ActsChapter 26

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¹Agrippa said to Paul, "You may now speak for yourself." So Paul held out his hand. He began to defend himself. ²"King Agrippa, I think I am blessed to stand before you today. I get to defend myself against all the charges of the Jews. ³And you know all the Jewish customs and the things they argue about. So I beg you to listen to me patiently. ⁴All the Jews know how I have lived ever since I was a small child. I lived among my own people and also in Jerusalem. ⁵They have known me a long time. If they are willing, they can tell you this. I lived as a Pharisee. That is the strictest group in our religion. ⁶And now I am on trial because of my hope. I hope in the promise God made to our fathers. ⁷Our twelve tribes hope to see this promise come true as they serve God with all their hearts, day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that the Jews accuse me. ⁸Why do any of you think it is hard to believe that God raises the dead? ⁹I too once was sure I should do all I could to fight against the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰And that is what I did in Jerusalem. The chief priests gave me power to do it. I put many of God's people in prison. When they were sentenced to death, I voted against them. ¹¹Many times I had them punished in the synagogues. I tried to make them speak against God. I was wild with anger against them. I even went to cities in other lands to hunt them down. ¹²That's why I was on my way to Damascus. The chief priests had given me power and orders to go. ¹³At about noon, O king, I was on the road. I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun. It shone all around me and the men with me. ¹⁴We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice speaking to me in Hebrew. It said, 'Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me? It is hard for you to kick against the ox goads.'a ¹⁵I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' The Lord answered, 'I am Jesus, the one you are attacking. ¹⁶Now get up and stand on your feet. I have shown myself to you for a reason. I have chosen you to be my servant. You will tell others what you have seen of me. You will also tell what I will show you. ¹⁷I will save you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸to open their eyes. Then they can turn from darkness to light. They can turn from the power of Satan to God. Then their sins can be forgiven. And they can have a share among those who are made holy by faith in me.' ¹⁹So, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision from heaven. ²⁰First I preached to the people in Damascus and in Jerusalem. Then I preached to everyone in the land of Judea. Then I preached to the Gentiles. I told them to repent and turn to God. I told them to show they had repented by the way they lived. ²¹That's why the Jews grabbed me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. ²²But God has helped me up to this very day. So I stand here and tell everyone, both small and great. I say nothing more than what the prophets and Moses said would happen. ²³They said that the Messiah would suffer. He would be the first to rise from the dead. And he would bring the message of light to our people and to the Gentiles." ²⁴While Paul was still defending himself, Festus shouted, "You're out of your mind, Paul! All your learning is driving you crazy!" ²⁵But Paul answered, "I'm not out of my mind, most excellent Festus. What I'm saying is true and makes good sense. ²⁶The king knows about these things. So I can speak openly to him. I'm sure he has heard about all of this, because it didn't happen off in a corner. ²⁷King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do." ²⁸Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think you can talk me into being a Christian so quickly?" ²⁹Paul answered, "Quickly or not, I pray to God for this. I pray that you and everyone listening to me today would become like me. But I don't wish these chains on you." ³⁰Then the king stood up, and so did the governor. Bernice and those sitting with them stood up too. ³¹As they were leaving, they said to each other, "This man has done nothing that earns death or prison." ³²Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."