⁷ When Paul arrived, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered around and made many serious accusations they couldn’t prove.

¹³ These men cannot prove the things they accuse me of doing.

²⁴ Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are here, this is the man whose death is demanded by all the Jews, both here and in Jerusalem.

⁵ We have found this man to be a troublemaker who is constantly stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the cult known as the Nazarenes. ⁶ Furthermore, he was trying to desecrate the Temple when we arrested him.^[a]

¹⁰ Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations.

² They began to state their case: “This man has been leading our people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king.”

¹⁴ If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God^[a] rests upon you.^{[b] 15} If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. ¹⁶ But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!

²⁸ yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple—and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles.^[a]”

³ Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, ⁴ and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?”