ActsChapter 25

Tap any verse to comment or suggest a better wording.

¹Festus came to the province. Three days later, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. ²There the chief priests and Jewish leaders came to him. They brought their case against Paul. They begged Festus ³to do them a favor and have Paul brought to Jerusalem. They asked this because they were planning to hide along the road and kill him on the way. ⁴But Festus answered, "Paul is being held in Caesarea. I'm going there soon myself. ⁵So if this man has done anything wrong, let some of your leaders come down with me. They can accuse him there." ⁶Festus stayed with them no more than eight or ten days. Then he went down to Caesarea. The next day he sat in the judge's seat. He gave orders for Paul to be brought in. ⁷When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him. But they could not prove any of them. ⁸Then Paul spoke up for himself. "I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews," he said. "I have done nothing wrong against the temple or against Caesar." ⁹But Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor. So he asked Paul, "Will you go up to Jerusalem? Will you stand trial before me there on these charges?" ¹⁰Paul answered, "I'm standing before Caesar's court. This is where I should be judged. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews. You know that very well yourself. ¹¹If I am guilty of something that earns death, I don't refuse to die. But if their charges against me are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!" ¹²Festus talked it over with his advisers. Then he answered, "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!" ¹³Several days went by. Then King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea. They came to greet Festus and pay their respects. ¹⁴They were staying there several days. So Festus told the king about Paul's case. He said, "There's a man here whom Felix left in prison. ¹⁵When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the Jewish elders brought charges against him. They asked me to judge him guilty. ¹⁶I told them that this is not the Roman way. We don't hand a man over before he has a chance to face the people accusing him. He must get to answer their charges. ¹⁷So they came here with me, and I didn't wait. The next day I sat in the judge's seat. I gave orders for the man to be brought in. ¹⁸His accusers stood up to speak. But they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. ¹⁹They only had some arguments with him about their own religion. They also argued about a man named Jesus who had died. But Paul said that Jesus is alive. ²⁰I didn't know how to look into these things. So I asked Paul if he would go to Jerusalem. He could be tried there on these charges. ²¹But Paul asked to be kept under guard until the Emperor could decide his case. So I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar." ²²Then Agrippa said to Festus, "I'd like to hear this man myself." "Tomorrow you will hear him," Festus said. ²³The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great show and fanfare. They went into the meeting hall. The army commanders and the leading men of the city came with them. Then Festus gave orders, and Paul was brought in. ²⁴Festus said, "King Agrippa and everyone here with us, you see this man. All the Jewish people have begged me to act against him. They did it here and in Jerusalem. They shout that he should not live any longer. ²⁵But I found that he had done nothing that earns death. And now he has appealed to the Emperor. So I decided to send him. ²⁶But I have nothing clear to write about him to our ruler. So I have brought him here before all of you. I've brought him most of all before you, King Agrippa. After we look into his case, I may have something to write. ²⁷It makes no sense to me to send a prisoner without saying what the charges against him are."