Before Paul finished defending himself, Festus shouted, "Paul, you're crazy! Too much learning has driven you out of your mind."
But Paul replied, "Honorable Festus, I am not crazy. What I am saying is true, and it makes sense. None of these things happened off in a corner somewhere. I am sure that King Agrippa knows what I am talking about. That's why I can speak so plainly to him."
Then Paul said to Agrippa, "Do you believe what the prophets said? I know you do." Agrippa asked Paul, "In such a short time do you think you can talk me into being a Christian?"
Paul answered, "Whether it takes a short time or a long time, I wish you and everyone else who hears me today would become just like me! Except, of course, for these chains." Then King Agrippa, Governor Festus, Bernice, and everyone who was with them got up. But before they left, they said, "This man isn't guilty of anything. He doesn't deserve to die or to be put in jail." Agrippa told Festus, "Paul could have been set free, if he had not asked to be tried by the Roman Emperor."
When it was time for us to sail to Rome, Captain Julius from the Emperor's special troops was put in charge of Paul and the other prisoners. We went aboard a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to some ports along the coast of Asia. Aristarchus from Thessalonica in Macedonia sailed on the ship with us.
The next day we came to shore at Sidon. Captain Julius was very kind to Paul. He even let him visit his friends, so they could give him whatever he needed. When we left Sidon, the winds were blowing against us, and we sailed close to the island of Cyprus to be safe from the wind.
Then we sailed south of Cilicia and Pamphylia until we came to the port of Myra in Lycia. There the army captain found a ship from Alexandria that was going to Italy. So he ordered us to board that ship.
We sailed along slowly for several days and had a hard time reaching Cnidus. The wind would not let us go any farther in that direction, so we sailed past Cape Salmone, where the island of Crete would protect us from the wind. We went slowly along the coast and finally reached a place called Fair Havens, not far from the town of Lasea.
By now we had already lost a lot of time, and sailing was no longer safe. In fact, even the Great Day of Forgiveness was past. Then Paul spoke to the crew of the ship, "Men, listen to me! If we sail now, our ship and its cargo will be badly damaged, and many lives will be lost." But Julius listened to the captain of the ship and its owner, rather than to Paul. The harbor at Fair Havens wasn't a good place to spend the winter. Because of this, almost everyone agreed that we should at least try to sail along the coast of Crete as far as Phoenix. It had a harbor that opened toward the southwest and northwest, and we could spend the winter there.