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Paul Before Festus

¹ Festus then, having arrived in ^(C1)the province, after three days went up to Jerusalem from ^(C2)Caesarea.² And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews ^(C1)brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with him,³ requesting a favor against ^(F1)Paul, that he might ^(F2)have him brought to Jerusalem (while they ^(C1)set an ambush to kill him on the way).⁴ Festus then ^(C1)answered that Paul ^(C2)was being kept in custody at ^(C3)Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly.⁵ "Therefore," he ^(*)said, "let the influential men among you go down there with me, and if there is anything wrong ^(F1)about the man, let them accuse him."

⁶ And after he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to ^(C1)Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on ^(C2)the judgment seat and ordered Paul to be brought.⁷ And after Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing ^(C1)many and serious charges against him ^(C2)which they could not prove,⁸ while Paul said in his own defense, "^(C1)I have committed no sin either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar."⁹ But Festus, ^(C1)wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, "^(C2)Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and to be tried before me on these matters?"¹⁰ But Paul said, "I am standing before Caesar's ^(C1)judgment seat, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know.¹¹ "If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I ^(C1)appeal to Caesar."¹² Then when Festus had conferred with ^(F1)his council, he answered, "You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go."

Festus and Agrippa Discuss Paul's Trial

¹³ Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at ^(C1)Caesarea ^(F1)and greeted Festus.¹⁴ And while they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, "There is a man who was ^(C1)left as a prisoner by Felix;¹⁵ and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews ^(C1)brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.¹⁶ "I ^(C1)answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before ^(C2)the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges.¹⁷ "So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on ^(C1)the judgment seat and ordered the man to be brought before me.¹⁸ "When the accusers stood up, they were not bringing any charges against him for the evil deeds I was expecting,¹⁹ but they had some ^(C1)points of disagreement with him about their own ^(F1)(C2)religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man whom Paul asserted to be alive.²⁰ "^(C1)And being perplexed about how to investigate ^(F1)such matters, I was asking whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there to be tried on these matters.²¹ "But when Paul ^(C1)appealed to be held in custody for ^(F1)the Emperor's decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar."²² Then ^(C1)Agrippa said to Festus, "I also would like to hear the man myself." "Tomorrow," he ^(*)said, "you shall hear him."

Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice

²³ So, on the next day when ^(C1)Agrippa came ^(F1)together with ^(C1)Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the hall ^(F2)accompanied by the ^(F3)commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the order of Festus, Paul was brought in.²⁴ And Festus ^(*)said, "King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom ^(C1)all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that ^(C2)he ought not to live any longer.²⁵ "But I found that he had committed ^(C1)nothing worthy of death, and since he himself ^(C2)appealed to ^(F1)the Emperor, I decided to send him.²⁶ "^(F1)Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write.²⁷ "For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him."