Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”l

So Paul motioned with his handm and began his defense: 2 “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before youn today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,o 3 and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customsp and controversies.q Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

4 “The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child,r from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long times and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sectt of our religion, living as a Pharisee.u 6 And now it is because of my hopev in what God has promised our ancestorsw that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribesx are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night.y King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me.z 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?a

9 “I too was convincedb that I ought to do all that was possible to opposec the name of Jesus of Nazareth.d 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s peoplee in prison,f and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.g 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished,h and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voicei saying to me in Aramaic,a j ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.k I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.l 17 I will rescue youm from your own people and from the Gentiles.n I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyeso and turn them from darkness to light,p and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sinsq and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’r

19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedients to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus,t then to those in Jerusalemu and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles,v I preached that they should repentw and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.x 21 That is why some Jews seized mey in the temple courts and tried to kill me.z 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happena—23 that the Messiah would sufferb and, as the first to rise from the dead,c would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”d

24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind,e Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learningf is driving you insane.”

25 “I am not insane, most excellentg Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things,h and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”i

29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”j