Acts 25

New International Version

Paul’s Trial Before Festus

25 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus^(A) went up from Caesarea^(B) to Jerusalem, ²where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.^(C) ³They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.^(D) ⁴Festus answered, “Paul is being held^(E) at Caesarea,^(F) and I myself am going there soon. ⁵Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there.”

⁶After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court^(G) and ordered that Paul be brought before him.^(H) ⁷When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him,^(I) but they could not prove them.^(J)

⁸Then Paul made his defense: “I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple^(K) or against Caesar.”

⁹Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor,^(L) said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”^(M)

¹⁰Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews,^(N) as you yourself know very well. ¹¹If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”^(O)

¹²After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

Festus Consults King Agrippa

¹³A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea^(P) to pay their respects to Festus. ¹⁴Since they were spending many days there, Festus discussed Paul’s case with the king. He said: “There is a man here whom Felix left as a prisoner.^(Q) ¹⁵When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him^(R) and asked that he be condemned.

¹⁶“I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and have had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges.^(S) ¹⁷When they came here with me, I did not delay the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought in.^(T) ¹⁸When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. ¹⁹Instead, they had some points of dispute^(U) with him about their own religion^(V) and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive. ²⁰I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges.^(W) ²¹But when Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.”^(X)

²²Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.”

He replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”^(Y)

Paul Before Agrippa^(Z)

²³The next day Agrippa and Bernice^(AA) came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community^(AB) has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.^(AC) ²⁵I found he had done nothing deserving of death,^(AD) but because he made his appeal to the Emperor^(AE) I decided to send him to Rome. ²⁶But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. ²⁷For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him.”

Job 24-26

New International Version

24 “Why does the Almighty not set times^(A) for judgment?^(B)
    Why must those who know him look in vain for such days?^(C)
²There are those who move boundary stones;^(D)
    they pasture flocks they have stolen.^(E)
³They drive away the orphan’s donkey
    and take the widow’s ox in pledge.^(F)
⁴They thrust the needy^(G) from the path
    and force all the poor^(H) of the land into hiding.^(I)
⁵Like wild donkeys^(J) in the desert,
    the poor go about their labor^(K) of foraging food;
    the wasteland^(L) provides food for their children.
⁶They gather fodder^(M) in the fields
    and glean in the vineyards^(N) of the wicked.^(O)
⁷Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked;
    they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold.^(P)
⁸They are drenched^(Q) by mountain rains
    and hug^(R) the rocks for lack of shelter.^(S)
⁹The fatherless^(T) child is snatched^(U) from the breast;
    the infant of the poor is seized^(V) for a debt.^(W)
¹⁰Lacking clothes, they go about naked;^(X)
    they carry the sheaves,^(Y) but still go hungry.
¹¹They crush olives among the terraces^[a];
    they tread the winepresses,^(Z) yet suffer thirst.^(AA)
¹²The groans of the dying rise from the city,
    and the souls of the wounded cry out for help.^(AB)
    But God charges no one with wrongdoing.^(AC)

¹³“There are those who rebel against the light,^(AD)
    who do not know its ways
    or stay in its paths.^(AE)
¹⁴When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up,
    kills^(AF) the poor and needy,^(AG)
    and in the night steals forth like a thief.^(AH)
¹⁵The eye of the adulterer^(AI) watches for dusk;^(AJ)
    he thinks, ‘No eye will see me,’^(AK)
    and he keeps his face concealed.
¹⁶In the dark, thieves break into houses,^(AL)
    but by day they shut themselves in;
    they want nothing to do with the light.^(AM)
¹⁷For all of them, midnight is their morning;
    they make friends with the terrors^(AN) of darkness.^(AO)

¹⁸“Yet they are foam^(AP) on the surface of the water;^(AQ)
    their portion of the land is cursed,^(AR)
    so that no one goes to the vineyards.^(AS)
¹⁹As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,^(AT)
    so the grave^(AU) snatches away those who have sinned.
²⁰The womb forgets them,
    the worm^(AV) feasts on them;^(AW)
the wicked are no longer remembered^(AX)
    but are broken like a tree.^(AY)
²¹They prey on the barren and childless woman,
    and to the widow they show no kindness.^(AZ)
²²But God drags away the mighty by his power;^(BA)
    though they become established,^(BB) they have no assurance of life.^(BC)
²³He may let them rest in a feeling of security,^(BD)
    but his eyes^(BE) are on their ways.^(BF)
²⁴For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;^(BG)
    they are brought low and gathered up like all others;^(BH)
    they are cut off like heads of grain.^(BI)

²⁵“If this is not so, who can prove me false
and reduce my words to nothing?”^(BJ)

Bildad

25 Then Bildad the Shuhite^(BK) replied:

²“Dominion and awe belong to God;^(BL)
    he establishes order in the heights of heaven.^(BM)
³Can his forces be numbered?
    On whom does his light not rise?^(BN)
⁴How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?^(BO)
⁵If even the moon^(BP) is not bright
    and the stars are not pure in his eyes,^(BQ)
⁶how much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—
    a human being,^(BR) who is only a worm!”^(BS)

Job

26 Then Job replied:

²“How you have helped the powerless!^(BT)
    How you have saved the arm that is feeble!^(BU)
³What advice you have offered to one without wisdom!
    And what great insight^(BV) you have displayed!
⁴Who has helped you utter these words?
    And whose spirit spoke from your mouth?^(BW)

⁵“The dead are in deep anguish,^(BX)
    those beneath the waters and all that live in them.
⁶The realm of the dead^(BY) is naked before God;
    Destruction^[b]^(BZ) lies uncovered.^(CA)
⁷He spreads out the northern skies^(CB) over empty space;
    he suspends the earth over nothing.^(CC)
⁸He wraps up the waters^(CD) in his clouds,^(CE)
    yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.
⁹He covers the face of the full moon,
    spreading his clouds^(CF) over it.
¹⁰He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters^(CG)
    for a boundary between light and darkness.^(CH)
¹¹The pillars of the heavens quake,^(CI)
    aghast at his rebuke.
¹²By his power he churned up the sea;^(CJ)
    by his wisdom^(CK) he cut Rahab^(CL) to pieces.
¹³By his breath the skies^(CM) became fair;
    his hand pierced the gliding serpent.^(CN)
¹⁴And these are but the outer fringe of his works;
    how faint the whisper^(CO) we hear of him!^(CP)
    Who then can understand the thunder of his power?”^(CQ)