Acts 26
1 Turning to Paul, Agrippa said, “You are at liberty to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense.
Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak about yourself." So Paul, with outstretched arm, proceeded to make his defence.
2 “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,
"As regards all the accusations brought against me by the Jews," he said, "I think myself fortunate, King Agrippa, in being about to defend myself to-day before you,
3 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.
who are so familiar with all the customs and speculations that prevail among the Jews; and for this reason, I pray you, give me a patient hearing.
4 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;
"The kind of life I have lived from my youth upwards, as exemplified in my early days among my nation and in Jerusalem, is known to all the Jews.
5 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.
For they all know me of old--if they would but testify to the fact--how, being an adherent of the strictest sect of our religion, my life was that of a Pharisee.
6 Even now, it is because of my hope in the promise given by God to our ancestors that I stand here on my trial –
And now I stand here impeached because of my hope in the fulfilment of the promise made by God to our forefathers--
7 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!
the promise which our twelve tribes, worshipping day and night with intense devotedness, hope to have made good to them. It is on the subject of this hope, Sir, that I am accused by the Jews.
8 Why do you all hold it incredible that God should raise the dead?
Why is it deemed with all of you a thing past belief if God raises the dead to life?
9 I myself, it is true, once thought it my duty to oppose in every way the name of Jesus of Nazareth;
"I myself, however, thought it a duty to do many things in hostility to the name of Jesus, the Nazarene.
10 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.
And that was how I acted in Jerusalem. Armed with authority received from the High Priests I shut up many of God's people in various prisons, and when they were about to be put to death I gave my vote against them.
11 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.
In all the synagogues also I punished them many a time, and tried to make them blaspheme; and in my wild fury I chased them even to foreign towns.
12 It was while I was traveling to Damascus on an errand of this kind, entrusted with full powers by the chief priests,
"While thus engaged, I was travelling one day to Damascus armed with authority and a commission from the High Priests,
13 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.
and on the journey, at noon, Sir, I saw a light from Heaven--brighter than the brightness of the sun--shining around me and around those who were travelling with me.
14 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.’
We all fell to the ground; and I heard a voice which said to me in Hebrew, "'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? You are finding it painful to kick against the ox-goad.'
15 ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting;
"'Who art Thou, Lord?' I asked. "'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied.
16 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,
'But rise, and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for the very purpose of appointing you My servant and My witness both as to the things you have already seen and as to those in which I will appear to you.
17 since I am choosing you out from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,
I will save you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you to open their eyes,
18 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.’
that they may turn from darkness to light and from the obedience to Satan to God, in order to receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified through faith in Me.'
19 After that, King Agrippa, I did not fail to obey the heavenly vision;
"Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision;
20 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.
but I proceeded to preach first to the people in Damascus, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judaea, and to the Gentiles, that they must repent and turn to God, and live lives consistent with such repentance.
21 This is why some men seized me in the Temple, and made attempts on my life.
"It was on this account that the Jews seized me in the Temple and tried to kill me.
22 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 –
Having, however, obtained the help which is from God, I have stood firm until now, and have solemnly exhorted rich and poor alike, saying nothing except what the Prophets and Moses predicted as soon to happen,
23 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.”
since the Christ was to be a suffering Christ, and by coming back from the dead was then to be the first to proclaim a message of light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."
24 While Paul was making this defense, Festus called out loudly, “You are mad, Paul; your great learning is driving you mad.”
As Paul thus made his defence, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, "You are raving mad, Paul; and great learning is driving you mad."
25 “I am not mad, your Excellency,” he replied. “On the contrary, the statements that I am making are true and sober.
"I am not mad, most noble Festus," replied Paul; "I am speaking words of sober truth.
26 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.
For the King, to whom I speak freely, knows about these matters. I am not to be persuaded that any detail of them has escaped his notice; for these things have 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 that you believe them."
28 But Agrippa said to Paul, “You are soon trying to make a Christian of me!”
Agrippa answered, "In brief, you are doing your best to persuade me to become a Christian."
29 “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!”
"My prayer to God, whether briefly or at length," replied Paul, "would be that not only you but all who are my hearers to-day, might become such as I am--except these chains."
30 Then the king rose, with the Governor and Bernice and those who had been sitting with them,
So the King rose, and the Governor, and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them;
31 and, after retiring, discussed the case among themselves. “There is nothing,” they said, “deserving death or imprisonment in this man’s conduct”;
and, having withdrawn, they talked to one another and said, "This man is doing nothing for which he deserves death or imprisonment."
32 and, speaking to Festus, Agrippa added, “The man might have been discharged, if he had not appealed to the Emperor.”
And Agrippa said to Festus, "He might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed to Caesar."
