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Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.”
So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense:
So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense:
Paul's Testimony to Agrippa
And Agrippa said to Paul, It is permitted thee to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretching out his hand answered in his defence:
And Agrippa said to Paul, It is permitted thee to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretching out his hand answered in his defence:
“I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders,
I count myself happy, king Agrippa, in having to answer to-day before thee concerning all of which I am accused by the Jews,
for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently!
especially because thou art acquainted with all the customs and questions which are among the Jews; wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
“As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem.
My manner of life then from my youth, which from its commencement was passed among my nation in Jerusalem, know all the Jews,
If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion.
who knew me before from the outset [of my life], if they would bear witness, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors.
And now I stand to be judged because of the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,
In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope!
to which our whole twelve tribes serving incessantly day and night hope to arrive; about which hope, O king, I am accused of [the] Jews.
Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?
Why should it be judged a thing incredible in your sight if God raises the dead?
*I* indeed myself thought that I ought to do much against the name of Jesus the Nazaraean.
Which also I did in Jerusalem, and myself shut up in prisons many of the saints, having received the authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I gave my vote.
And often punishing them in all the synagogues, I compelled them to blaspheme. And, being exceedingly furious against them, I persecuted them even to cities out [of our own land].
“One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests.
And when, [engaged] in this, I was journeying to Damascus, with authority and power from the chief priests,
About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions.
at mid-day, on the way, I saw, O king, a light above the brightness of the sun, shining from heaven round about me and those who were journeying with me.
And, when we were all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? [it is] hard for thee to kick against goads.
“‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.
“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, *I* am Jesus whom *thou* persecutest:
Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future.
but rise up and stand on thy feet; for, for this purpose have I appeared to thee, to appoint thee to be a servant and a witness both of what thou hast seen, and of what I shall appear to thee in,
And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles
taking thee out from among the people, and the nations, to whom *I* send thee,
to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’
to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.
“And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven.
Whereupon, king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision;
I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God — and prove they have changed by the good things they do.
but have, first to those both in Damascus and Jerusalem, and to all the region of Judaea, and to the nations, announced that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me.
On account of these things the Jews, having seized me in the temple, attempted to lay hands on and destroy me.
But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen —
Having therefore met with [the] help which is from God, I have stood firm unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying nothing else than those things which both the prophets and Moses have said should happen,
that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”
[namely,] whether Christ should suffer; whether he first, through resurrection of [the] dead, should announce light both to the people and to the nations.
Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!”
Festus Interrupts Paul's Defense
And as he answered for his defence with these things, Festus says with a loud voice, Thou art mad, Paul; much learning turns thee to madness.
And as he answered for his defence with these things, Festus says with a loud voice, Thou art mad, Paul; much learning turns thee to madness.
But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth.
But Paul said, I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but utter words of truth and soberness;
And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner!
for the king is informed about these things, to whom also I speak with all freedom. For I am persuaded that of these things nothing is hidden from him; for this was not done in a corner.
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do — ”
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
And Agrippa [said] to Paul, In a little thou persuadest me to become a Christian.
Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”
And Paul [said], I would to God, both in little and in much, that not only thou, but all who have heard me this day, should become such as *I* also am, except these bonds.
Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others stood and left.
And the king stood up, and the governor and Bernice, and those who sat with them,
As they went out, they talked it over and agreed, “This man hasn’t done anything to deserve death or imprisonment.”
and having gone apart, they spoke to one another saying, This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds.