Get the free app for more features and content.
Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

1Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak for yourself.”

Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defence. 2“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defence before you today concerning all the things that I am accused by the Judeans, 3especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are amongst Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

4“Indeed, all Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning amongst my own nation and at Jerusalem; 5having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers, 7which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Judeans, King Agrippa! 8Why is it judged incredible with you if God does raise the dead?

9“I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Yeshua of Nazareth. 10I also did this in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the holy ones in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them. 11Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

12“Whereupon as I travelled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests, 13at noon, O king, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who travelled with me. 14When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15“I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“He said, ‘I am Yeshua, whom you are persecuting.16But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will reveal to you;17delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,18to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance amongst those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

19“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance. 21For this reason Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said would happen, 23how the Messiah must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the Gentiles.”

24As he thus made his defence, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!”

25But he said, “I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness. 26For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, 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, “With a little persuasion are you trying to make me a Messianic?”

29Paul said, “I pray to God, that whether with little or with much, not only you, but also all that hear me today, might become such as I am, except for these bonds.”

30The king rose up with the governor and Bernice, and those who sat with them. 31When they had withdrawn, they spoke to one another, saying, “This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds.” 32Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

PUBLIC DOMAIN
This public domain Bible translation is brought to you courtesy of eBible.org.

Featured Resources

New Testament Summary: A Complete Animated Overview

New Testament Summary: A Complete Animated Over...

Watch our overview video on the New Testament. This video breaks down the lit...

BibleProject

Scot McKnight: What Is The Gospel?

Scot McKnight: What Is The Gospel?

Scot McKnight is Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, ...

Regeneration Project

Why Does the Bible Stress the Power of Jesus’s Name?

Why Does the Bible Stress the Power of Jesus’s ...

Episode 1392. Read or subscribe: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/why-...

Desiring God

Paul's Background (Full Lecture) | N.T. Wright

Paul's Background (Full Lecture) | N.T. Wright

Free lecture from "Paul: A Biography". https://ntwrightonline.wpengine.com/p...

N.T. Wright Online

Introduction to Acts

Introduction to Acts

Dr. Joel B. Green introduces Acts, saying that the book is less a story of th...

Fuller Studio

[CSAP 527] The Book of Acts - Walt Russell

[CSAP 527] The Book of Acts - Walt Russell

Hermeneutics and Bible Study Methods (CSAP 527), Dr. Walt Russell The Book...

Biola University

Bound for Rome: Acts 21-28

Bound for Rome: Acts 21-28

In the final video in our Acts series, we trace Paul’s final journey to Jerus...

BibleProject

Book of Acts Summary: A Complete Animated Overview (Part 2)

Book of Acts Summary: A Complete Animated Overv...

Watch our overview video on the book of Acts, which breaks down the literary ...

BibleProject

Explore Acts 26