Acts 25:1–12

Paul Appeals to Caesar

25Now three days after Festus had arrived in ⁱthe province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ²And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews ^jlaid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, ³asking as a favor against Paul¹ that he summon him to Jerusalem—because ^kthey were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. ⁴Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ⁵“So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

⁶After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on ^lthe tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. ⁷When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him ^mthat they could not prove. ⁸Paul argued in his defense, “Neither ⁿagainst ^othe law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor ^pagainst Caesar have I committed any offense.” ⁹But Festus, ^qwishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” ¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s ^rtribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. ^sI appeal to Caesar.” ¹²Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”