Acts 24-26 (Amplified Bible)

Acts 24

 ¹FIVE DAYS later, the high priest Ananias came down [from Jerusalem to Caesarea] with some elders and a certain forensic advocate Tertullus [acting as spokesman and counsel]. They presented to the governor their evidence against Paul.

    ²And when he was called, Tertullus began the complaint [against him] by saying: Since through you we obtain and enjoy much peace, and since by your foresight and provision wonderful reforms (amendments and improvements) are introduced and effected on behalf of this nation,

    ³In every way and in every place, most excellent Felix, we accept and acknowledge this with deep appreciation and with all gratitude.

    ⁴But not to hinder or detain you too long, I beg you in your clemency and courtesy and kindness to grant us a brief and ^[a]concise hearing.

    ⁵For we have found this man a perfect pest (a real plague), an agitator and source of disturbance to all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the [heretical, ^[b]division-producing] sect of the Nazarenes.

    ⁶He also [even] tried to desecrate and defile the temple, but we laid hands on him ^[c]and would have sentenced him by our Law,

    ⁷But the commandant Lysias came and took him from us with violence and force,

    ⁸And ordered his accusers to present themselves to you. By examining and cross-questioning him yourself, you will be able to ascertain the truth from him about all these things with which we charge him.

    ⁹The Jews also agreed and joined in the accusation, declaring that all these things were exactly so.

    ¹⁰And when the governor had beckoned to Paul to speak, he answered: Because I know that for many years you have been a judge over this nation, I find it easier to make my defense and do it cheerfully and with good courage.

    ¹¹As you can readily verify, it is not more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship;

    ¹²And neither in the temple nor in the synagogues nor in the city did they find me disputing with anybody or bringing together a seditious crowd.

    ¹³Neither can they present argument or evidence to prove to you what they now bring against me.

    ¹⁴But this I confess to you, however, that in accordance with the Way [of the Lord], which they call a [heretical, division-producing] sect, I worship (serve) the God of our fathers, still persuaded of the truth of and believing in and placing full confidence in everything laid down in the Law [of Moses] or written in the prophets;

    ¹⁵Having [the same] hope in God which these themselves hold and look for, that there is to be a resurrection both of the righteous and the unrighteous (the just and the unjust).

    ¹⁶Therefore I always exercise and discipline myself [mortifying my body, deadening my carnal affections, bodily appetites, and worldly desires, endeavoring in all respects] to have a clear (unshaken, blameless) conscience, void of offense toward God and toward men.

    ¹⁷Now after several years I came up [to Jerusalem] to bring to my people contributions of charity and offerings.

    ¹⁸While I was engaged in presenting these, they found me [occupied in the rites of purification] in the temple, without any crowd or uproar. But some Jews from [the province of] Asia [were there],

    ¹⁹Who ought to be here before you and to present their charges, if they have anything against me.

    ²⁰Or else let these men themselves tell of what crime or wrongdoing they found me guilty when I appeared before the council (Sanhedrin),

    ²¹Unless it be this one sentence which I cried out as I stood among them, In regard to the resurrection of the dead I am indicted and on trial before you this day!

    ²²But Felix, having a rather accurate understanding of the Way [of the Lord], put them off and adjourned the trial, saying, When Lysias the commandant comes down, I will determine your case more fully.

    ²³Then he ordered the centurion to keep [Paul] in custody, but to treat him with indulgence [giving him some liberty] and not to hinder his friends from ministering to his needs and serving him.

    ²⁴Some days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess; and he sent for Paul and listened to him [talk] about faith in Christ Jesus.

    ²⁵But as he continued to argue about uprightness, purity of life (the control of the passions), and the judgment to come, Felix became alarmed and terrified and said, Go away for the present; when I have a convenient opportunity, I will send for you.

    ²⁶At the same time he hoped to get money from Paul, for which reason he continued to send for him and was in his company and conversed with him often.

    ²⁷But when two years had gone by, Felix was succeeded in office by Porcius Festus; and wishing to gain favor with the Jews, Felix left Paul still a prisoner in chains.

   

Acts 25

 ¹NOW WHEN Festus had entered into his own province, after three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem.

    ²And [there] the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid charges before him against Paul, and they kept begging and urging him,

    ³Asking as a favor that he would have him brought to Jerusalem; [meanwhile] they were planning an ambush to slay him on the way.

    ⁴Festus answered that Paul was in custody in Caesarea and that he himself planned to leave for there soon.

    ⁵So, said he, let those who are in a position of authority and are influential among you go down with me, and if there is anything amiss or criminal about the man, let them so charge him.

    ⁶So when Festus had remained among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea, took his seat the next day on the judgment bench, and ordered Paul to be brought before him.

    ⁷And when he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood all around him, bringing many grave accusations against him which they were not able to prove.

    ⁸Paul declared in [his own] defense, Neither against the Law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in any way.

    ⁹But Festus, wishing to ingratiate himself with the Jews, answered Paul, Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be put on trial [^[d]before the Jewish Sanhedrin] in my presence concerning these charges?

    ¹⁰But Paul replied, I am standing before Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you know ^[e]better [than your question implies].

    ¹¹If then I am a wrongdoer and a criminal and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not beg off and seek to escape death; but if there is no ground for their accusations against me, no one can give me up and make a present of me [^[f]give me up freely] to them. I appeal to Caesar.

    ¹²Then Festus, when he had consulted with the [^[g]men who formed his] council, answered, You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.

    ¹³Now after an interval of some days, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus [to welcome him and wish him well].

    ¹⁴And while they remained there for many days, Festus acquainted the king with Paul's case, telling him, There is a man left a prisoner in chains by Felix;

    ¹⁵And when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him, petitioning for a judicial hearing and condemnation of him.

    ¹⁶But I replied to them that it was not the custom of the Romans to ^[h]give up freely any man for punishment before the accused had met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to defend himself concerning the charge brought against him.

    ¹⁷So when they came here together, I did not delay, but on the morrow took my place on the judgment seat and ordered that the man be brought before me.

    ¹⁸[But] when the accusers stood up, they brought forward no accusation [in his case] of any such misconduct as I was expecting.

    ¹⁹Instead they had some points of controversy with him about their own religion or superstition and concerning one Jesus, Who had died but Whom Paul kept asserting [over and over] to be alive.

    ²⁰And I, being puzzled to know how to make inquiries into such questions, asked whether he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and there be tried regarding them.

    ²¹But when Paul had appealed to have his case retained for examination and decision by the emperor, I ordered that he be detained until I could send him to Caesar.

    ²²Then Agrippa said to Festus, I also desire to hear the man myself. Tomorrow, [Festus] replied, you shall hear him.

    ²³So the next day Agrippa and Bernice approached with great display, and they went into the audience hall accompanied by the military commandants and the prominent citizens of the city. At the order of Festus Paul was brought in.

    ²⁴Then Festus said, King Agrippa and all the men present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish people came to me and complained, both at Jerusalem and here, insisting and shouting that he ought not to live any longer.

    ²⁵But I found nothing that he had done deserving of death. Still, as he himself appealed to the emperor, I determined to send him to Rome.

    ²⁶[However] I have nothing in particular and definite to write to my lord concerning him. So I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after [further] examination has been made, I may have something to put in writing.

    ²⁷For it seems to me senseless and absurd to send a prisoner and not state the accusations against him.

   

Acts 26

 ¹THEN AGRIPPA said to Paul, You are permitted to speak on your own behalf. At that Paul stretched forth his hand and made his defense [as follows]:

    ²I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that it is before you that I am to make my defense today in regard to all the charges brought against me by [the] Jews,

    ³[Especially] because you are so fully and unusually conversant with all the Jewish customs and controversies; therefore, I beg you to hear me patiently.

    ⁴My behavior and manner of living from my youth up is known by all the Jews; [they are aware] that from [its] commencement my youth was spent among my own race in Jerusalem.

    ⁵They have had knowledge of me for a long time, if they are willing to testify to it, that in accordance with the strictest sect of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.

    ⁶And now I stand here on trial [to be judged on the ground] of the hope of that promise made to our forefathers by God,^(A)

    ⁷Which hope [of the Messiah and the resurrection] our twelve tribes confidently expect to realize as they fervently worship [without ceasing] night and day. And for that hope, O king, I am accused by Jews and considered a criminal!

    ⁸Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

    ⁹I myself indeed was [once] persuaded that it was my duty to do many things contrary to and in defiance of the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

    ¹⁰And that is what I did in Jerusalem; I [not only] locked up many of the [faithful] saints (holy ones) in prison by virtue of authority received from the chief priests, but when they were being condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.

    ¹¹And frequently I punished them in all the synagogues to make them blaspheme; and in my bitter fury against them, I harassed (troubled, molested, persecuted) and pursued them even to foreign cities.

    ¹²Thus engaged I proceeded to Damascus with the authority and orders of the chief priests,

    ¹³When on the road at midday, O king, I saw a light from heaven surpassing the brightness of the sun, flashing about me and those who were traveling with me.

    ¹⁴And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice in the Hebrew tongue saying to me, Saul, Saul, why do you continue to persecute Me [to harass and trouble and molest Me]? It is dangerous and turns out badly for you to keep kicking against the goads [to keep offering vain and perilous resistance].

    ¹⁵And I said, Who are You, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting.

    ¹⁶But arise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, that I might appoint you to serve as [My] minister and to bear witness both to what you have seen of Me and to that in which I will appear to you,

    ^17[i]Choosing you out [selecting you for Myself] and ^[j]delivering you from among this [Jewish] people and the Gentiles to whom I am sending you--^(B)

    ¹⁸To open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may thus receive forgiveness and release from their sins and a place and portion among those who are consecrated and purified by faith in Me.^(C)

    ¹⁹Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision,

    ²⁰But made known openly first of all to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout the whole land of Judea, and also among the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works and live lives consistent with and worthy of their repentance.

    ²¹Because of these things the Jews seized me in the temple [^[k]enclosure] and tried to do away with me.

    ²²[But] to this day I have had the help which comes from God [as my ^[l]ally], and so I stand here testifying to small and great alike, asserting nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses declared would come to pass--

    ²³That the Christ (the Anointed One) must suffer and that He, by being the first to rise from the dead, would declare and show light both to the [Jewish] people and to the Gentiles.

    ²⁴And as he thus proceeded with his defense, Festus called out loudly, Paul, you are mad! Your great learning is driving you insane!

    ²⁵But Paul replied, I am not mad, most noble Festus, but I am uttering the straight, sound truth.

    ²⁶For the king understands about these things well enough, and [therefore] to him I speak with bold frankness and confidence. I am convinced that not one of these things has escaped his notice, for all this did not take place in a corner [in secret].

    ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? [Do you give credence to God's messengers and their words?] I perceive and know that you do believe.

    ²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, You think it a small task to make a Christian of me [just offhand to induce me with little ado and persuasion, at very short notice].

    ²⁹And Paul replied, Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you, but also all who are listening to me today, might become such as I am, except for these chains.

    ³⁰Then the king arose, and the governor and Bernice and all those who were seated with them;

    ³¹And after they had gone out, they said to one another, This man is doing nothing deserving of death or [even] of imprisonment.

    ³²And Agrippa said to Festus, This man could have been set at liberty if he had not appealed to Caesar.