Acts 24–26

The Accusation against Paul

24After five days Ananias ^xthe high priest came down with some elders and a lawyer ^ynamed Tertullus. These men presented their case against Paul to the governor. ^z2When he was called in, Tertullus began to accuse him and said: “Since we enjoy great peace because of you, and reforms are taking place for the benefit of this nation by your foresight, ³we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, most excellent ^aFelix, with utmost gratitude. ⁴However, so that I will not burden you any further, I beg you in your graciousness to give us a brief hearing. ⁵For we have found this man to be a plague, ^ban agitator ^camong all the Jews throughout the Roman world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes! ^d6He even tried to desecrate the temple, so we apprehended him [and wanted to judge him according to our law. ⁷But Lysias the commander came and took him from our hands with great force, ⁸commanding his accusers to come to you.] ^eBy examining him yourself you will be able to discern all these things we are accusing him of.” ⁹The Jews also joined in the attack, alleging that these things were so.

Paul’s Defense before Felix

¹⁰When the governor motioned to him to speak, Paul replied: “Because I know you have been a judge of this nation for many years, I am glad to offer my defense in what concerns me. ^f11You are able to determine that it is no more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem. ^g12They didn’t find me disputing with anyone or causing a disturbance among the crowd, either in the temple complex or in the synagogues or anywhere in the city. ^h13Neither can they provide evidence to you of what they now bring against me. ¹⁴But I confess this to you: I worship my fathers’ God according to the Way, ⁱwhich they call a sect, believing all the things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets. ^j15And I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection, ^klboth of the righteous and the unrighteous. ^m16I always do my best to have a clear conscience ⁿtoward God and men. ¹⁷After many years, I came to bring charitable gifts and offerings to my nation, ^o18and while I was doing this, some Jews from Asia found me ritually purified in the temple, without a crowd and without any uproar. ^p19It is they who ought to be here before you to bring charges, if they have anything against me. ²⁰Either let these men here state what wrongdoing they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin, ²¹or about this one statement I cried out while standing among them, ‘Today I am being judged before you concerning the resurrection of the dead.’ ”

The Verdict Postponed

²²Since Felix was accurately informed about the Way, ^qhe adjourned the hearing, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.” ²³He ordered that the centurion keep Paul ^runder guard, though he could have some freedom, and that he should not prevent any of his friends from serving ^shim. ^t

²⁴After some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and listened to him on the subject of faith in Christ Jesus. ²⁵Now as he spoke about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, ^uFelix became afraid and replied, “Leave for now, but when I find time I’ll call for you.” ²⁶At the same time he was also hoping that money would be given to him by Paul. ^vFor this reason he sent for him quite often and conversed with him.

²⁷After two years had passed, Felix received a successor, Porcius Festus, ^wand because he wished to do a favor for the Jews, ^xFelix left Paul in prison. ^y

Appeal to Caesar

25Three days after Festus arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ^z2Then the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews presented their case against Paul to him; and they appealed, ^a3asking him to do them a favor against Paul, ^bthat he might summon him to Jerusalem. They were preparing an ambush along the road to kill him. ⁴However, Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was about to go there shortly. ^c5“Therefore,” he said, “let the men of authority among you go down with me and accuse him, if there is any wrong in this man.”

⁶When he had spent not more than eight or 10 days among them, he went down to Caesarea. The next day, seated at the judge’s bench, he commanded Paul to be brought in. ^d7When he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought many serious charges that they were not able to prove, ^e8while Paul made the defense that, “Neither against the Jewish law, ^fnor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I sinned at all.”

⁹Then Festus, wanting to do a favor for the Jews, ^greplied to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem, there to be tried before me on these charges?”

¹⁰But Paul said: “I am standing at Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as even you can see very well. ¹¹If then I am doing wrong, or have done anything deserving of death, I do not refuse to die, but if there is nothing to what these men accuse me of, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar!” ^h

¹²After Festus conferred with his council, he replied, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you will go!”

King Agrippa and Bernice Visit Festus

¹³After some days had passed, King Agrippa ⁱand Bernice arrived in Caesarea and paid a courtesy call on Festus. ¹⁴Since they stayed there many days, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There’s a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix. ¹⁵When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews presented their case and asked for a judgment against him. ^j16I answered them that it’s not the Romans’ custom to give any man up ^kbefore the accused confronts the accusers face to face and has an opportunity to give a defense concerning the charges. ^l17Therefore, when they had assembled here, I did not delay. The next day I sat at the judge’s bench and ordered the man to be brought in. ¹⁸Concerning him, the accusers stood up and brought no charge of the sort I was expecting. ¹⁹Instead they had some disagreements ^mwith him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man Paul claimed to be alive. ²⁰Since I was at a loss in a dispute over such things, I asked him if he wished to go to Jerusalem and be tried there concerning these matters. ²¹But when Paul appealed to be held for trial by the Emperor, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I could send him to Caesar.”

²²Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.”

“Tomorrow you will hear him,” he replied. ⁿ

Paul before Agrippa

²³So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice ^ocame with great pomp and entered the auditorium with the commanders and prominent men of the city. When Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in. ²⁴Then Festus said: “King Agrippa and all men present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish community has appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he should not live any longer. ^p25Now I realized that he had not done anything deserving of death, but when he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. ^q26I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore, I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination is over, I may have something to write. ²⁷For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner and not to indicate the charges against him.”

Paul’s Defense before Agrippa

26Agrippa said to Paul, “It is permitted for you to speak for yourself.”

Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense: ²“I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that today I am going to make a defense before you about everything I am accused of by the Jews, ³especially since you are an expert in all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴“All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem. ^r5They had previously known me for quite some time, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I lived as a Pharisee. ^s6And now I stand on trial for the hope ^tof the promise ^umade by God to our fathers, ⁷the promise our 12 tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve Him night and day. King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this hope. ^v8Why is it considered incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? ⁹In fact, I myself supposed it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus the Nazarene. ^w10I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ^x11In all the synagogues I often tried to make them blaspheme by punishing them. ^yI even pursued them to foreign cities since I was greatly enraged at them.

Paul’s Account of His Conversion and Commission

¹²“I was traveling to Damascus under ^zthese circumstances with authority and a commission from the chief priests. ¹³King Agrippa, while on the road at midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me. ¹⁴We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ^ab

¹⁵“Then I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’

“And the Lord replied: ‘I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting. ¹⁶But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen ^cand of what I will reveal to you. ^d17I will rescue you from the people and from the Gentiles. I now send you to them ^e18to open their eyes ^fso they may turn from darkness to…