Acts 26
1 Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak in your own defense.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:
2 “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to make my defense before you today concerning everything the Jews accuse me of.
3 I am especially glad because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies among the Jews. So I ask you to listen to me patiently.
4 All the Jews know how I have lived from my youth, from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.
5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, according to the strictest party of our religion.
6 And now I stand here on trial because of the hope in the promise God made to our ancestors.
7 It is this promise that our twelve tribes hope to receive as they worship earnestly night and day. It is because of this hope, O king, that the Jews accuse me.
8 Why do you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
9 I myself, in fact, thought I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests, I locked many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.
11 Many times, punishing them in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so enraged with them that I even pursued them to foreign cities.”
12 “Under these circumstances, I was on my way to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests.
13 At midday, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those traveling with me.
14 We 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.’
15 I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
16 But 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 to what you have seen of me and to what I will yet show you.
17 I will rescue you from this people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you.
18 I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those made holy through faith in me.’
19 So, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
20 Instead, I proclaimed first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the whole region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.
22 But with God's help, I have stood firm to this day, testifying to everyone, both small and great. I say nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
23 that the Christ must suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to the people and to the Gentiles.”
24 While he was making this defense, Festus said loudly, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you mad.”
25 Paul replied, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. On the contrary, I am speaking words of truth and good sense.
26 The king knows about these things, and I speak to him openly. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it did not happen in a corner.
27 Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you do.”
28 Agrippa said to Paul, “In such a short time, are you trying to persuade me to become a Christian?”
29 Paul replied, “I would pray to God that, in a short time or a long one, not only you but all who hear me today might become as I am, except for these chains.”
30 The king stood up, and so did the governor, Bernice, and those sitting with them.
31 As they left, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing that deserves death or imprisonment.”
32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
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