"I would like," said Agrippa, "to hear this man myself."
"To-morrow," said Fetus you shall hear him."
So on the next day, Agrippa and his sister, Bernice, and Festus, with the chief men of the city and the officers of the army, came in great state to the hall of judgment, and Paul was brought before them, chained to a Roman soldier. And after a few words by Festus, Agrippa said to Paul, "You may now speak for yourself."
Then Paul spoke in words like these:
"I think myself happy, King Agrippa, to give answer before thee of all the things charged against me by the Jews, because I am sure that thou dost know all the Jewish ways and the questions about the law. I ask they, then, to hear me. My way of life from my youth all the Jews know, for I have lived among them; and if they tell the truth, they would say that I was of those who kept the laws of our people most carefully. And now I stand here to be judged for the sake of the promise which God made to our fathers; that promise to which our twelve tribes, serving God day and night, hope to come. And on account of this hope, O king, the Jews charge me with doing evil; because I believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead to be the King of Israel. Why should it be something thou canst not believe, that God does raise the dead to life?
PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA
"In former times I really thought with myself that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this I did in Jerusalem; for I shut up many good men and women in prisons, and when they were put to death I gave my voice against them. I caused them to be beaten and I tried to make them curse the name of Jesus; and being exceedingly mad against them, I sought for them even in cities far away.
"And as I journeyed to Damascus with letters from the chief priests, at mid-day, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, abut the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those who were with me. And as we all fell down upon the ground, I heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you fighting against me?'
"And I said, 'Who art thou, Lord?'
"And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are trying to destroy. But rise up, and stand upon your feet, for I have shown myself to you to make you my servant and my messenger to tell of what you have seen, and of what I will show you. I will keep you safe from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan, the evil one, to God, that their sins may be forgiven, and that they may receive a reward among those that are made holy by faith in me.
"O King Agrippa, I did not disobey the voice from heaven, but first at Damascus, and then at Jerusalem and throughout all the land of Judea, and also among the Gentiles, I have spoken, telling men to turn from sin to God, and to show deeds of right-doing. This is the cause why the Jews seized me in the Temple and tried to kill me. Having gained help from God, I stand unto this day, speaking to people, small and great, saying only what is given in the law of Moses and in the prophets: that the Christ must suffer and die, and that he by rising from the dead should give light to our people and to the Gentiles."
While Paul was speaking, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are mad! Your great learning has turned you to madness!"
For Festus, being a Roman, knew nothing of Jesus or of the truths which Paul spoke.
But Paul said to him, "I am not mad, most noble Festus. I speak only sober and truthful words. The king knows of these things, and I speak freely to him. None of these things are hidden from him, for these things were not done in secret. King Agrippa, dost thou believe the prophets? I know that thou dost believe."
And Agrippa said to Paul, "A little more and you will persuade me to become a Christian!"
And Paul said, "I would before God, that whether with little or with much, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these chains!"
After these words, King Agrippa, and Bernice, and Festus the governor, and those who were there, went away by themselves, and they said to each other, "This man has done nothing deserving death or prison."
And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not asked to be tried before Caesar."
Paul in the Storm
Acts xxvii: 1, to xxviii: 1.
When Paul chose to be tried before Caesar the emperor which was his right as a Roman, it became necessary to send him from Caesarea in Judea to Rome in Italy, where Caesar lived. In those years there were no ships sailing at regular times from city to city, but people who wished to go to places over the sea waited until they could find ships with loads sailing to those places. Paul and some other prisoners were given into the charge of a Roman centurion or captain named Julius, to be taken to Rome. Julius found a ship sailing from Caesarea to places on the shore of Asia Minor, which would take them a part of the way to Rome. He took Paul and the other prisoners on board this ship, and with Paul went his friends, Luck the doctor and Aristarchus from Thessalonica. Perhaps Timothy also was with them, but of this we are not certain.
They set sail from Caesarea, after Paul had been in prison more than two years; and the followed the coast northward to Sidon. There they stopped for a day; and Julius the centurion was very kind to Paul, and let him go ashore to see his friends who were living there. From Sidon they turned to the northwest and sailed past the island of Cyprus, and then westward by the shore of Asia Minor. At a city called Myra they left the ship, and went on board another ship, which was sailing from Alexandria to Italy with a load of wheat from the fields of Egypt.
Soon a heavy wind began to blow against the ship, and it sailed very slowly for many days; but at last came to the large island of Crete, and followed its southern shore in the face of the wind until they found a harbor, and they stayed for a few days. But this harbor was not a good one, and they thought to leave it and sail to another.
Paul now said to them, "Sirs, I see that this voyage will be with great loss to the load and the ship, and with great danger to the lives of us all."
And he urged them to stay where they were at anchor. But the owner of the ship and its captain thought that they might sail in safety; and Julius the centurion listened to them rather than to Paul. So when a gentle south wind began to blow, they set sail once more, closely following the shore of the island of Crete. But soon the wind grew into a great storm, and the ship could not face it, and was driven out of its course. Behind the ship was a little boat, and this they drew up on board; and as the ship creaked and seemed in danger of going to pieces, they tied ropes around it to hold it together.
The storm grew and drove the ship away from the island into the open sea. To make the vessel lighter they threw overboard a part of the load; and the next day they cast into the sea all the loose ropes and everything on the ship that could be spared.
Day after day went on, with no sight of the sun, and night after night with no sight of the stars. The great waves rolled over the ship and beat upon it, until those on board hardly hoped to save their lives. In their fear, for days the men and the prisoners had eaten nothing. But in the midst of the storm, Paul stood up among them and said:
"Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete, for then we might have been saved much harm and loss. But even as it is, be of good cheer; for though the ship will be lost, all of us on board shall be saved. This night there stood by me an angel of the Lord, to whom I belong, and whom I serve, and the angel said to me, 'Fear not, Paul; you shall yet stand before Caesar; and God has given to you all those who are sailing with you.'