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^1 (C1)Now Agrippa said to Paul, "You are permitted to speak for yourself." Then Paul, stretching out his hand, began to make his defense:

² "Concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, I regard myself blessed, King Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense before you today;^3 (F1)especially because you are an expert in all ^(C1)customs and ^(F2)questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ "So then, all Jews know ^(C1)my manner of life from my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem;⁵ since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a ^(C1)Pharisee ^(C2)according to the strictest ^(C3)sect of our religion.⁶ "And now I am standing here being tried ^(C1)for the hope of ^(C2)the promise made by God to our fathers;⁷ the promise ^(C1)to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this ^(C2)hope, O King, I am being ^(C3)accused by Jews.⁸ "Why is it considered unbelievable among all of you ^(C1)if God does raise the dead?

⁹ "So then, ^(C1)I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to ^(C2)the name of Jesus the Nazarene.¹⁰ "And this is ^(F1)just what I ^(C1)did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the ^(F2)saints in prisons, having ^(C2)received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I ^(C3)cast my vote against them.¹¹ "And ^(C1)as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being ^(C2)furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them ^(C3)even to ^(F1)foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

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

¹⁹ "So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,²⁰ but kept declaring both ^(C1)to those of Damascus first, and also ^(C2)at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even ^(C3)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(C4)repent and turn to God, practicing deeds ^(C5)appropriate to repentance.²¹ "For this reason some Jews ^(C1)seized me in the temple and were trying ^(C2)to put me to death.²² "Therefore, having obtained help from God to this day, I stand here ^(C1)bearing witness both to small and great, stating nothing but what ^(C2)the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place;^23 (F1)(C1)that the ^(F2)Christ was ^(F3)to suffer, and ^(F1)that ^(C2)as first of the resurrection from the dead, He was going to proclaim ^(C3)light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

²⁴ Now while ^(F1)Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus ^(*)said in a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind! ^(F2)Great ^(C1)learning is driving you out of your mind."²⁵ But Paul ^(*)said, "I am not out of my mind, ^(C1)most excellent Festus, but I utter words ^(F1)of sober truth.²⁶ "For the king ^(F1)(C1)knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a ^(F2)corner.²⁷ "King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know you believe."²⁸ But Agrippa replied to Paul, "^(F1)In such short time ^(F2)are you persuading me to become a ^(C1)Christian?"²⁹ And Paul said, "I would pray to God, that whether ^(F1)in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these ^(C1)chains."

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