< Acts 26 >
1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:
tata āgrippaḥ paulam avādīt, nijāṁ kathāṁ kathayituṁ tubhyam anumati rdīyate| tasmāt paulaḥ karaṁ prasāryya svasmin uttaram avādīt|
2 “I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, in that I am to make my defense before you this day concerning the things of which I am accused by the Jews,
he āgripparāja yatkāraṇādahaṁ yihūdīyairapavādito 'bhavaṁ tasya vṛttāntam adya bhavataḥ sākṣān nivedayitumanumatoham idaṁ svīyaṁ paramaṁ bhāgyaṁ manye;
3 especially because you are expert in all the Jewish customs and issues; therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.
yato yihūdīyalokānāṁ madhye yā yā rītiḥ sūkṣmavicārāśca santi teṣu bhavān vijñatamaḥ; ataeva prārthaye dhairyyamavalambya mama nivedanaṁ śṛṇotu|
4 Really, the Jews all know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation in Jerusalem,
ahaṁ yirūśālamnagare svadeśīyalokānāṁ madhye tiṣṭhan ā yauvanakālād yadrūpam ācaritavān tad yihūdīyalokāḥ sarvve vidanti|
5 since they have known me for a long time, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.
asmākaṁ sarvvebhyaḥ śuddhatamaṁ yat phirūśīyamataṁ tadavalambī bhūtvāhaṁ kālaṁ yāpitavān ye janā ā bālyakālān māṁ jānānti te etādṛśaṁ sākṣyaṁ yadi dadāti tarhi dātuṁ śaknuvanti|
6 And now I stand here being judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,
kintu he āgripparāja īśvaro'smākaṁ pūrvvapuruṣāṇāṁ nikaṭe yad aṅgīkṛtavān tasya pratyāśāhetoraham idānīṁ vicārasthāne daṇḍāyamānosmi|
7 to which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. It is because of this hope that I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa.
tasyāṅgīkārasya phalaṁ prāptum asmākaṁ dvādaśavaṁśā divāniśaṁ mahāyatnād īśvarasevanaṁ kṛtvā yāṁ pratyāśāṁ kurvvanti tasyāḥ pratyāśāyā hetorahaṁ yihūdīyairapavādito'bhavam|
8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
īśvaro mṛtān utthāpayiṣyatīti vākyaṁ yuṣmākaṁ nikaṭe'sambhavaṁ kuto bhavet?
9 “However, I myself thought that I had to perpetrate many things in opposition to the name of Jesus the Natsorean;
nāsaratīyayīśo rnāmno viruddhaṁ nānāprakārapratikūlācaraṇam ucitam ityahaṁ manasi yathārthaṁ vijñāya
10 I actually did this in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.
yirūśālamanagare tadakaravaṁ phalataḥ pradhānayājakasya nikaṭāt kṣamatāṁ prāpya bahūn pavitralokān kārāyāṁ baddhavān viśeṣatasteṣāṁ hananasamaye teṣāṁ viruddhāṁ nijāṁ sammatiṁ prakāśitavān|
11 Yes, I punished them often in every synagogue, trying to force them to blaspheme; I was so excessively enraged against them that I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
vāraṁ vāraṁ bhajanabhavaneṣu tebhyo daṇḍaṁ pradattavān balāt taṁ dharmmaṁ nindayitavāṁśca punaśca tān prati mahākrodhād unmattaḥ san videśīyanagarāṇi yāvat tān tāḍitavān|
12 “It was on one of those journeys, as I was going to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests,
itthaṁ pradhānayājakasya samīpāt śaktim ājñāpatrañca labdhvā dammeṣaknagaraṁ gatavān|
13 at midday, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, blazing around me and those traveling with me.
tadāhaṁ he rājan mārgamadhye madhyāhnakāle mama madīyasaṅgināṁ lokānāñca catasṛṣu dikṣu gagaṇāt prakāśamānāṁ bhāskaratopi tejasvatīṁ dīptiṁ dṛṣṭavān|
14 Well we all fell to the ground and I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
tasmād asmāsu sarvveṣu bhūmau patiteṣu satsu he śaula hai śaula kuto māṁ tāḍayasi? kaṇṭakānāṁ mukhe pādāhananaṁ tava duḥsādhyam ibrīyabhāṣayā gadita etādṛśa ekaḥ śabdo mayā śrutaḥ|
15 So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And He said: ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
tadāhaṁ pṛṣṭavān he prabho ko bhavān? tataḥ sa kathitavān yaṁ yīśuṁ tvaṁ tāḍayasi sohaṁ,
16 Now get up and stand on your feet; because I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness both of the things you have seen and of the things I will reveal to you,
kintu samuttiṣṭha tvaṁ yad dṛṣṭavān itaḥ punañca yadyat tvāṁ darśayiṣyāmi teṣāṁ sarvveṣāṁ kāryyāṇāṁ tvāṁ sākṣiṇaṁ mama sevakañca karttum darśanam adām|
17 delivering you from ‘the people’ and the ethnic nations, to which I am sending you:
viśeṣato yihūdīyalokebhyo bhinnajātīyebhyaśca tvāṁ manonītaṁ kṛtvā teṣāṁ yathā pāpamocanaṁ bhavati
18 to open their eyes, so as to bring them back from darkness into light and from the authority of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified, by faith into me.’
yathā te mayi viśvasya pavitrīkṛtānāṁ madhye bhāgaṁ prāpnuvanti tadabhiprāyeṇa teṣāṁ jñānacakṣūṁṣi prasannāni karttuṁ tathāndhakārād dīptiṁ prati śaitānādhikārācca īśvaraṁ prati matīḥ parāvarttayituṁ teṣāṁ samīpaṁ tvāṁ preṣyāmi|
19 Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision
he āgripparāja etādṛśaṁ svargīyapratyādeśaṁ agrāhyam akṛtvāhaṁ
20 —first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to all the region of Judea and to the ethnic nations, I still preach: ‘repent and turn back to God, doing works worthy of repentance.’
prathamato dammeṣaknagare tato yirūśālami sarvvasmin yihūdīyadeśe anyeṣu deśeṣu ca yena lokā matiṁ parāvarttya īśvaraṁ prati parāvarttayante, manaḥparāvarttanayogyāni karmmāṇi ca kurvvanti tādṛśam upadeśaṁ pracāritavān|
21 That is why the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
etatkāraṇād yihūdīyā madhyemandiraṁ māṁ dhṛtvā hantum udyatāḥ|
22 So then, having experienced the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying to both small and great, saying nothing beyond what both the prophets and Moses said would happen
tathāpi khrīṣṭo duḥkhaṁ bhuktvā sarvveṣāṁ pūrvvaṁ śmaśānād utthāya nijadeśīyānāṁ bhinnadeśīyānāñca samīpe dīptiṁ prakāśayiṣyati
23 —that the Messiah would suffer; that as the first to rise from the dead He would proclaim light to both ‘the people’ and the ethnic nations.”
bhaviṣyadvādigaṇo mūsāśca bhāvikāryyasya yadidaṁ pramāṇam adaduretad vinānyāṁ kathāṁ na kathayitvā īśvarād anugrahaṁ labdhvā mahatāṁ kṣudrāṇāñca sarvveṣāṁ samīpe pramāṇaṁ dattvādya yāvat tiṣṭhāmi|
24 Well as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice: “Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!”
tasyamāṁ kathāṁ niśamya phīṣṭa uccaiḥ svareṇa kathitavān he paula tvam unmattosi bahuvidyābhyāsena tvaṁ hatajñāno jātaḥ|
25 So he said: “I am not crazy, most excellent Festus; rather I pronounce words of truth and reasonableness.
sa uktavān he mahāmahima phīṣṭa nāham unmattaḥ kintu satyaṁ vivecanīyañca vākyaṁ prastaumi|
26 For the king knows about these things, before whom I speak freely; for I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, since it was not done in a corner.
yasya sākṣād akṣobhaḥ san kathāṁ kathayāmi sa rājā tadvṛttāntaṁ jānāti tasya samīpe kimapi guptaṁ neti mayā niścitaṁ budhyate yatastad vijane na kṛtaṁ|
27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
he āgripparāja bhavān kiṁ bhaviṣyadvādigaṇoktāni vākyāni pratyeti? bhavān pratyeti tadahaṁ jānāmi|
28 So Agrippa said to Paul, “You will soon persuade me to become a Christian!”
tata āgrippaḥ paulam abhihitavān tvaṁ pravṛttiṁ janayitvā prāyeṇa māmapi khrīṣṭīyaṁ karoṣi|
29 So Paul said, “Whether sooner or later, I would to God that not only you but also all who are hearing me this day may become such as I am, except for these chains.”
tataḥ so'vādīt bhavān ye ye lokāśca mama kathām adya śṛṇvanti prāyeṇa iti nahi kintvetat śṛṅkhalabandhanaṁ vinā sarvvathā te sarvve mādṛśā bhavantvitīśvasya samīpe prārthaye'ham|
30 Upon his saying this, the king stood up, along with the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them;
etasyāṁ kathāyāṁ kathitāyāṁ sa rājā so'dhipati rbarṇīkī sabhāsthā lokāśca tasmād utthāya
31 and when they had withdrawn they started talking among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”
gopane parasparaṁ vivicya kathitavanta eṣa jano bandhanārhaṁ prāṇahananārhaṁ vā kimapi karmma nākarot|
32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free, if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
tata āgrippaḥ phīṣṭam avadat, yadyeṣa mānuṣaḥ kaisarasya nikaṭe vicārito bhavituṁ na prārthayiṣyat tarhi mukto bhavitum aśakṣyat|