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.”