<p class="bodytext">Paul looked directly<n id="1" /> at the council<n id="2" /> and said, &#8220;Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience<n id="3" /> before God to this day.&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">When morning came,<n id="1" /> the Jews formed<n id="2" /> a conspiracy<n id="3" /> and bound themselves with an oath<n id="4" /> not to eat or drink anything<n id="5" /> until they had killed Paul.

<p class="bodytext">But when the son of Paul&#8217;s sister heard about the ambush,<n id="1" /> he came and entered<n id="2" /> the barracks<n id="3" /> and told Paul.

Paul called<n id="1" /> one of the centurions<n id="2" /> and said, &#8220;Take this young man to the commanding officer,<n id="3" /> for he has something to report to him.&#8221;

The commanding officer<n id="1" /> took him by the hand, withdrew privately, and asked, &#8220;What is it that you want<n id="2" /> to report to me?&#8221;

When I was informed<n id="1" /> there would be a plot<n id="2" /> against this man, I sent him to you at once, also ordering his accusers to state their charges<n id="3" /> against him before you.p>

<t /><p class="bodytext">After five days the high priest Ananias<n id="1" /> came down with some elders and an attorney<n id="2" /> named<n id="3" /> Tertullus, and they<n id="4" /> brought formal charges<n id="5" /> against Paul to the governor.

which I was doing when they found me in the temple, ritually purified,<n id="1" /> without a crowd or a disturbance.<n id="2" />

<p class="bodytext">Then Felix,<n id="1" /> who understood the facts<n id="2" /> concerning the Way<n id="3" /> more accurately,<n id="4" /> adjourned their hearing,<n id="5" /> saying, &#8220;When Lysias the commanding officer comes down, I will decide your case.&#8221;<n id="6" />

When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him,<n id="1" /> bringing many serious<n id="2" /> charges that they were not able to prove.<n id="3" />

Rather they had several points of disagreement<n id="1" /> with him about their own religion<n id="2" /> and about a man named Jesus<n id="3" /> who was dead, whom Paul claimed<n id="4" /> to be alive.

Because I was at a loss<n id="1" /> how I could investigate these matters,<n id="2" /> I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried<n id="3" /> there on these charges.<n id="4" />

But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of His Majesty the Emperor,<n id="1" /> I ordered him to be kept under guard until I could send him to Caesar.&#8221;<n id="2" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">So Agrippa<n id="1" /> said to Paul, &#8220;You have permission<n id="2" /> to speak for yourself.&#8221; Then Paul held out his hand<n id="3" /> and began his defense:<n id="4" />p>

<p class="bodytext">As Paul<n id="1" /> was saying these things in his defense, Festus<n id="2" /> exclaimed loudly, &#8220;You have lost your mind,<n id="3" /> Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!&#8221;

<t /><p class="bodytext">When it was decided we<n id="1" /> would sail to Italy,<n id="2" /> they handed over Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion<n id="3" /> of the Augustan Cohort<n id="4" /> named Julius.

We went on board<n id="1" /> a ship from Adramyttium<n id="2" /> that was about to sail to various ports<n id="3" /> along the coast of the province of Asia<n id="4" /> and put out to sea,<n id="5" /> accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian<n id="6" /> from Thessalonica.<n id="7" />

We sailed slowly<n id="1" /> for many days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus.<n id="2" /> Because the wind prevented us from going any farther,<n id="3" /> we sailed under the lee<n id="4" /> of Crete off Salmone.<n id="5" />

<t /><p class="bodytext">Since considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous<n id="1" /> because the fast<n id="2" /> was already over,<n id="3" /> Paul advised them,<n id="4" />

When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and a violent<n id="1" /> storm continued to batter us,<n id="2" /> we finally abandoned all hope of being saved.<n id="3" />p>