| 1 Agrippa said to Paul: “You may speak in your own defense.” So Paul stretched out his hand and began in this way: | |
| 1 When it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they handed over Paul and the other prisoners into the care of an officer of the Augustan battalion, named Julius. | |
| 2 “King Agrippa, you have just heard about the accusations of the Jews. I consider myself fortunate in having the opportunity to defend myself against all this before you today, | |
| 2 We boarded a ship of Adramyttium bound for the Asian coasts, and we left accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from the city of Thessalonica. | |
| 3 for you are an expert in the customs of the Jews and their disputes. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. | |
| 3 We arrived at Sidon on the next day. Julius was very kind to Paul, letting him visit his friends and be cared for by them. | |
| 4 All the Jews know how I have lived from my youth, how I have lived among my own people and in Jerusalem. | |
| 4 From there, we sailed along the sheltered coast of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. | |
| 5 They have always known me and they can tell you, if they wish, that I have lived as a Pharisee in the most rigorous sect of our religion. | |
| 5 We sailed across the seas off Cilicia and Pamphylia and arrived at Myra in Lycia. | |
| 6 If I am now tried here, it is because of the hope I have in the promise made by God to our ancestors. | |
| 6 There the captain found a ship from Alexandria sailing for Italy and made us board it. | |
| 7 The hope of attaining this promise is behind the fervent worship that our twelve tribes render to God night and day. Yet now, O king, the Jews accuse me for this hope! | |
| 7 We sailed slowly for several days, and arrived with great difficulty at Cnidus. As the wind did not allow us to enter that port, we sailed for the shelter of Crete with the Cape of Salmone within sight. | |
| 8 But why refuse to believe that God raises the dead? | |
| 8 We turned with difficulty and arrived at a place called Good Ports, near the city of Lasea. | |
| 9 I myself in the beginning thought that I had to use all possible means to counteract the Name of Jesus of Nazareth. | |
| 9 Time passed and the crossing began to be dangerous: we had already celebrated the feast of the Fast. | |
| 10 This I did in Jerusalem and, with the authorization of the chief priests, I put in prison many who believed; and I cast my vote when they were condemned to death. | |
| 10 Then Paul said to them: “Friends, I believe that it would not be very wise to proceed with our crossing for we could lose not only the cargo and the ship but also our lives.” | |
| 11 I went round the synagogues and multiplied punishments against them to force them to renounce their faith; such was my rage against them that I pursued them even to foreign cities. | |
| 11 But the Roman officer relied more on the ship’s captain and the owner of the ship than on the words of Paul. | |
| 12 With this purpose in mind I went to Damascus with full authority and commissioned by the chief priests. | |
| 12 And as the port was not suitable for wintering, the majority agreed to set out from there in the hope of reaching the harbor of Crete called Phoenix, overlooking Africa and Choros, where they could spend the winter. | |
| 13 On the way, O King, at midday I saw a light from heaven, more brilliant than the sun, that dazzled me and those who accompanied me. | |
| 13 Then the south wind began to blow and they thought that they had gained their purpose; they weighed anchor and sailed along the island of Crete. | |
| 14 We all fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew: ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? In vain do you kick against the goad.’ | |
| 14 But a little later, a strong wind called “the northeaster” swept down on them, from across the island. | |
| 15 I answered: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said: ‘I am Jesus whom you persecute. | |
| 15 The ship was dragged along and could not face the wind, so that we remained adrift. | |
| 16 Get up now and stand on your feet. I have revealed myself to you to make you servant and witness to what I have just shown you and to what I will show you later on. | |
| 16 As we were crossing under the lee of the small island of Cauda, we managed – but with effort – to secure the lifeboat. | |
| 17 I will rescue you from all evil that may come from your own people or from the pagans to whom I am sending you. | |
| 17 After lifting it aboard, they used cables to undergird the hull, and since we feared running aground on the sands of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor. So we continued to be dragged along. | |
| 18 For you shall open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God; and, through faith in me, may obtain forgiveness of their sins and a place among those who are sanctified.’ | |
| 18 The storm lashed at us so strongly that on the next day they began throwing the cargo overboard. | |
| 19 Since that time, King Agrippa, I did not stray from this heavenly vision; | |
| 19 On the third day the sailors with their own hands threw out the ship’s gear. | |
| 20 on the contrary, I began preaching first to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and throughout Judea, and then to the pagan nations, that they should repent and turn to God, showing the fruits of true conversion. | |
| 20 For several days neither the sun nor the stars could be seen, and the tempest had not subsided: we lost all hope of saving ourselves. | |
| 21 I was carrying out this mission when the Jews arrested me in the Temple and tried to kill me. But with the help of God, I still stand here today to give my testimony both to the great and the small. | |
| 21 As we had not eaten for days, Paul stood up among them and said: “Friends, if you had followed my advice when I told you not to set sail from Crete, we would not be in such danger now, and we could have avoided this loss. | |
| 22 I do not teach anything other than what Moses and the Prophets announced beforehand: | |
| 22 But now I invite you to regain courage for no one among you shall die; only the ship shall be destroyed. | |
| 23 the Messiah had to die, and after being the first to be raised from the dead, he would proclaim the light to his people as well as to all nations.” | |
| 23 Last night there appeared to me an angel of my God to whom I serve, | |
| 24 As Paul came to this point of his defense, Festus said in a loud voice: “Paul, you are mad; your great learning has deranged your mind!” | |
| 24 and he said to me: ‘Paul, do not be afraid, you must present yourself be fore Caesar’s tribunal, and God has guaranteed you the life of all those who sail with you.’ | |
| 25 But Paul answered: “I am not mad, Most Excellent Festus, but everything I have said is reliable and true. | |
| 25 Have courage, therefore, my friends, for I trust in God that it will be just as he told me. | |
| 26 The king is acquainted with all these things, so to him I speak with such confidence. I am convinced that he knows everything about this case, for these things did not happen in a dark corner. | |
| 26 But we have to run aground on some island.” | |
| 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do.” | |
| 27 Near midnight on the fourteenth night, as we were drifting in the Adriatic Sea, the sailors suspected that land was near. | |
| 28 Agrippa said to him: “You almost believe that you have already made me a Christian!” | |
| 28 They measured the depth of the water and it was thirty-seven meters. After a while, they measured it again and it was twenty-seven meters. | |
| 29 Paul answered him: “Whether little or more, I would that not only you but all who hear me this day may come to be as I am – except for these chains.” | |
| 29 They feared that we might hit some rocks, so they cast out four anchors from the stern and waited anxiously for morning. | |
| 30 Then the king rose and, with him, the governor, Bernice and all the attendants. | |
| 30 Then the sailors tried to escape from the ship under the pretext of extending the cables of the anchors from the bow, so they lowered the lifeboat into the sea. | |
| 31 When they went out they talked among themselves and said: “This man has done nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” | |
| 31 But Paul said to the captain and to the soldiers: “If they leave the ship, you cannot be saved. | |
| 32 And Agrippa said to Festus: “Had he not appealed to Caesar, he could have been set free.” | |
| 32 So the soldiers cut the mooring cables of the boat and let it fall. | |
| 33 As they waited for dawn, Paul urged everyone: “For fourteen days you have not eaten anything because of anxious waiting. | |
| 34 I ask you to eat now if you want to live; be sure that not even a hair of your head will be lost.” | |
| 35 Having said this, he took bread, gave thanks to God in everybody’s presence, broke it and began to eat. | |
| 36 All were encouraged and they too ate. | |
| 37 They were two hundred and seventy-six persons in all. | |
| 38 When they had eaten enough, they threw the wheat into the sea to lighten the boat. | |
| 39 When morning came, they did not recognize the land but noticed a bay with a beach, so they decided to run the ship aground, if possible. | |
| 40 They cast off the anchors and left them in the sea; at the same time, they loosened the ropes of the rudders, hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach. | |
| 41 But they struck a sandbank and the ship ran aground. The bow stuck and was immovable, while the stern was broken up by the violent waves. | |
| 42 The soldiers then planned to kill the prisoners for fear that some of them might escape by swimming. | |
| 43 But the captain, who wished to save Paul, did not allow them to do this. He ordered those who knew how to swim, to be the first to jump into the water and head for the shore, | |
| 44 and the rest to hold on to planks or pieces of the ship. So all of us reached land safe and sound. | |
