Paul’s defense before Agrippa

26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.”

So Paul gestured with his hand and began his defense. ² “King Agrippa, I consider myself especially fortunate that I stand before you today as I offer my defense concerning all the accusations the Jews have brought against me. ³ This is because you understand well all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I ask you to listen to me patiently. ⁴ Every Jew knows the way of life I have followed since my youth because, from the beginning, I was among my people and in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known me for a long time. If they wanted to, they could testify that I followed the way of life set out by the most exacting group of our religion. I am a Pharisee. ⁶ Today I am standing trial because of the hope in the promise God gave our ancestors. ⁷ This is the promise our twelve tribes hope to receive as they earnestly worship night and day. The Jews are accusing me, King Agrippa, because of this hope! ⁸ Why is it inconceivable to you that God raises the dead?

⁹ “I really thought that I ought to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazarene in every way possible. ¹⁰ And that’s exactly what I did in Jerusalem. I locked up many of God’s holy people in prison under the authority of the chief priests. When they were condemned to death, I voted against them. ¹¹ In one synagogue after another—indeed, in all the synagogues—I would often torture them, compelling them to slander God. My rage bordered on the hysterical as I pursued them, even to foreign cities.

¹² “On one such journey, I was going to Damascus with the full authority of the chief priests. ¹³ While on the road at midday, King Agrippa, I saw a light from heaven shining around me and my traveling companions. That light was brighter than the sun. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice that said to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me? It’s hard for you to kick against a spear.’^{[a] 15} Then I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are harassing. ¹⁶ Get up! Stand on your feet! I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you as my servant and witness of what you have seen and what I will show you. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you ¹⁸ to open their eyes. Then they can turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are made holy by faith in me.’

¹⁹ “So, King Agrippa, I wasn’t disobedient to that heavenly vision. ²⁰ Instead, I proclaimed first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to the whole region of Judea and to the Gentiles. My message was that they should change their hearts and lives and turn to God, and that they should demonstrate this change in their behavior. ²¹ Because of this, some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to murder me. ²² God has helped me up to this very day. Therefore, I stand here and bear witness to the lowly and the great. I’m saying nothing more than what the Prophets and Moses declared would happen: ²³ that the Christ would suffer and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to my people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ At this point in Paul’s defense, Festus declared with a loud voice, “You’ve lost your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you mad!”

²⁵ But Paul replied, “I’m not mad, most honorable Festus! I’m speaking what is sound and true. ²⁶ King Agrippa knows about these things, and I have been speaking openly to him. I’m certain that none of these things have escaped his attention. This didn’t happen secretly or in some out-of-the-way place. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

²⁸ Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you trying to convince me that, in such a short time, you’ve made me a Christian?”

²⁹ Paul responded, “Whether it is a short or a long time, I pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today will become like me, except for these chains.”

³⁰ The king stood up, as did the governor, Bernice, and those sitting with them. ³¹ As they left, they were saying to each other, “This man is doing nothing that deserves death or imprisonment.”

³² Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar.”