There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, who was a captain in the Roman army regiment called "The Italian Regiment."

Then Paul called one of the officers and said to him, "Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him."

When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they handed Paul and some other prisoners over to Julius, an officer in the Roman army regiment called "The Emperor's Regiment."

The next day we arrived at Sidon. Julius was kind to Paul and allowed him to go and see his friends, to be given what he needed.

But the army officer wanted to save Paul, so he stopped them from doing this. Instead, he ordered everyone who could swim to jump overboard first and swim ashore;

"Oh no, sir," answered the officer. "I do not deserve to have you come into my house. Just give the order, and my servant will get well.

When the army officer and the soldiers with him who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and everything else that happened, they were terrified and said, "He really was the Son of God!"

So the commander went to Paul and asked him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," answered Paul.

The commander said, "I became one by paying a large amount of money." "But I am one by birth," Paul answered.

But Paul said to the police officers, "We were not found guilty of any crime, yet they whipped us in public---and we are Roman citizens! Then they threw us in prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? Not at all! The Roman officials themselves must come here and let us out."

But I told them that we Romans are not in the habit of handing over any who are accused of a crime before they have met their accusers face-to-face and have had the chance of defending themselves against the accusation.