Acts 26
26
1Agrippa said to Paul, “You may now present your case.”
So Paul motioned with his hand. Then he began to present his case. 2“King Agrippa,” he said, “I am happy to be able to stand here today. I will answer all the charges brought against me by the Jews. 3I am very pleased that you are familiar with Jewish ways. You know the kinds of things they argue about. So I beg you to be patient as you listen to me.
4“The Jewish people all know how I have lived ever since I was a child. They know all about me from the beginning of my life. They know how I lived in my own country and in Jerusalem. 5They have known me for a long time. So if they wanted to, they could tell you how I have lived. I have lived by the rules of the Pharisees. Those rules are harder to obey than those of any other Jewish group. 6Today I am on trial because of the hope I have. I believe in what God promised our people of long ago. 7It is the promise that our 12 tribes are hoping to see come true. Because of this hope they serve God with faithful and honest hearts day and night. King Agrippa, it is also because of this hope that these Jews are bringing charges against me. 8Why should any of you think it is impossible for God to raise the dead?
9“I believed that I should oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. So I did everything I could to oppose his name. 10That’s just what I was doing in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests, I put many of the Lord’s people in prison. I agreed that they should die. 11I often went from one synagogue to another to have them punished. I tried to force them to speak evil things against Jesus. All I wanted to do was hurt them. I even went looking for them in the cities of other lands.
12“On one of these journeys I was on my way to Damascus. I had the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13About noon, King Agrippa, I was on the road. I saw a light coming from heaven. It was brighter than the sun. It was shining around me and my companions. 14We all fell to the ground. I heard a voice speak to me in the Aramaic language. ‘Saul! Saul!’ it said. ‘Why are you opposing me? It is hard for you to go against what you know is right.’
15“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus,’ the Lord replied. ‘I am the one you are opposing. 16Now get up. Stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you to serve me. And you must tell other people about me. You must tell others that you have seen me today. You must also tell them that I will show myself to you again. 17I will save you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18to open their eyes. I want you to turn them from darkness to light. I want you to turn them from Satan’s power to God. I want their sins to be forgiven. They will be forgiven when they believe in me. They will have their place among God’s people.’
19“So then, King Agrippa, I obeyed the vision that appeared from heaven. 20First I preached to people in Damascus. Then I preached in Jerusalem and in all Judea. And then I preached to the Gentiles. I told them to turn away from their sins to God. The way they live must show that they have turned away from their sins. 21That’s why some Jews grabbed me in the temple courtyard and tried to kill me. 22But God has helped me to this day. So I stand here and tell you what is true. I tell it to everyone, both small and great. I have been saying nothing different from what the prophets and Moses said would happen. 23They said the Messiah would suffer. He would be the first to rise from the dead. He would bring the message of God’s light. He would bring it to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
24While Paul was still presenting his case, Festus interrupted. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you crazy!”
25“I am not crazy, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26The king is familiar with these things. So I can speak openly to him. I am certain he knows everything that has been going on. After all, it was not done in secret. 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
28Then Agrippa spoke to Paul. “Are you trying to talk me into becoming a Christian?” he said. “Do you think you can do that in such a short time?”
29Paul replied, “I don’t care if it takes a short time or a long time. I pray to God for you and all who are listening to me today. I pray that you may become like me, except for these chains.”
30The king stood up. The governor and Bernice and those sitting with them stood up too. 31They left the room and began to talk with one another. “Why should this man die or be put in prison?” they said. “He has done nothing worthy of that!”
32Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free. But he has made an appeal to Caesar.”
Currently Selected:
Acts 26: 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 26
26
Paul Defends Himself before Agrippa
1Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak on your own behalf.” Paul stretched out his hand and defended himself as follows:
2“King Agrippa! I consider myself fortunate that today I am to defend myself before you from all the things these Jews accuse me of, 3particularly since you know so well all the Jewish customs and disputes. I ask you, then, to listen to me with patience.
4“All the Jews know how I have lived ever since I was young. They know how I have spent my whole life, at first in my own country and then in Jerusalem. 5#Acts 23.6; Phil 3.5They have always known, if they are willing to testify, that from the very first I have lived as a member of the strictest party of our religion, the Pharisees. 6And now I stand here to be tried because of the hope I have in the promise that God made to our ancestors — 7the very thing that the twelve tribes of our people hope to receive, as they worship God day and night. And it is because of this hope, Your Majesty, that I am being accused by these Jews! 8Why do you who are here find it impossible to believe that God raises the dead?
9 #
Acts 8.3; 22.4–5 “I myself thought that I should do everything I could against the cause of Jesus of Nazareth. 10That is what I did in Jerusalem. I received authority from the chief priests and put many of God's people in prison; and when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them. 11Many times I had them punished in the synagogues and tried to make them deny their faith. I was so furious with them that I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
Paul Tells of his Conversion
(Acts 9.1–19; 22.6–16)
12“It was for this purpose that I went to Damascus with authority and orders from the chief priests. 13It was on the road at midday, Your Majesty, that I saw a light much brighter than the sun, coming from the sky and shining round me and the men travelling with me. 14All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by hitting back, like an ox kicking against its owner's stick.’ 15‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. And the Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus, whom you persecute. 16But get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant. You are to tell others what you have seen of me#26.16 Some manuscripts do not have of me. today and what I will show you in the future. 17I will rescue you from the people of Israel and from the Gentiles to whom I will send you. 18You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God's chosen people.’
Paul Tells of his Work
19“And so, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision I had from heaven. 20#Acts 9.20, 28–29First in Damascus and in Jerusalem and then in all Judea and among the Gentiles, I preached that they must repent of their sins and turn to God and do the things that would show they had repented. 21It was for this reason that these Jews seized me while I was in the Temple, and they tried to kill me. 22But to this very day I have been helped by God, and so I stand here giving my witness to all, to small and great alike. What I say is the very same thing which the prophets and Moses said was going to happen: 23#Is 42.6; 49.6; 1 Cor 15.20that the Messiah must suffer and be the first one to rise from death, to announce the light of salvation to the Jews and to the Gentiles.”
24As Paul defended himself in this way, Festus shouted at him, “You are mad, Paul! Your great learning is driving you mad!”
25Paul answered, “I am not mad, Your Excellency! I am speaking the sober truth. 26King Agrippa! I can speak to you with all boldness, because you know about these things. I am sure that you have taken notice of every one of them, for this thing has not happened hidden away in a corner. 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do!”
28Agrippa said to Paul, “In this short time do you think you will make me a Christian?”
29“Whether a short time or a long time,” Paul answered, “my prayer to God is that you and all the rest of you who are listening to me today might become what I am — except, of course, for these chains!”
30Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others got up, 31and after leaving they said to each other, “This man has not done anything for which he should die or be put in prison.” 32And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to the Emperor.”
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.