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.”
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Acts 26: NIrV
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The Acts 26
26
1And Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth his hand, and made his defence: 2I think myself happy, king Agrippa, that I am to make my defence before thee this day touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews: 3especially because thou art expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. 4My manner of life then from my youth up, which was from the beginning among mine own nation, and at Jerusalem, know all the Jews; 5having knowledge of me from the first, if they be willing to testify, how that after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6And now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; 7unto which promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. And concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O king! 8Why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth raise the dead? 9I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my vote against them. 11And punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.
12Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me. 14And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the goad. 15And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. 16But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee; 17delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee, 18to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me. 19Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 20but declared both to them of Damascus first, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judaea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. 21For this cause the Jews seized me in the temple, and assayed to kill me. 22Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand unto this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses did say should come; 23how that the Christ must suffer, and how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.
24And as he thus made his defence, Festus saith with a loud voice, Paul, thou art mad; thy much learning doth turn thee to madness. 25But Paul saith, I am not mad, most excellent Festus; but speak forth words of truth and soberness. 26For the king knoweth of these things, unto whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him; for this hath not been done in a corner. 27King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest. 28And Agrippa said unto Paul, With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian. 29And Paul said, I would to God, that whether with little or with much, not thou only, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds. 30And the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them: 31and when they had withdrawn, they spake one to another, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. 32And Agrippa said unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Caesar.
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