="1" /> from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote<n id="2" /> against them when they were sentenced to death.<n id="3" />

When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself<n id="2" /> by kicking against the goads.&#8217;<n id="3" />

but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea,<n id="1" /> and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God,<n id="2" /> performing deeds consistent with<n id="3" /> repentance.

Because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided<n id="1" /> to put out to sea<n id="2" /> from there. They hoped that<n id="3" /> somehow they could reach<n id="4" /> Phoenix,<n id="5" /> a harbor of Crete facing<n id="6" /> southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

<p class="bodytext">Since many of them had no desire to eat,<n id="1" /> Paul<n id="2" /> stood up<n id="3" /> among them and said, &#8220;Men, you should have listened to me<n id="4" /> and not put out to sea<n id="5" /> from Crete, thus avoiding<n id="6" /> this damage and loss.

The local inhabitants<n id="1" /> showed us extraordinary<n id="2" /> kindness, for they built a fire and welcomed us all because it had started to rain<n id="3" /> and was cold.

Then<n id="1" /> they cast lots for them, and the one chosen was Matthias;<n id="2" /> so he was counted with the eleven apostles.<n id="3" />p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">Now<n id="1" /> when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Completely baffled, they said,<n id="1" /> &#8220;Aren&#8217;t<n id="2" /> all these who are speaking Galileans?