Acts 24:5-18

Holman Christian Standard Bible

⁵For we have found this man to be a plague,^(A) an agitator^(B) among all the Jews throughout the Roman world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes! ⁶He even tried to desecrate the temple, so we apprehended him [and wanted to judge him according to our law. ⁷But Lysias the commander came and took him from our hands with great force, ⁸commanding his accusers to come to you.]^[a] By examining him yourself you will be able to discern all these things we are accusing him of.” ⁹The Jews also joined in the attack, alleging that these things were so.

Paul’s Defense before Felix

¹⁰When the governor motioned to him to speak, Paul replied: “Because I know you have been a judge of this nation for many years, I am glad to offer my defense in what concerns me.^(C) ¹¹You are able to determine that it is no more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem.^(D) ¹²They didn’t find me disputing with anyone or causing a disturbance among the crowd, either in the temple complex or in the synagogues or anywhere in the city.^(E) ¹³Neither can they provide evidence to you of what they now bring against me. ¹⁴But I confess this to you: I worship my fathers’ God according to the Way,^(F) which they call a sect, believing all the things that are written in the Law and in the Prophets.^(G) ¹⁵And I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection,^[b]^(H) both of the righteous and the unrighteous.^(I) ¹⁶I always do my best to have a clear conscience^(J) toward God and men. ¹⁷After many years, I came to bring charitable gifts and offerings to my nation,^(K) ¹⁸and while I was doing this, some Jews from Asia found me ritually purified in the temple, without a crowd and without any uproar.^(L)