Acts 26
1 Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense.
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You [(sg)] are permitted [now] to speak [to defend] yourself.” Paul stretched out his hand ([dramatically/to salute the king]) and began to defend himself. He said,
2 “I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you today concerning all the things that I am accused by the Jews,
“King Agrippa, I consider that I am fortunate that today, while you [(sg)] listen, I can defend myself from all the things about which the Jewish [leaders] [SYN] are accusing me.
3 especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.
I am really fortunate, because you [(sg)] know all about the customs of us Jews and the questions that we [(exc)] argue about. So I ask you, please listen patiently to what I say.”
4 “Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem;
“Many [HYP] of my fellow Jews know about how I have conducted my life, from the time I was a child. They know how I lived in the area where I [was born] and [also later] in Jerusalem.
5 having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
They have known for many years, and they could tell you, if they wanted to, that [since I was very young] I obeyed the customs of our religion very carefully, just like the [other] Pharisees do.
6 Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,
Today I am being put on trial {[they] are putting me on trial} because I am confidently expecting that God will do what he promised our [(exc)] ancestors.
7 which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa!
Our twelve tribes are [also] confidently waiting for God to do [for us what he promised], as they respectfully worship him, day and night. [Respected] king, I confidently expect [that God will do what he promised, and they also believe that! But that is the reason] that these Jewish leaders [SYN] are accusing me!
8 Why is it judged incredible with you if God does raise the dead?
They believe that God can cause those who have died to become alive again, so (why [do any of you refuse to believe that he raised Jesus from the dead?/none of you should refuse to believe that he raised Jesus from the dead!]) [RHQ]”
9 “I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
“[Formerly] I, too, was sure that I should do everything that I could to oppose Jesus [MTY], the man from Nazareth [town].
10 I also did this in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.
So that is what I did [when I lived] in Jerusalem. I put many of the believers in jail, as the chief priests there had authorized me [to do]. When [the Jewish leaders wanted] those Christians killed {someone to kill those [Christians]}, I voted [for that].
11 Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
Many times I punished the believers [whom I found] in Jewish meeting places. [By punishing them], I tried to force them to speak evil [about Jesus]. I was so angry with the followers of Jesus that I even traveled to other cities to [find them and] do things to harm them.”
12 “Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests,
“[One day], I was on my way to Damascus [city] to do that. The chief priests [in Jerusalem] had authorized and sent me [to seize the believers there].
13 at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me.
[My respected] king, [while I was going] along the road, at about noon I saw a [bright] light in the sky. It was even brighter than the sun! It shone all around me, and also around the men who were traveling with me.
14 When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
We [(exc)] all fell to the ground. Then I heard the voice of someone speaking to me in my own Hebrew language [MTY]. He said ‘Saul, Saul, (stop causing me to suffer!/why are you causing me to suffer?) [RHQ] You [(sg)] are [hurting yourself by trying to hurt me] [MET], [like an ox] kicking against [its owner’s] goad.’
15 “I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘I am Jesus. You [(sg)] are harming me [by harming my followers].
16 But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will reveal to you;
But instead [of continuing to do that], stand up now! I have appeared to you [(sg)] to tell you that I have chosen you to serve me. You must tell people about [what I am showing you] as you are seeing me [now], and about what I [will show you when] I will [later] appear to you.
17 delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,
I will protect you [from those who will try to harm you, both] your own people and [also] those who are not Jewish. I am sending you to non-Jews
18 to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
to help them to realize [MTY] what is true and to stop believing what is false [MET]. I am sending you to them so that they may let God control them and not let Satan control them any more. [Then God] will forgive their sins and will accept them as his people because they believe in me.’ [That is what Jesus said to me].”
19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
“So, King Agrippa, I fully obeyed [LIT] what [the Lord Jesus told me to do when he spoke to me] from heaven.
20 but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
First, I preached to [the Jews] in Damascus. Then I [preached to the Jews] in Jerusalem and throughout [the rest of] Judea [province]. After that, I also preached to non-Jews. I preached that they must turn away from their sinful behavior and turn their lives over to God. I told them that they must do things that would show that they had truly stopped their sinful behavior.”
21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
“It is because I [preached] this message [that some] [SYN] Jews seized me [when I was] in the Temple [courtyard and] tried to kill me.
22 Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen,
However, God has been helping me [from that time, and he is still helping me] today. So I stand here and I tell [all of you people], those who are important and those who are not, [who Jesus is]. Everything that I say [about him] is what Moses and the [other] prophets wrote [about long ago, things that they said] would happen.
23 how the Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.”
They wrote that [people would cause] the Messiah to suffer and die. They also wrote that he would be the first person to become alive again, to proclaim [the message that would be like] light, [that he would save] both [his own Jewish] people and non-Jewish people.”
24 As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!”
Before Paul could say anything [further] to defend himself, Festus shouted: “Paul, you are crazy! You have studied too much, and it has made you insane!”
25 But he said, “I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness.
But Paul answered, “Your Excellency, Festus, I am not raving [insanely]. On the contrary, what I am saying is true and sensible!
26 For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, for this has not been done in a corner.
King Agrippa knows the things [that I have been talking about], and I can speak confidently to him [about them]. I am sure that he knows [LIT] these things, because people everywhere [IDM] have heard [LIT] about what happened [to Jesus].”
27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
Then Paul asked, “King Agrippa, do you believe [what] the prophets [wrote]? I know that you [(sg)] believe it.”
28 Agrippa said to Paul, “With a little persuasion are you trying to make me a Christian?”
Then Agrippa [answered] Paul, “([I hope that you(sg)] do not think that by the few things [that you have just now said] you can persuade me to become a Christian!/You do not think, [do you], that by the few things [that you have just now said] you can persuade me to become a Christian?)” [RHQ]
29 Paul said, “I pray to God, that whether with little or with much, not only you, but also all that hear me today, might become such as I am, except for these bonds.”
Paul replied, “Whether it takes a short time or a long time, it does not matter. I pray to God that you and also all of the others who are listening to me today will also [believe in Jesus] like I do, but I do not want you to become prisoners [MTY] [like I am].”
30 The king rose up with the governor and Bernice, and those who sat with them.
Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others got up
31 When they had withdrawn, they spoke to one another, saying, “This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds.”
and left [the room. While] they were talking to one another they said to each other, “There is no reason why (the authorities/we) should execute this man, or that he should even be kept in prison [MTY].”
32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Agrippa said to Festus, “If this man had not asked that the Emperor judge him, he could have been released {[we(inc)] could have released him}.”
