Acts 26

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

So Paul motioned with his hand^g and began his defense: “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you^h today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,ⁱ and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs^j and controversies.^k Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

“The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child,^l from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. They have known me for a long time^m and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sectⁿ of our religion, living as a Pharisee.^o And now it is because of my hope^p in what God has promised our ancestors^q that I am on trial today. This is the promise our twelve tribes^r are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night.^s King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me.^t Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?^u

“I too was convinced^v that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose^w the name of Jesus of Nazareth.^x And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people^y in prison,^z and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.^a Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished,^b and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

“On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 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. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice^c saying to me in Aramaic,^d ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

“Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.^e 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.^f I will rescue you^g from your own people and from the Gentiles.^h I am sending you to them to open their eyesⁱ and turn them from darkness to light,^j and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins^k and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^l

“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient^m to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus,ⁿ then to those in Jerusalem^o and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles,^p I preached that they should repent^q and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.^r That is why some Jews seized me^s in the temple courts and tried to kill me.^t 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 happen^u— that the Messiah would suffer^v and, as the first to rise from the dead,^w would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”^x

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

“I am not insane, most excellent^a Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. The king is familiar with these things,^b 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. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

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

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.”^d

The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice^e and those sitting with them. After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”^f

Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free^g if he had not appealed to Caesar.”^h