Acts 26

¹Agrippa then said to Paul: You are permitted to speak for yourself. Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

²Concerning all the things of which I am accused by Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today,

³especially since you are outstandingly familiar with all the customs and controversies among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

⁴My manner of life, then, from my youth — the one that was from the beginning among my own nation and also in Jerusalem — all the Jews know,

⁵having known me from time past — if they are willing to testify — that according to the strictest party of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.

⁶And now I stand on trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,

⁷to which our twelve tribes, serving earnestly night and day, hope to attain — concerning which hope I am accused, O King Agrippa, by the Jews.

⁸Why is it judged incredible by you people if God raises the dead?

⁹I myself then indeed thought it necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus the Nazarene,

¹⁰which I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I myself locked up in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were being put to death, I cast my vote against them.

¹¹And in all the synagogues I often punished them and tried to compel them to blaspheme, and being exceedingly enraged against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

¹²In which circumstances also, journeying to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

¹³at midday on the road, O king, I saw a light from heaven, surpassing the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those journeying with me.

¹⁴And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

¹⁵And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.'

¹⁶But rise and stand on your feet; for to this end I have appeared to you, to appoint you as a servant and witness both of the things you have seen of me and of the things in which I will appear to you,

¹⁷delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

¹⁸to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me.

¹⁹Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

²⁰but I declared first to those in Damascus, and also in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of repentance.

²¹On account of these things, the Jews seized me while I was in the temple and tried to kill me.

²²Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I have stood to this day bearing witness both to small and great, saying nothing beyond what both the prophets and Moses said would come to pass,

²³that the Christ was subject to suffering, that as the first from the resurrection of the dead he was to proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.

²⁴And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, 'You are out of your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you to madness!'

²⁵But Paul said, 'I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking words of truth and sober reason.'

²⁶For the king knows about these things, and to him I also speak freely; for I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.

²⁷Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe.

²⁸And Agrippa said to Paul, 'In a short time you are persuading me to become a Christian!'

²⁹And Paul said, 'I would pray to God that whether in a short time or in a long, not only you but also all those hearing me today might become such as I am, except for these chains.'

³⁰And when he had said these things, the king rose and the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them,

³¹And having withdrawn, they were speaking to one another, saying that this man is doing nothing deserving death or chains.

³²And Agrippa said to Festus, 'This man could have been released, if he had not appealed to Caesar.'