Acts 26
1Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak on your own behalf." Then Paul, extending his hand, began his defense:
2"Regarding all the things for which I am being accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that it is before you I am to make my defense today, 3especially since you are an expert in all the customs and controversial issues of the Jews. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me with patience.
4All the Jews know my way of life from my youth—the life I lived from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. 5They have known me for a long time, and if they were willing to testify, they could say that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion. 6And now I stand here on trial because of the hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, 7a promise that our twelve-tribed nation hopes to attain as they worship with intense devotion night and day. It is because of this hope, O King, that I am being accused by the Jews. 8Why is it judged unbelievable among you if God raises the dead?
9I myself once thought it necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus the Nazarene. 10And that is exactly what I did in Jerusalem. Having received authority from the chief priests, I locked up many of the holy ones in prisons; and when they were being executed, I cast my vote against them. 11By punishing them often throughout all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and in my moderate fury against them, I even pursued them to foreign cities.
12While traveling to Damascus on such a mission with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13at midday along the road, O King, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. 14When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' 15I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 16But 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 both of the things in which you have seen me and of the things in which I will appear to you. 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the nations—to whom I am now sending you— 18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an allotted place among those who have been made holy by faith in me.'
19Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. 20Instead, I preached—first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and the whole region of Judea, and also to the nations—that they must repent and turn to God, practicing deeds consistent with repentance. 21For these reasons, the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me with their own hands. 22Having obtained help from God to this day, I stand here testifying to both small and great, saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen: 23that the Messiah was to suffer, and that as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the nations."
24As he was saying these things in his defense, Festus called out in a loud voice, "You are out of your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you to madness!"
25But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking words of truth and of a sound mind. 26For the king knows about these things, and I speak freely to him. I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe."
28Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time, you are persuading me to act like a Christian!"
29Paul replied, "Whether in a short time or a long one, I would pray to God that not only you but also all who are listening to me today might become such as I am—except for these chains."
30Then the king stood up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. 31After they had withdrawn, they began talking to one another, saying, "This man is doing nothing deserving of death or imprisonment." 32Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."