and<n id="1" /> Jason has welcomed them as guests! They<n id="2" /> are all acting against Caesar&#8217;s<n id="3" /> decrees, saying there is another king named<n id="4" /> Jesus!&#8221;<n id="5" />

So they took Paul and<n id="1" /> brought him to the Areopagus,<n id="2" /> saying, &#8220;May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming?

(All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time<n id="1" /> in nothing else than telling<n id="2" /> or listening to something new.)<n id="3" />p>

After we located<n id="1" /> the disciples, we stayed there<n id="2" /> seven days. They repeatedly told<n id="3" /> Paul through the Spirit<n id="4" /> not to set foot<n id="5" /> in Jerusalem.<n id="6" />

and saw the Lord<n id="1" /> saying to me, &#8216;Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.&#8217;

the commanding officer<n id="1" /> ordered Paul<n id="2" /> to be brought back into the barracks.<n id="3" /> He told them<n id="4" /> to interrogate Paul<n id="5" /> by beating him with a lash<n id="6" /> so that he could find out the reason the crowd<n id="7" /> was shouting at Paul<n id="8" /> in this way.

When the centurion<n id="1" /> heard this,<n id="2" /> he went to the commanding officer<n id="3" /> and reported it,<n id="4" /> saying, &#8220;What are you about to do?<n id="5" /> For this man is a Roman citizen.&#8221;<n id="6" />

<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.

They<n id="1" /> went<n id="2" /> to the chief priests<n id="3" /> and the elders and said, &#8220;We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath<n id="4" /> not to partake<n id="5" /> of anything until we have killed Paul.

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>

<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" />

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" />

<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>

So I said, &#8216;Who are you, Lord?&#8217; And the Lord replied,<n id="1" /> &#8216;I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

and said,<n id="1" /> &#8216;Do not be afraid, Paul! You must stand before<n id="2" /> Caesar,<n id="3" /> and God has graciously granted you the safety<n id="4" /> of all who are sailing with you.&#8217;

Also some of the Epicurean<n id="1" /> and Stoic<n id="2" /> philosophers were conversing<n id="3" /> with him, and some were asking,<n id="4" /> &#8220;What does this foolish babbler<n id="5" /> want to say?&#8221; Others said, &#8220;He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods.&#8221;<n id="6" /> (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)<n id="7" />

To the same apostles<n id="1" /> also, after his suffering,<n id="2" /> he presented himself alive with many convincing proofs. He was seen by them over a forty-day period<n id="3" /> and spoke about matters concerning the kingdom of God.

and said, &#8220;Men of Galilee, why do you stand here<n id="1" /> looking up into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven<n id="2" /> will come back in the same way you saw him go into heaven.&#8221;p>

And a man lame<n id="1" /> from birth<n id="2" /> was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called &#8220;the Beautiful Gate&#8221; every day<n id="3" /> so he could beg for money<n id="4" /> from those going into the temple courts.<n id="5" />

You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors,<n id="1" /> saying to Abraham, &#8216;<b><i>And in your descendantsi>b><n id="2" /> <b><i>all the nationsi>b><n id="3" /> <b><i>of the earth will be blessedi>b>.&#8217;<n id="4" />