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which thou hast seen, and of those in which I will ap17 pear unto thee; delivering thee from the people of the Jews; and from the gentiles, unto whom I now send 18 thee, to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God; that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance. among those that are sanctified, by faith in me.'

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"Wherefore, king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to 20 the heavenly vision: but declared first to those in Damascus, and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and then to the gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repent21 ance. For these causes the Jews seized me in the temple, and attempted to kill me.

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"Having therefore obtained help from God, to this day, I continue witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which both the pro23 phets and Moses spake of as about to come: that Christ

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should suffer; and that he, being the first who rose from the dead, should announce light to the people of the Jews, and to the gentiles."

And as he was thus making his defence, Festus said with a loud voice," Paul, thou art mad much learn25 ing driveth thee to madness." Then Paul saith, "I am

not mad, most excellent Festus; but utter the words of 26 truth and of a sound mind. For the king knoweth of

these things, before whom therefore I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from 27 him for this was not done in a corner. King Agrippa,

believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest 28 them." Then Agrippa [said] to Paul, "Thou almost 29 persuadest me to become a Christian." And Paul [said,]

"I would to God, that not thou only, but all likewise that hear me this day, were almost and even altogether

*before whom I even speak, N.

30 such as I am, except these bonds." Then the king*

rose up, and the governor also, and Bernicè, and those 31 who sat with them. And when they had gone aside,

they spake among themselves, saying, "This man doeth 32 nothing worthy of death or of bonds." And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed to Cæsar."

CH. XXVII. Now when it was determined that we should sail to Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were delivered to 2 a centurion of the Augustan band, named Julius. Then we entered into a ship of Adramyttium, and loosed, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; Aristarchus, a Mace3 donian of Thessalonica, being with us. And the next day we arrived at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul humanely, and gave him liberty to go to his friends, to be 4 taken care of. And when we had loosed thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 5 And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pam6 phylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and put us therein.

7 And when we sailed slowly for many days, and were scarcely come over-against Cnidus, the wind not suffer8 ing us, we sailed under Crete, over-against Salmonè: and, hardly passing by it, we came to a place which is called The fair havens ; near which was the city of Laséa. 9 Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now become dangerous, because even the Jewish fast was 10 now ended; Paul warned them, saying unto them, "Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with harm and much damage, not to the lading and the ship only, but to our11 selves also." However, the centurion believed the pilot, and the owner of the ship, more than the things spoken 12 by Paul. And because the haven was not commodious

* And when he had thus spoken, the king, etc. R. T.

to winter in, the greater part advised to loose thence also, if by any means they might reach Phenicè, and winter there: which is an haven of Crete, lying toward the 13 south-west and west. And when the south wind blew softly, having supposed that they should obtain their purpose, they weighed anchor, and passed close by Crete. 14 But, not long after, a tempestuous wind, called Euro15 clydon, beat against the island. And when the ship was borne away, and could not face the wind, we gave her 16 up, and were driven. And when we had run under a certain small island, called Clauda, we were scarcely able 17 to become masters of the boat: which when the sailors had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, 18 they struck sail, and thus were driven. And, we being

exceedingly tossed by a tempest, the next day they light19 ened the ship: and the third day we cast out with our 20 own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither

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sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be preserved was thenceforth taken away.

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But, after long abstinence, Paul stood in the midst of them, and said, "Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, and not have loosed from Crete, but have prevented this 22 harm and damage. And now I exhort you to be of good courage for there shall be no loss of life among you, For there stood by me this night an angel of that God, whose I am, and whom 24 I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cæsar and, lo, God hath graciously given to 25 thee all who sail with thee." Wherefore, sirs, be of good courage for I believe God, that it will be as it hath been 26 told me. However, we must be cast upon a certain island."

23 but of the ship there shall be loss.

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But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic sea, about midnight

the sailors thought that they drew near to some country; 28 and sounded, and found it twenty fathoms and, when

they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and 29 found it fifteen fathoms. Then fearing lest we should fall upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, 30 and wished for day. And as the sailors sought to escape out of the ship, and had let down the boat into the sea, under pretence as if they were about to cast anchors out 31 of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion, and to the soldiers, "Unless these remain in the ship, ye cannot be 32 preserved." Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her go off.

33 And, while the day was coming on, Paul besought

them all to partake of food; saying, "To-day is the fourteenth day of the storm, during which we have waited, 34 and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I exhort you to partake of food for this concerns your safety for an hair shall not fall from the head of 35 any among you." And, when he had thus spoken, he

took bread, and gave thanks to God before them all; and, 36 when he had broken it, he began to eat. Then they were 37 all of good courage; and they also took food. Now all

of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six persons. 38 And when they were satisfied with food, they lightened the ship, and threw the corn into the sea.

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And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they observed a certain creek with an even shore, into which they were determined, if it were possible, to thrust 40 the ship. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed the ship to the sea, and loosed the bands of the rudders, and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind, 41 and made toward shore. And having reached a place which had the sea on both sides, they ran the ship on ground; and the fore part stuck fast, and remained immoveable, but the hinder part was broken by the violence 42 of the waves. Now the counsel of the soldiers was, to

kill the prisoners; lest any of them should swim out, and 43 escape. But the centurion, wishing to preserve Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should cast themselves into the sea, and 44 get first to land and that the rest should save themselves, some on boards, and some on things belonging to the ship and thus it came to pass that all escaped safe to land.

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CH. XXVIII. And when they had escaped safe, they then knew 2 that the island was called Melita. And the barbarians shewed us no common humanity for they kindled a fire, and brought us all to it, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.

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And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, a viper came out of the heat, and 4 fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the serpent hanging on his hand, they said among themselves, "No doubt this man is a murtherer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance hath not permitted 5 to live." But Paul shook off the serpent into the fire, 6 and suffered no harm. However, they expected that he would have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly : but expecting a great while, and seeing no harm befal him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

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Now in the neighbourhood of that place were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and entertained us kindly three 8 days. And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever, and of a flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and put his hands on him, and cured him. 9 So when this was done, others also, that had diseases in 10 the island, came and were cured who also bestowed on us many gifts; and, when we departed, laded the ship with such things as were necessary.

* honours; N, See the Primate's margin, and Bishop Pearce's Commentary and

note.

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