Actuum Apostolorum 26

1 Agrippa vero ad Paulum ait: Permittitur tibi loqui pro temetipso. Tunc Paulus extenta manu cœpit rationem reddere:

So Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense.

2 De omnibus quibus accusor a Judæis, rex Agrippa, æstimo me beatum apud te cum sim defensurus me hodie,

“I regard myself as happy, King Agrippa, to make my case before you today against all the accusations of the Jews;

3 maxime te sciente omnia, et quæ apud Judæos sunt consuetudines et quæstiones: propter quod obsecro patienter me audias.

especially, because you are an expert in all the Jewish customs and questions. So I ask you to hear me patiently.

4 Et quidem vitam meam a juventute, quæ ab initio fuit in gente mea in Jerosolymis, noverunt omnes Judæi:

Truly, all the Jews know how I lived from my youth in my own nation and at Jerusalem.

5 præscientes me ab initio (si velint testimonium perhibere) quoniam secundum certissimam sectam nostræ religionis vixi pharisæus.

They knew me from the beginning and they should admit that I lived as a Pharisee, the strictest party of our religion.

6 Et nunc, in spe quæ ad patres nostros repromissionis facta est a Deo, sto judicio subjectus:

Now I stand here to be judged because of my certain hope in the promise made by God to our fathers.

7 in quam duodecim tribus nostræ nocte ac die deservientes, sperant devenire. De qua spe accusor a Judæis, rex.

For this is the promise that our twelve tribes sought to receive as they earnestly worshiped God night and day. It is for this certain hope, King Agrippa, that the Jews accuse me.

8 Quid incredibile judicatur apud vos, si Deus mortuos suscitat?

Why should any of you think it is unbelievable that God raises the dead?

9 Et ego quidem existimaveram me adversus nomen Jesu Nazareni debere multa contraria agere,

Now indeed, I myself thought that I should do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

10 quod et feci Jerosolymis, et multos sanctorum ego in carceribus inclusi, a principibus sacerdotum potestate accepta: et cum occiderentur, detuli sententiam.

I did these in Jerusalem. I locked up many of the saints in prison by the authority I received from the chief priests, and when they were killed, I cast my vote against them.

11 Et per omnes synagogas frequenter puniens eos, compellebam blasphemare: et amplius insaniens in eos, persequebar usque in exteras civitates.

I punished them many times in all the synagogues and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was furiously enraged against them and I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

12 In quibus dum irem Damascum cum potestate et permissu principum sacerdotum,

While I was doing this, I went to Damascus with authority and orders from the chief priests;

13 die media in via vidi, rex, de cælo supra splendorem solis circumfulsisse me lumen, et eos qui mecum simul erant.

and on the way there, at midday, King, I saw a light from heaven that was brighter than the sun and it shone around both me and the men who were traveling with me.

14 Omnesque nos cum decidissemus in terram, audivi vocem loquentem mihi hebraica lingua: Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris? durum est tibi contra stimulum calcitrare.

When we all fell to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me that said in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick a goad.'

15 Ego autem dixi: Quis es, domine? Dominus autem dixit: Ego sum Jesus, quem tu persequeris.

Then I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' The Lord replied, 'I am Jesus whom you persecute.

16 Sed exsurge, et sta super pedes tuos: ad hoc enim apparui tibi, ut constituam te ministrum, et testem eorum quæ vidisti, et eorum quibus apparebo tibi,

Now get up and stand on your feet; because for this purpose I appeared to you, to appoint you to be a servant and a witness concerning the things that you know about me now and the things that I will show to you later;

17 eripiens te de populo et gentibus, in quas nunc ego mitto te,

and I will rescue you from the people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you,

18 aperire oculos eorum, ut convertantur a tenebris ad lucem, et de potestate Satanæ ad Deum, ut accipiant remissionem peccatorum, et sortem inter sanctos, per fidem quæ est 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 from God the forgiveness of sins and the inheritance that I give to them who are sanctified by faith in me.'

19 Unde, rex Agrippa, non fui incredulus cælesti visioni:

Therefore, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the heavenly vision;

20 sed his qui sunt Damasci primum, et Jerosolymis, et in omnem regionem Judææ, et gentibus, annuntiabam, ut pœnitentiam agerent, et converterentur ad Deum, digna pœnitentiæ opera facientes.

but, to those in Damascus first, and then at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, I gave them the message that that they should repent and turn to God, doing deeds worthy of repentance.

21 Hac ex causa me Judæi, cum essem in templo, comprehensum tentabant interficere.

For this cause the Jews arrested me in the temple and tried to kill me.

22 Auxilio autem adjutus Dei usque in hodiernum diem, sto, testificans minori atque majori, nihil extra dicens quam ea quæ prophetæ locuti sunt futura esse, et Moyses,

God has helped me until now, so I stand and testify to the common people and to the great ones about nothing more than what the prophets and Moses said would happen—

23 si passibilis Christus, si primus ex resurrectione mortuorum, lumen annuntiaturus est populo et gentibus.

that Christ must suffer and that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to our own people and to the Gentiles.”

24 Hæc loquente eo, et rationem reddente, Festus magna voce dixit: Insanis, Paule: multæ te litteræ ad insaniam convertunt.

As Paul completed his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are insane; your great learning makes you insane.”

25 Et Paulus: Non insanio, inquit, optime Feste, sed veritatis et sobrietatis verba loquor.

But Paul said, “I am not insane, most excellent Festus, but what I am declaring is true and rational.

26 Scit enim de his rex, ad quem et constanter loquor: latere enim eum nihil horum arbitror. Neque enim in angulo quidquam horum gestum est.

For the king knows about these things; and so, I speak freely to him, for I am persuaded that none of this is hidden from him; for this has not been done in a corner.

27 Credis, rex Agrippa, prophetis? Scio quia credis.

Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe.”

28 Agrippa autem ad Paulum: In modico suades me christianum fieri.

Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me and make me a Christian?”

29 Et Paulus: Opto apud Deum, et in modico et in magno, non tantum te, sed etiam omnes qui audiunt hodie fieri tales, qualis et ego sum, exceptis vinculis his.

Paul said, “I pray to God, that whether in a short or long time, not you only, but also all that hear me today, would be like me, but without these prison chains.”

30 Et exsurrexit rex, et præses, et Bernice, et qui assidebant eis.

Then the king stood up, and the governor, and Bernice also, and those who were sitting with them;

31 Et cum secessissent, loquebantur ad invicem, dicentes: Quia nihil morte aut vinculis dignum quid fecit homo iste.

when they left the hall, they talked to one another and said, “This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds.”

32 Agrippa autem Festo dixit: Dimitti poterat homo hic, si non appellasset Cæsarem.

Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been freed if he had not appealed to Caesar.”