Acts 25:1-12

New International Reader's Version

Paul’s Trial in Front of Festus

25 Three days after Festus arrived, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. ² There the chief priests and the Jewish leaders came to Festus. They brought their charges against Paul. ³ They tried very hard to get Festus to have Paul taken to Jerusalem. They asked for this as a favor. They were planning to hide and attack Paul along the way. They wanted to kill him. ⁴ Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea. Soon I’ll be going there myself. ⁵ Let some of your leaders come with me. If the man has done anything wrong, they can bring charges against him there.”

⁶ Festus spent eight or ten days in Jerusalem with them. Then he went down to Caesarea. The next day he called the court together. He ordered Paul to be brought to him. ⁷ When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many strong charges against him. But they couldn’t prove that these charges were true.

⁸ Then Paul spoke up for himself. He said, “I’ve done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple. I’ve done nothing wrong against Caesar.”

⁹ But Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor. So he said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem? Are you willing to go on trial there? Are you willing to face these charges in my court?”

¹⁰ Paul answered, “I’m already standing in Caesar’s court. This is where I should go on trial. I haven’t done anything wrong to the Jews. You yourself know that very well. ¹¹ If I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I’m willing to die. But the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true. No one has the right to hand me over to them. I make my appeal to Caesar!”

¹² Festus talked it over with the members of his court. Then he said, “You have made an appeal to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”