Acts 26
1 Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:
Turning to Paul, Agrippa said, “You are at liberty to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense.
2 “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today to defend myself against all the accusations of the Jews,
“I have been congratulating myself, King Agrippa,” he said, “that it is before you that I have to make my defense today, with regard to all the charges brought against me by my own people,
3 especially since you are acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen to me patiently.
especially as you are so well-versed in all the customs and questions of the Jewish world. I beg you therefore to give me a patient hearing.
4 Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from the earliest days of my youth, among my own people and in Jerusalem.
My life, then, from youth upwards, was passed, from the very first, among my own nation, and in Jerusalem, and is within the knowledge of all Jews;
5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.
and they have always known – if they choose to give evidence – that, in accordance with the very strictest form of our religion, I lived a true Pharisee.
6 And now I stand on trial because of my hope in the promise that God made to our fathers,
Even now, it is because of my hope in the promise given by God to our ancestors that I stand here on my trial –
7 the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to realize as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews.
A promise which our twelve tribes, by earnest service night and day, hope to see fulfilled. It is for this hope, your Majesty, that I am accused – and by Jews themselves!
8 Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
Why do you all hold it incredible that God should raise the dead?
9 So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
I myself, it is true, once thought it my duty to oppose in every way the name of Jesus of Nazareth;
10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.
and I actually did so at Jerusalem. Acting on the authority of the chief priests, I myself threw many of the people of Christ into prison, and, when it was proposed to put them to death, I gave my vote for it.
11 I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
Time after time, in every synagogue, I tried by punishments to force them to blaspheme. So frantic was I against them, that I pursued them even to towns beyond our borders.
12 In this pursuit I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
It was while I was traveling to Damascus on an errand of this kind, entrusted with full powers by the chief priests,
13 About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions.
that at midday, your Majesty, I saw right in my path, coming from the heavens, a light brighter than the glare of the sun, which shone all around me and those traveling with me.
14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
We all fell to the ground, and then I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew – ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? By kicking against the goad you are punishing yourself.’
15 ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.
‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting;
16 ‘But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen from Me and what I will show you.
but get up and stand upright; for I have appeared to you in order to appoint you a servant and a witness of those revelations of me which you have already had, and of those in which I will yet appear to you,
17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them
since I am choosing you out from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,
18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’
to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God; so that they may receive pardon for their sins, and a place among those who have become God’s people, by faith in me.’
19 So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
After that, King Agrippa, I did not fail to obey the heavenly vision;
20 First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.
on the contrary, first to those at Damascus and Jerusalem, and then through the whole of Judea, and to the Gentiles as well, I began to preach repentance and conversion to God, and a life befitting that repentance.
21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.
This is why some men seized me in the Temple, and made attempts on my life.
22 But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
However I have received help from God to this very day, and so stand here, and bear my testimony to high and low alike – without adding a word to what the prophets, as well as Moses, declared should happen –
23 that the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”
That the Christ must suffer, and that, by rising from the dead, he was destined to be the first to bring news of light, not only to our nation, but also to the Gentiles.”
24 At this stage of Paul’s defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You are insane, Paul! Your great learning is driving you to madness!”
While Paul was making this defense, Festus called out loudly, “You are mad, Paul; your great learning is driving you mad.”
25 But Paul answered, “I am not insane, most excellent Festus; I am speaking words of truth and sobriety.
“I am not mad, your Excellency,” he replied. “On the contrary, the statements that I am making are true and sober.
26 For the king knows about these matters, and I can speak freely to him. I am confident that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.
Indeed, the king knows about these matters, so I speak before him without constraint. I am sure that there is nothing whatever of what I have been telling him that has escaped his attention; for all this has not been done in a corner.
27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Can you persuade me in such a short time to become a Christian?”
But Agrippa said to Paul, “You are soon trying to make a Christian of me!”
29 “Short time or long,” Paul replied, “I wish to God that not only you but all who hear me this day may become what I am, except for these chains.”
“Whether it is soon or late,” answered Paul, “I pray to God that not only you, but all who are listening to me, might today become just what I am myself – except for these chains!”
30 Then the king and the governor rose, along with Bernice and those seated with them.
Then the king rose, with the Governor and Bernice and those who had been sitting with them,
31 On their way out, they said to one another, “This man has done nothing worthy of death or imprisonment.”
and, after retiring, discussed the case among themselves. “There is nothing,” they said, “deserving death or imprisonment in this man’s conduct”;
32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
and, speaking to Festus, Agrippa added, “The man might have been discharged, if he had not appealed to the Emperor.”
