Acts 25

¹Three days after Festus had arrived in the province to take up his command, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. ²There, the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews presented their formal charges against Paul. They repeatedly urged Festus, ³asking for a favor at Paul’s expense: that he would have Paul transferred to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, preparing an ambush to murder him along the way.

⁴Festus replied that Paul was being kept under guard in Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ⁵ "So," he said, "let those of you who have the authority go down with me. If there is anything criminal in this man, let them bring their accusations against him."

⁶After staying among them for no more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. The next day, he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought in. ⁷When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges that they were unable to prove. ⁸Paul maintained his defense: "I have committed no offense—not against the Judean Law, not against the Temple, and not against Caesar."

⁹But Festus, wishing to gain favor with the Jews, answered Paul: "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to be judged there before me concerning these charges?"

¹⁰Paul replied, "I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, which is where I must be judged. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹If I am indeed a criminal and have done something deserving of death, I do not seal my case against dying. But if there is nothing to the things these men accuse me of, no one has the power to give me up to them as a favor. I appeal to Caesar!"

¹²Then Festus, after conferring with his council, replied, "To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go."

¹³After some days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. ¹⁴Since they were staying there for several days, Festus laid out Paul’s case before the king. "There is a man here," he said, "left behind as a prisoner by Felix. ¹⁵When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews presented their case against him, demanding a sentence of condemnation. ¹⁶I answered them that it is not the Roman custom to give any person up as a favor before the accused meets the accusers face-to-face and receives an opportunity to offer a defense concerning the charge.

¹⁷So when they gathered here, I did not delay; the very next day I sat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought in. ¹⁸But when the accusers stood up, they did not bring any of the charges of common crimes I was expecting. ¹⁹Instead, they had certain disputes with him about their own particular religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, but whom Paul kept insisting was alive. ²⁰Being at a loss as to how to investigate such matters, I asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be judged there regarding these things. ²¹But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of His Imperial Majesty, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar."

²²Agrippa said to Festus, "I would like to hear the man myself." "Tomorrow," he said, "you shall hear him."

²³So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pageantry and entered the audience hall together with the military commanders and the most prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴Then Festus said, "King Agrippa and all you men present with us: you see this man about whom the whole Jewish population petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵But I perceived that he had done nothing deserving of death. Yet, because he himself appealed to His Imperial Majesty, I decided to send him. ²⁶However, I have nothing definite to write to our Sovereign about him. Therefore, I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination has taken place, I might have something to write. ²⁷For it seems absurd to me to send a prisoner without specifying the charges against him."