Acts 25
25
Paul’s Trial in Front of Festus
1Three days after Festus arrived, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. 2There the chief priests and the Jewish leaders came to Festus. They brought their charges against Paul. 3They tried very hard to get Festus to have Paul taken to Jerusalem. They asked for this as a favor. They were planning to hide and attack Paul along the way. They wanted to kill him. 4Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea. Soon I’ll be going there myself. 5Let some of your leaders come with me. If the man has done anything wrong, they can bring charges against him there.”
6Festus spent eight or ten days in Jerusalem with them. Then he went down to Caesarea. The next day he called the court together. He ordered Paul to be brought to him. 7When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many strong charges against him. But they couldn’t prove that these charges were true.
8Then Paul spoke up for himself. He said, “I’ve done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple. I’ve done nothing wrong against Caesar.”
9But Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor. So he said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem? Are you willing to go on trial there? Are you willing to face these charges in my court?”
10Paul answered, “I’m already standing in Caesar’s court. This is where I should go on trial. I haven’t done anything wrong to the Jews. You yourself know that very well. 11If I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I’m willing to die. But the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true. No one has the right to hand me over to them. I make my appeal to Caesar!”
12Festus talked it over with the members of his court. Then he said, “You have made an appeal to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
Festus Talks With King Agrippa
13A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea. They came to pay a visit to Festus. 14They were spending many days there. So Festus talked with the king about Paul’s case. He said, “There’s a man here that Felix left as a prisoner. 15When I went to Jerusalem, the Jewish chief priests and the elders brought charges against the man. They wanted him to be found guilty.
16“I told them that this is not the way Romans do things. We don’t judge people before they have faced those bringing charges against them. They must have a chance to argue against the charges for themselves. 17When the Jewish leaders came back with me, I didn’t waste any time. I called the court together the next day. I ordered the man to be brought in. 18Those bringing charges against him got up to speak. But they didn’t charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. 19Instead, they argued with him about their own beliefs. They didn’t agree about a man named Jesus. They said Jesus was dead, but Paul claimed Jesus was alive. 20I had no idea how to look into such matters. So I asked Paul if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem. There he could be tried on these charges. 21But Paul made an appeal to have the Emperor decide his case. So I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.”
22Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.”
Festus replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”
Paul in Front of Agrippa
23The next day Agrippa and Bernice arrived. They were treated like very important people. They entered the courtroom. The most important military officers and the leading men of the city came with them. When Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in. 24Festus said, “King Agrippa, and everyone else here, take a good look at this man! A large number of Jews have come to me about him. They came to me in Jerusalem and also here in Caesarea. They keep shouting that he shouldn’t live any longer. 25I have found that he hasn’t done anything worthy of death. But he made his appeal to the Emperor. So I decided to send him to Rome. 26I don’t have anything certain to write about him to His Majesty. So I have brought him here today. Now all of you will be able to hear him. King Agrippa, it will also be very good for you to hear him. As a result of this hearing, I will have something to write. 27It doesn’t make sense to send a prisoner on to Rome without listing the charges against him.”
Currently Selected:
Acts 25: NIrV
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Acts 25
25
Appeal to Caesar. 1Three days after his arrival in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem 2where the chief priests and Jewish leaders presented him their formal charges against Paul.#Even after two years the animosity toward Paul in Jerusalem had not subsided (see Acts 24:27). They asked him 3as a favor to have him sent to Jerusalem, for they were plotting to kill him along the way. 4Festus replied that Paul was being held in custody in Caesarea and that he himself would be returning there shortly. 5He said, “Let your authorities come down with me, and if this man has done something improper, let them accuse him.”
6After spending no more than eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the following day took his seat on the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought in. 7When he appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him and brought many serious charges against him, which they were unable to prove. 8In defending himself Paul said, “I have committed no crime either against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar.” 9#Paul refuses to acknowledge that the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem has any jurisdiction over him now (Acts 25:11). Paul uses his right as a Roman citizen to appeal his case to the jurisdiction of the Emperor (Nero, ca. A.D. 60) (Acts 25:12). This move broke the deadlock between Roman protective custody of Paul and the plan of his enemies to kill him (25:3). Then Festus, wishing to ingratiate himself with the Jews, said to Paul in reply, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there stand trial before me on these charges?” 10Paul answered, “I am standing before the tribunal of Caesar; this is where I should be tried. I have committed no crime against the Jews, as you very well know. 11If I have committed a crime or done anything deserving death, I do not seek to escape the death penalty; but if there is no substance to the charges they are bringing against me, then no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” 12Then Festus, after conferring with his council, replied, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go.”
Paul Before King Agrippa. 13When a few days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice#King Agrippa and Bernice: brother and sister, children of Herod Agrippa I whose activities against the Jerusalem community are mentioned in Acts 12:1–19. Agrippa II was a petty ruler over small areas in northern Palestine and some villages in Perea. His influence on the Jewish population of Palestine was insignificant. arrived in Caesarea on a visit to Festus. 14Since they spent several days there, Festus referred Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man here left in custody by Felix.#24:27. 15When I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and demanded his condemnation. 16I answered them that it was not Roman practice to hand over an accused person before he has faced his accusers and had the opportunity to defend himself against their charge. 17So when [they] came together here, I made no delay; the next day I took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought in. 18#18:14–15; 23:29. His accusers stood around him, but did not charge him with any of the crimes I suspected. 19Instead they had some issues with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but who Paul claimed was alive. 20Since I was at a loss how to investigate this controversy, I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these charges. 21And when Paul appealed that he be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.” 22Agrippa said to Festus, “I too should like to hear this man.” He replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”
23The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great ceremony and entered the audience hall in the company of cohort commanders and the prominent men of the city and, by command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all you here present with us, look at this man about whom the whole Jewish populace petitioned me here and in Jerusalem, clamoring that he should live no longer. 25I found, however, that he had done nothing deserving death, and so when he appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. 26But I have nothing definite to write about him to our sovereign; therefore I have brought him before all of you, and particularly before you, King Agrippa, so that I may have something to write as a result of this investigation. 27For it seems senseless to me to send up a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc