Acts 25:1–12

Paul’s Trial Before Festus

25Three days after arriving in the province, Festus^h went up from Caesareaⁱ to Jerusalem, ²where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.^{j 3}They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.^{k 4}Festus answered, “Paul is being held^l at Caesarea,^m and I myself am going there soon. ⁵Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”

⁶After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the courtⁿ and ordered that Paul be brought before him.^{o 7}When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him,^p but they could not prove them.^q

⁸Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple^r or against Caesar.”

⁹Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor,^s said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”^t

¹⁰Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews,^u as you yourself know very well. ¹¹If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”^v

¹²After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”