Acts 26:16–32

¹⁶But rise and ^mstand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ⁿto appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ^17odelivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^pto whom I ^qam sending you ^18rto open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^sthe power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^tforgiveness of sins and ^ua place among those who are sanctified ^vby faith in me.’

¹⁹“Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^wthe heavenly vision, ²⁰but declared first ^xto those in Damascus, ^ythen in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^zto the Gentiles, that they should ^arepent and ^bturn to God, performing deeds ^cin keeping with their repentance. ²¹For this reason ^dthe Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ^22eTo this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^fI stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^gthe prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ^23hthat the Christ ⁱmust suffer and that, ^jby being the first ^kto rise from the dead, ^lhe would proclaim ^mlight both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ⁿyou are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, ^omost excellent Festus, but I am speaking ^ptrue and ^qrational words. ²⁶For ^rthe king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be ^sa Christian?”^{2 29}And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day ^tmight become such as I am—except for ^uthese chains.”

³⁰Then the king rose, and ^vthe governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. ³¹And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, ^w“This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” ³²And Agrippa said to Festus, ^x“This man could have been set ^yfree if he had not appealed ^zto Caesar.”