The Last Words of David

1 Now these are the last words of David:

David’s Mighty Men

8 ^rThese are the names of the mighty men whom David had: ^sJosheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite; he was chief of the three.⁵ He wielded his spear⁶ against eight hundred whom he killed at one time.

9 And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar the son of ^tDodo, son of ^uAhohi. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. 10 He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain.

11 And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the ^vHararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi,⁷ where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. 12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory.

13 And three of the thirty chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the ^wcave of Adullam, when a band of Philistines was encamped ^xin the Valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then ^yin the stronghold, and ^zthe garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. 15 And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” 16 Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord 17 and said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink ^athe blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

18 Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty.⁸ And he wielded his spear against three hundred men⁹ and killed them and won a name beside the three. 19 He was the most renowned of the thirty¹⁰ and became their commander, but he did not attain to ^bthe three.

20 And ^cBenaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man¹¹ of ^dKabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two ariels¹² of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. 21 And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. 23 He was renowned among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David set him over his bodyguard.

24 ^eAsahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, 25 ^fShammah of Harod, Elika of Harod, 26 Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh ^gof Tekoa, 27 Abiezer ^hof Anathoth, Mebunnai ⁱthe Hushathite, 28 Zalmon ^jthe Ahohite, Maharai ^kof Netophah, 29 Heleb the son of Baanah ^kof Netophah, Ittai the son of Ribai of ^lGibeah of the people of Benjamin, 30 Benaiah ^mof Pirathon, Hiddai of the brooks of ⁿGaash, 31 Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of ^oBahurim, 32 Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, 33 ^pShammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Hararite, 34 Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai ^qof Maacah, ^rEliam the son of ^sAhithophel the Gilonite, 35 Hezro^{13 t}of Carmel, Paarai the Arbite, 36 Igal the son of Nathan ^uof Zobah, Bani the Gadite, 37 Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai ^vof Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, 38 ^wIra the ^xIthrite, Gareb the Ithrite, 39 ^yUriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.

I Will Walk with Integrity

A Psalm of David.

Paul’s Defense Before Agrippa

1 So ^lAgrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

2 “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today ^magainst all the accusations of the Jews, 3 especially because you are familiar with all the ⁿcustoms and ^ocontroversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

4 ^p“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among ^qmy own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that ^raccording to the strictest ^sparty of our ^treligion I have lived as ^ua Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in ^vthe promise made by God to our fathers, 7 ^wto which ^xour twelve tribes hope to ^yattain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope ^zI am accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought ^aincredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

9 ^b“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^cJesus of Nazareth. 10 ^dAnd I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^efrom the chief priests, but ^fwhen they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And ^gI punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^hblaspheme, and ⁱin raging fury against them I ^jpersecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

12 “In this connection ^kI journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^lin the Hebrew language,¹ ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and ^mstand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ⁿto appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 ^odelivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^pto whom I ^qam sending you 18 ^rto open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^sthe power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^tforgiveness of sins and ^ua place among those who are sanctified ^vby faith in me.’

19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^wthe heavenly vision, 20 but declared first ^xto those in Damascus, ^ythen in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^zto the Gentiles, that they should ^arepent and ^bturn to God, performing deeds ^cin keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason ^dthe Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 ^eTo this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^fI stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^gthe prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 ^hthat the Christ ⁱmust suffer and that, ^jby being the first ^kto rise from the dead, ^lhe would proclaim ^mlight both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ⁿyou are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, ^omost excellent Festus, but I am speaking ^ptrue and ^qrational words. 26 For ^rthe king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be ^sa Christian?”² 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day ^tmight become such as I am—except for ^uthese chains.”

30 Then the king rose, and ^vthe governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, ^w“This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, ^x“This man could have been set ^yfree if he had not appealed ^zto Caesar.”

Paul Sails for Rome

1 And when it was decided ^athat ^bwe should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan ^cCohort named Julius. 2 And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by ^dAristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at Sidon. And ^eJulius ^ftreated Paul kindly and ^ggave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. 4 And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found ^ha ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even ⁱthe Fast³ was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with ^jinjury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid more attention to ^kthe pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

The Storm at Sea

13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, ^lstruck down from the land. 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda,⁴ we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. 17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would ^mrun aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear,⁵ and thus they were driven along. 18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day ⁿto jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, ^oyou should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this ^oinjury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to ^ptake heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night ^qthere ^rstood before me ^san angel of the God ^tto whom I belong and ^uwhom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; ^vyou must stand before Caesar. And behold, ^wGod has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But ^xwe must ^yrun aground on some island.”

27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms.⁶ A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.⁷ 29 And fearing that we might ^zrun on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered ^athe ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.

33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength,⁸ for ^bnot a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and ^cgiving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then they all ^dwere encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276^{9 e}persons in the ship.) 38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, ^fthrowing out the wheat into the sea.

The Shipwreck

39 Now when it was day, ^gthey did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41 But striking a reef,^{10 h}they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 42 ⁱThe soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion, ^jwishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that ^kall were brought safely to land.

Paul on Malta

1 After we were brought safely through, ^lwe then learned that ^mthe island was called Malta. 2 ⁿThe native people¹¹ showed us unusual ^okindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When ^pthe native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ^q“No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, ^rJustice¹² has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, ^sshook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, ^tthey changed their minds and ^usaid that he was a god.

7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and ^vprayed, and ^wputting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly,¹³ and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

Paul Arrives at Rome

11 After three months we set sail in ^xa ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods¹⁴ as a figurehead. 12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. 13 And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. 14 There we found ^ybrothers¹⁵ and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. 15 And ^ythe brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, ^zPaul thanked God and took courage. 16 And when we came into Rome, ^aPaul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul in Rome

17 After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, ^bthough I had done nothing against our people or ^cthe customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18 When they had examined me, they ^dwished to set me at liberty, ^ebecause there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. 19 But because the Jews objected, I was compelled ^fto appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against ^gmy nation. 20 For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is ^hbecause of ⁱthe hope of Israel that I am wearing ^jthis ^kchain.” 21 And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of ^lthe brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. 22 But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this ^msect we know that everywhere ⁿit is spoken against.”