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Paul's Defense before Agrippa

¹ Then ^(C1)Agrippa said to Paul, "You are now permitted to speak on your own behalf." At that, Paul stretched out his hand as an orator and made his defense as follows:

² "I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, since it is before you that I am to make my defense today regarding all the charges brought against me by the Jews,³ especially because you are an expert fully knowledgeable, experienced and unusually conversant in all the Jewish ^(C1)customs and controversial issues; therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ "So then, all the Jews know ^(C1)my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation the Jewish people, and in Jerusalem.⁵ "They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify to it, that ^(C1)according to the ^(F1)strictest ^(C2)sect of our religion, I have lived as a ^(C3)Pharisee.⁶ "And now I am standing trial ^(C1)for the hope of ^(C2)the promise made by God to our fathers. ^(VR1)7 (C1)"Which hope of the Messiah and the resurrection our twelve tribes confidently expect to realize as they serve and worship God in earnest night and day. And for this ^(C2)hope, O King, I am being ^(C3)accused by Jews!⁸ "Why is it thought incredible by any of you ^(C1)that God raises the dead?

⁹ "So then, ^(C1)I once thought to myself that it was my duty to do many things in opposition to ^(C2)the name of Jesus of Nazareth.¹⁰ "And this is just what I ^(C1)did in Jerusalem; I not only locked up many of the saints (God's people) in prison after ^(C2)receiving authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being condemned to death, I ^(F1)(C3)cast my vote against them.¹¹ "And ^(C1)I often punished them making them suffer in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme; and in my ^(C2)extreme rage at them, I kept hunting them ^(C3)even to foreign cities harassing and persecuting them.

¹² "While so engaged, ^(C1)as I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission and full power of the chief priests,¹³ at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven surpassing the brightness of the sun, shining all around me and those who were traveling with me.¹⁴ "And when we ^(C1)all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice in the ^(C2)Hebrew dialect (Jewish Aramaic) saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ^(F1)It is hard for you to kick repeatedly against the ^(F2)goads offering pointless resistance.'¹⁵ "And I said, 'Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.¹⁶ 'Get up and ^(C1)stand on your feet. I have appeared to you for this purpose, to ^(C2)appoint you to serve as a ^(C3)minister and as ^(C4)a witness to testify, with authority, not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you,¹⁷ choosing you for Myself and ^(C1)rescuing you ^(C2)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ^(VR1)18 to ^(C1)open their spiritual eyes so that they may turn from ^(C2)darkness to light and from the power of ^(C3)Satan to God, that they may receive ^(C4)forgiveness and release from their sins and an ^(C5)inheritance among those who have been sanctified (set apart, made holy) by ^(C6)faith in Me.' ^(VR1)

¹⁹ "So, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,²⁰ but I openly proclaimed first ^(C1)to those at Damascus, then ^(C2)at Jerusalem and throughout the region of Judea, and even ^(C3)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(C4)repent change their inner self—their old way of thinking and turn to God, doing deeds and living lives which are ^(C5)consistent with repentance.²¹ "Because of this some Jews ^(C1)seized me in the temple and tried ^(C2)to kill me.²² "But I have had help from God to this day, and I stand before people ^(C1)testifying to small and great alike, stating nothing except what ^(C2)the Prophets and Moses said would come to pass—^23 (C1)that the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) was to suffer, and that He ^(C2)by being the first to rise from the dead with an incorruptible body would proclaim ^(C3)light (salvation) both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

²⁴ While Paul was making this defense, Festus said loudly, "Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great ^(C1)education is turning you toward madness."²⁵ But Paul replied, "I am not out of my mind, ^(C1)most excellent and noble Festus, but with a sound mind I am uttering rational words of truth and reason.²⁶ "For your majesty the king ^(C1)understands these things, and therefore I am also speaking to him with confidence and boldness, since I am convinced that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a corner hidden from view, in secret.²⁷ "King Agrippa, do you believe the writings of the Prophets their messages and words? I know that you do."²⁸ Then Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time and with so little effort you almost persuade me to become a ^(C1)Christian."²⁹ And Paul replied, "Whether in a short time or long, I wish to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become such as I am, except for these ^(C1)chains."

³⁰ Then ^(C1)the king stood up, and with him the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them;³¹ and after they had gone out, they began saying to one another, "^(C1)This man is not doing anything worthy of death or even of imprisonment."³² And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been ^(C1)set free if he had not ^(C2)appealed to ^(F1)Caesar (Emperor Nero)."