Bible in Basic English
The Acts, 25
Paul makes a request to Ceasar
25:1 So Festus, having come into that part of the country which was under his rule, after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.
25:2 And the chief priests and the chief men of the Jews made statements against Paul,
25:3 Requesting Festus to give effect to their design against him, and send him to Jerusalem, when they would be waiting to put him to death on the way.
25:4 But Festus, in answer, said that Paul was being kept in prison at Caesarea, and that in a short time he himself was going there.
25:5 So, he said, let those who have authority among you go with me, and if there is any wrong in the man, let them make a statement against him.
25:6 And when he had been with them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; and on the day after, he took his place on the judge's seat, and sent for Paul.
25:7 And when he came, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem came round him, and made all sorts of serious statements against him, which were not supported by the facts.
25:8 Then Paul, in his answer to them, said, I have done no wrong against the law of the Jews, or against the Temple, or against Caesar.
25:9 But Festus, desiring to get the approval of the Jews, said to Paul, Will you go up to Jerusalem, and be judged before me there in connection with these things ?
25:10 And Paul said, I am before the seat of Caesar's authority where it is right for me to be judged : I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you are well able to see.
25:11 If, then, I am a wrongdoer and there is a cause of death in me, I am ready for death : if it is not as they say against me, no man may give me up to them. Let my cause come before Caesar.
25:12 Then Festus, having had a discussion with the Jews, made answer, You have said, Let my cause come before Caesar; to Caesar you will go.
25:13 Now when some days had gone by, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea and went to see Festus.
25:14 And as they were there for some days, Festus gave them Paul's story, saying, There is a certain man here who was put in prison by Felix :
25:15 Against whom the chief priests and the rulers of the Jews made a statement when I was at Jerusalem, requesting me to give a decision against him.
25:16 To whom I gave answer that it is not the Roman way to give a man up, till he has been face to face with those who are attacking him, and has had a chance to give an answer to the statements made against him.
25:17 So, when they had come together here, straight away, on the day after, I took my place on the judge's seat and sent for the man.
25:18 But when they got up they said nothing about such crimes as I had in mind :
25:19 But had certain questions against him in connection with their religion, and about one Jesus, now dead, who, Paul said, was living.
25:20 And as I had not enough knowledge for the discussion of these things, I made the suggestion to him to go to Jerusalem and be judged there.
25:21 But when Paul made a request that he might be judged by Caesar, I gave orders for him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.
25:22 And Agrippa said to Festus, I have a desire to give the man a hearing myself. Tomorrow, he said, you may give him a hearing.
25:23 So on the day after, when Agrippa and Bernice in great glory had come into the public place of hearing, with the chief of the army and the chief men of the town, at the order of Festus, Paul was sent for.
25:24 And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all those who are present here with us, you see this man, about whom all the Jews have made protests to me, at Jerusalem and in this place, saying that it is not right for him to be living any longer.
25:25 But, in my opinion, there is no cause of death in him, and as he himself has made a request to be judged by Caesar, I have said that I would send him.
25:26 But I have no certain account of him to send to Caesar. So I have sent for him to come before you, and specially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the business has been gone into, I may have something to put in writing.
25:27 For it seems to me against reason to send a prisoner without making clear what there is against him.
The Acts, 26
Paul's puts his cause to Agrippa
26:1 And Agrippa said to Paul, You may put your cause before us. Then Paul, stretching out his hand, made his answer, saying :
26:2 In my opinion I am happy, King Agrippa, to be able to give my answer before you today to all these things which the Jews say against me :
26:3 The more so, because you are expert in all questions to do with the Jews and their ways : so I make my request to you to give me a hearing to the end.
26:4 All the Jews have knowledge of my way of life from my early years, as it was from the start among my nation, and at Jerusalem;
26:5 And they are able to say, if they would give witness, that I was living as a Pharisee, in that division of our religion which is most regular in the keeping of the law.
26:6 And now I am here to be judged because of the hope given by God's word to our fathers;
26:7 For the effecting of which our twelve tribes have been working and waiting night and day with all their hearts. And in connection with this hope I am attacked by the Jews, O king !
26:8 Why, in your opinion, is it outside belief for God to make the dead come to life again ?
26:9 For I, truly, was of the opinion that it was right for me to do a number of things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
26:10 And this I did in Jerusalem : and numbers of the saints I put in prison, having had authority given to me from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my decision against them.
26:11 And I gave them punishment frequently, in all the Synagogues, forcing them to say things against God; and burning with passion against them, I went after them even into far-away towns.
26:12 Then, when I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and orders of the chief priests,
26:13 In the middle of the day, on the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who were journeying with me.
26:14 And when we had all gone down on the earth, a voice came to me, saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly ? It is hard for you to go against the impulse which is driving you.
26:15 And I said, Who are you, Lord ? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are attacking.
26:16 But get up on your feet : for I have come to you for this purpose, to make you a servant and a witness of the things in which you have seen me, and of those in which you will see me;
26:17 And I will keep you safe from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,
26:18 To make their eyes open, turning them from the dark to the light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may have forgiveness of sins and a heritage among those who are made holy by faith in me.
26:19 So, then, King Agrippa, I did not go against the vision from heaven;
26:20 But I went about, first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, and through all the country of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, preaching a change of heart, so that they, being turned to God, might give, in their works, the fruits of a changed heart.
26:21 For this reason, the Jews took me in the Temple, and made an attempt to put me to death.
26:22 And so, by God's help, I am here today, witnessing to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come about;
26:23 That the Christ would go through pain, and being the first to come back from the dead, would give light to the people and to the Gentiles.
26:24 And when he made his answer in these words, Festus said in a loud voice, Paul, you are off your head; your great learning has made you unbalanced.
26:25 Then Paul said, I am not off my head, most noble Festus, but my words are true and wise.
26:26 For the king has knowledge of these things, to whom I am talking freely; being certain that all this is common knowledge to him; for it has not been done in secret.
26:27 King Agrippa, have you faith in the prophets ? I am certain that you have.
26:28 And Agrippa said to Paul, A little more and you will be making me a Christian.
26:29 And Paul said, It is my prayer to God that, in little or great measure, not only you, but all those hearing me today might be even as I am, but for these chains.
26:30 And the king and the ruler and Bernice and those who were seated with them got up;
26:31 And when they had gone away they said to one another, This man has done nothing which might give cause for death or prison.
26:32 And Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been made free, if he had not put his cause before Caesar.
The Acts, 27
Paul puts sail for Rome
27:1 And when the decision had been made that we were to go by sea to Italy, they gave Paul and certain other prisoners into the care of a captain named Julius, of the Augustan band.
2 And we went to sea in a ship of Adramyttium which was sailing to the sea towns of Asia, Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.
3 And on the day after, we came to Sidon; and Julius was kind to Paul, and let him go to see his friends and take a rest.
4 And sailing again from there, we went on under cover of Cyprus, because the wind was against us.
5 And having gone across the sea off Cilicia and Pamphylia we came to Myra, in Lycia.
6 And there the captain came across a ship of Alexandria, sailing for Italy, and put us in it.
7 And when we had gone on slowly for a long time, and had had hard work getting across to Cnidus, for the wind was against us, we went under cover of Crete, in the direction of Salmone;
8 And sailing down the side of it, as well as we were able, we came to a certain place named Fair Havens, near which was the town of Lasea.
27:9 And as a long time had gone by, and the journey was now full of danger, because it was late in the year, Paul put the position before them,
10 Saying, Friends, I see that this journey will be one of great damage and loss, not only to the goods and the ship, but to ourselves.
11 But the captain gave more attention to the master and the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
12 And as the harbour was not a good one in which to be for the winter, the greater number of them were for going out to sea, in order, if possible, to put in for the winter at Phoenix, a harbour of Crete, looking to the north-east and south-east.
27:13 And when the south wind came softly, being of the opinion that their purpose might be effected, they let the ship go and went sailing down the side of Crete, very near to the land.
14 But after a little time, a very violent wind, named Euraquilo, came down from it with great force.
15 And when the ship got into the grip of it, and was not able to make headway into the wind, we gave way, and went before it.
16 And, sailing near the side of a small island named Cauda, we were able, though it was hard work, to make the ship's boat safe :
17 And having got it up, they put cords under and round the ship; but fearing that they might be pushed on to the Syrtis, they let down the sails and so went running before the wind.
18 And, still fighting the storm with all our strength, the day after they made a start at getting the goods out of the ship;
19 And on the third day, they let all the sailing apparatus go over the side.
20 And as we had not seen the sun or stars for a long time, and a great storm was on us, all hope of salvation was gone.
27:21 And when they had been without food for a long time, Paul got up among them and said, Friends, it would have been better if you had given attention to me and not gone sailing out from Crete, to undergo this damage and loss.
22 But now, I say to you, be of good heart, for there will be no loss of life, but only of the ship.
23 For this night there came to my side an angel of the God who is my Master and whose servant I am,
24 Saying, Have no fear, Paul, for you will come before Caesar, and God has given to you all those who are sailing with you.
25 And so, O men, be of good heart, for I have faith in God that it will be as he said to me.
26 But we will be sent on to a certain island.
27:27 But when the fourteenth day came, while we were going here and there in the Adriatic sea, about the middle of the night the sailors had an idea that they were getting near land;
28 And they let down the lead, and saw that the sea was a hundred and twenty feet deep; and after a little time they did it again and it was ninety feet.
29 Then, fearing that by chance we might come on to the rocks, they let down four hooks from the back of the ship, and made prayers for the coming of day.
30 Then the sailors made attempts secretly to get away from the ship, letting down a boat as if they were about to put down hooks from the front of the ship;
31 But Paul said to the captain and his men, If you do not keep these men in the ship, you will not be safe.
32 Then the armed men, cutting the cords of the boat, let her go.
27:33 And when dawn was near, Paul gave them all orders to take food, saying, This is the fourteenth day you have been waiting and taking no food.
34 So I make request to you to take food; for this is for your salvation : not a hair from the head of any of you will come to destruction.
35 And when he had said this and had taken bread, he gave praise to God before them all, and took a meal of the broken bread.
36 Then they all took heart and did the same.
37 And we were, in the ship, two hundred and seventy-six persons.
38 And when they had had enough food, they made the weight of the ship less, turning the grain out into the sea.
27:39 And when it was day, they had no knowledge of the land, but they saw an inlet of the sea with a floor of sand, and they had the idea of driving the ship up on to it if possible.
40 So cutting away the hooks, and letting them go into the sea, and freeing the cords of the guiding-blades, and lifting up the sail to the wind, they went in the direction of the inlet.
41 And coming to a point between two seas, they got the ship to land; and the front part was fixed in the sand and not able to be moved, but the back part was broken by the force of the waves.
42 Then the armed men were for putting the prisoners to death, so that no one would get away by swimming.
43 But the captain, desiring to keep Paul safe, kept them from their purpose, and gave orders that those who had knowledge of swimming were to go off the ship and get first to land :
44 And the rest, some on boards and some on things from the ship. And so it came about that they all got safe to land.
The Acts, 28
Paul says to Romans
28:1 And when we were safe, we made the discovery that the island was named Malta.
2 And the simple people living there were uncommonly kind to us, for they made a fire for us, and took us in, because it was raining and cold.
3 But when Paul had got some sticks together and put them on the fire, a snake came out, because of the heat, and gave him a bite on the hand.
4 And when the people saw it hanging on his hand, they said to one another, Without doubt this man has put someone to death, and though he has got safely away from the sea, God will not let him go on living.
5 But shaking off the beast into the fire, he got no damage.
6 But they had the idea that they would see him becoming ill, or suddenly falling down dead; but after waiting a long time, and seeing that no damage came to him, changing their opinion, they said he was a god.
28:7 Now near that place there was some land, the property of the chief man of the island, who was named Publius; who very kindly took us into his house as his guests for three days.
8 And the father of Publius was ill, with a disease of the stomach; to whom Paul went, and put his hands on him, with prayer, and made him well.
9 And when this took place, all the others in the island who had diseases came and were made well.
10 Then they gave us great honour, and, when we went away, they put into the ship whatever things we were in need of.
28:11 And after three months we went to sea in a ship of Alexandria sailing under the sign of the Dioscuri, which had been at the island for the winter.
12 And going into the harbour at Syracuse, we were waiting there for three days.
13 And from there, going about in a curve, we came to Rhegium : and after one day a south wind came up and on the day after we came to Puteoli :
14 Where we came across some of the brothers, who kept us with them for seven days; and so we came to Rome.
15 And the brothers, when they had news of us, came out from town as far as Appii Forum and the Three Taverns to have a meeting with us : and Paul, seeing them, gave praise to God and took heart.
16 And when we came into Rome, they let Paul have a house for himself and the armed man who kept watch over him.
28:17 Then after three days he sent for the chief men of the Jews : and when they had come together, he said to them, My brothers, though I had done nothing against the people or the ways of our fathers, I was given, a prisoner from Jerusalem, into the hands of the Romans.
18 Who, when they had put questions to me, were ready to let me go free, because there was no cause of death in me.
19 But when the Jews made protest against it, I had to put my cause into Caesar's hands; not because I have anything to say against my nation.
20 But for this reason I sent for you, to see and have talk with you : for because of the hope of Israel I am in these chains.
21 And they said to him, We have not had letters from Judaea about you, and no one of the brothers has come to us here to give an account or say any evil about you.
22 But we have a desire to give hearing to your opinion : for as to this form of religion, we have knowledge that in all places it is attacked.
28:23 And when a day had been fixed, they came to his house in great numbers; and he gave them teaching, giving witness to the kingdom of God, and having discussions with them about Jesus, from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning till evening.
24 And some were in agreement with what he said, but some had doubts.
25 And they went away, for there was a division among them after Paul had said this one thing : Well did the Holy Spirit say by the prophet Isaiah to your fathers,
26 Go to this people and say, Though you give ear, you will not get knowledge; and seeing, you will see, but the sense will not be clear to you :
27 For the heart of this people has become fat and their ears are slow in hearing and their eyes are shut; for fear that they might see with their eyes and give hearing with their ears and become wise in their hearts and be turned again to me, so that I might make them well.
28 Be certain, then, that the salvation of God is sent to the Gentiles, and they will give hearing.
29 When he had said these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.
28:30 And for the space of two years, Paul was living in the house of which he had the use, and had talk with all those who went in to see him,
31 Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ without fear, and no orders were given that he was not to do so.
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