Acts 25:23-26
Legacy Standard Bible
Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice
23 So, on the next day when (A)Agrippa came [a]together with (B)Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the hall [b]accompanied by the [c]commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the order of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom (C)all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that (D)he ought not to live any longer. 25 But I found that he had committed (E)nothing worthy of death, and since he himself (F)appealed to [d]the Emperor, I decided to send him. 26 [e]Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. 27 For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.”
26 (G)Now Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” Then Paul, stretching out his hand, began to make his defense:
2 “Concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, I regard myself blessed, King Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense before you today; 3 [f]especially because you are an expert in all (H)customs and [g]questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 “So then, all Jews know (I)my manner of life from my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem; 5 since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a (J)Pharisee (K)according to the strictest (L)sect of our religion. 6 And now I am standing here being tried (M)for the hope of (N)the promise made by God to our fathers; 7 the promise (O)to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this (P)hope, O King, I am being (Q)accused by Jews. 8 Why is it considered unbelievable among all of you (R)if God does raise the dead?
9 “So then, (S)I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to (T)the name of Jesus the Nazarene. 10 And this is [h]just what I (U)did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the [i]saints in prisons, having (V)received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I (W)cast my vote against them. 11 And (X)as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being (Y)furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them (Z)even to [j]foreign cities.
Paul Tells of His Conversion
12 “[k]While so engaged (AA)as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13 at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, [l]brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. 14 And when we had (AB)all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the [m](AC)Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? [n]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise up and (AD)stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to (AE)appoint you a (AF)servant and (AG)a witness not only to the things which you have [o]seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; 17 (AH)rescuing you (AI)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to (AJ)open their eyes so that they may turn from (AK)darkness to light and from the authority of (AL)Satan to God, that they may receive (AM)forgiveness of sins and an (AN)inheritance among those who have been sanctified by (AO)faith in Me.’
19 “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but kept declaring both (AP)to those of Damascus first, and also (AQ)at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even (AR)to the Gentiles, that they should (AS)repent and turn to God, practicing deeds (AT)appropriate to repentance. 21 For this reason some Jews (AU)seized me in the temple and were trying (AV)to put me to death. 22 Therefore, having obtained help from God to this day, I stand here (AW)bearing witness both to small and great, stating nothing but what (AX)the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; 23 [p](AY)that the [q]Christ was [r]to suffer, and [s]that (AZ)as first of the resurrection from the dead, He was going to proclaim (BA)light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”
Footnotes
- Acts 25:23 Lit and Bernice
- Acts 25:23 Lit and with
- Acts 25:23 Military leader over 1,000 soldiers
- Acts 25:25 v 21, note 1
- Acts 25:26 Lit About whom I have nothing definite
- Acts 26:3 Or because you are especially expert
- Acts 26:3 Or controversial issues
- Acts 26:10 Lit also
- Acts 26:10 Or holy ones
- Acts 26:11 Or outlying
- Acts 26:12 Lit In which things
- Acts 26:13 Lit above the brightness of
- Acts 26:14 Jewish Aramaic
- Acts 26:14 An idiom referring to an animal’s futile resistance to being prodded with goads
- Acts 26:16 Two early mss seen Me
- Acts 26:23 Lit whether
- Acts 26:23 Messiah
- Acts 26:23 Lit subject to suffering
- Acts 26:23 Lit whether
Acts 25:23-26
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Paul before Agrippa
23 So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice(A) came with great pomp and entered the auditorium with the commanders and prominent men of the city. When Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in. 24 Then Festus said: “King Agrippa and all men present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish community has appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he should not live any longer.(B) 25 Now I realized that he had not done anything deserving of death, but when he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.(C) 26 I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore, I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination is over, I may have something to write. 27 For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner and not to indicate the charges against him.”
Paul’s Defense before Agrippa
26 Agrippa said to Paul, “It is permitted for you to speak for yourself.”
Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense: 2 “I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that today I am going to make a defense before you about everything I am accused of by the Jews, 3 especially since you are an expert in all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 “All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem.(D) 5 They had previously known me for quite some time, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.(E) 6 And now I stand on trial for the hope(F) of the promise(G) made by God to our fathers, 7 the promise our 12 tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve Him night and day. King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this hope.(H) 8 Why is it considered incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? 9 In fact, I myself supposed it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus the Nazarene.(I) 10 I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.(J) 11 In all the synagogues I often tried to make them blaspheme by punishing them.(K) I even pursued them to foreign cities since I was greatly enraged at them.
Paul’s Account of His Conversion and Commission
12 “I was traveling to Damascus under(L) these circumstances with authority and a commission from the chief priests. 13 King Agrippa, while on the road at midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’[a](M)
15 “Then I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’
“And the Lord replied: ‘I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen[b] and of what I will reveal to you.(N) 17 I will rescue you from the people and from the Gentiles. I now send you to them(O) 18 to open their eyes(P) so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that by faith in Me they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified.’(Q)
19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. 20 Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.(R) 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple complex and were trying to kill me. 22 To this very day, I have obtained help that comes from God, and I stand and testify to both small and great, saying nothing else than what the prophets and Moses said would take place(S)— 23 that the Messiah must suffer, and that as the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”(T)
Footnotes
- Acts 26:14 Sharp sticks used to prod animals, such as oxen in plowing
- Acts 26:16 Other mss read things in which you have seen Me
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