Act 26 | ESV | STEP | So Agrippa said to Paul , You have permission to speak for yourself . Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense :

‏ Acts 26

Paul’s Defense Before Agrippa

1 So ^aAgrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

2 “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today ^bagainst all the accusations of the Jews, 3 especially because you are familiar with all the ^ccustoms and ^dcontroversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

4 ^e“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among ^fmy own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. 5 They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that ^gaccording to the strictest ^hparty of our ⁱreligion I have lived as ^ja Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in ^kthe promise made by God to our fathers, 7 ^lto which ^mour twelve tribes hope to ⁿattain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope ^oI am accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought ^pincredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

9 ^q“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^rJesus of Nazareth. 10 ^sAnd I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^tfrom the chief priests, but ^uwhen they were put to death I cast my vote against them. 11 And ^vI punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^wblaspheme, and ^xin raging fury against them I ^ypersecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

12 “In this connection ^zI journeyed 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, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^aain the Hebrew language, ^{▼▼Or the Hebrew dialect (probably Aramaic)} ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 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 and ^acstand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^adto appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 ^aedelivering you from your people and from the Gentiles— ^afto whom I ^agam sending you 18 ^ahto open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^aithe power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^ajforgiveness of sins and ^aka place among those who are sanctified ^alby faith in me.’

19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^amthe heavenly vision, 20 but declared first ^anto those in Damascus, ^aothen in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^apto the Gentiles, that they should ^aqrepent and ^arturn to God, performing deeds ^asin keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason ^atthe Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 ^auTo this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^avI stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^awthe prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 ^axthat the Christ ^aymust suffer and that, ^azby being the first ^bato rise from the dead, ^bbhe would proclaim ^bclight both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ^bdyou are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, ^bemost excellent Festus, but I am speaking ^bftrue and ^bgrational words. 26 For ^bhthe king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be ^bia Christian?” ^{▼▼Or In a short time you would persuade me to act like a Christian!} 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day ^bkmight become such as I am—except for ^blthese chains.”

30 Then the king rose, and ^bmthe governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, ^bn“This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, ^bo“This man could have been set free ^bpif he had not appealed ^bqto Caesar.”