5)
Defending himself before King Agrippa
26:1-29
Acts 26
:1
26:1
And Agrippa said to Paul, You are permitted to speak for yourself. Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his
adefense:
Acts 26
:2
26:2
Concerning all the things which I am
aaccused of by the Jews,
bKing Agrippa, I consider myself blessed that I am to make my
1defense before you today,
Acts 26
:3
26:3
1Especially since you are
2familiar with all the
acustoms and
bquestions among the Jews; therefore I beg
you to listen to me patiently.
Acts 26
:4
26:4
The manner of my life from youth, which from the beginning was among my
own anation and in Jerusalem, all the Jews know,
Acts 26
:5
26:5
Since they have previously known about me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the
astrictest bsect of our
1religion I lived as a
cPharisee.
Acts 26
:6
26:6
And now I stand
here being judged for the
ahope of the promise made by God to our fathers,
Acts 26
:7
26:7
To which our
atwelve tribes, earnestly serving
bnight and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am
caccused by the Jews, O king.
Acts 26
:8
26:8
Why is it judged incredible among you if God
araises the dead?
Acts 26
:9
26:9
Well then, I thought to myself that I ought to do many things
acontrary to the name of Jesus the
bNazarene,
Acts 26
:10
26:10
Which also I did in Jerusalem; and I both shut up many of the saints in
aprison when I had received
bauthority from the chief priests and
ccast a vote against them when they were being done away with.
Acts 26
:11
26:11
And in all the
asynagogues I punished them often and tried to compel
them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged at them, I
bpersecuted them even as far as
1foreign cities.
Acts 26
:12
26:12
Engaged in these things, I
ajourneyed to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests.
Acts 26
:13
26:13
At midday, on the way, I saw, O king, a light from heaven beyond the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
Acts 26
:14
26:14
And when we all fell to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the
aHebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting
1Me? It is hard for you to kick against the
2goads.
Acts 26
:15
26:15
And I said, Who are You,
1Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you persecute.
Acts 26
:16
26:16
But rise up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this
purpose, to
aappoint you as a minister and a
1bwitness both of the things in which you have
cseen Me and of the things in which I will appear to you;
Acts 26
:17
26:17
Delivering you
afrom the people and from the
bGentiles, to whom I send you,
Acts 26
:18
26:18
To 1open their
aeyes, to turn
them from
2bdarkness to
clight and
from the
3authority of Satan
4to God, that they may receive
5dforgiveness of sins and
6an einheritance among those who have been
7sanctified by faith in Me.
Acts 26
:19
26:19
Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly
1vision,
Acts 26
:20
26:20
But declared both to those in
aDamascus first and in
bJerusalem and throughout
call the country of Judea and to the
dGentiles that they should
erepent and
fturn to God, doing works
gworthy of repentance.
Acts 26
:21
26:21
Because of these things
certain Jews
aseized me while I was in the temple and tried to slay
me.
Acts 26
:22
26:22
Having therefore obtained the
1ahelp which is from God, I have
bstood unto this day,
ctestifying both to small and great, saying nothing apart from the things which both the
dprophets and
eMoses have said would take place,
Acts 26
:23
26:23
That the Christ would
asuffer and that He, being the first
1to brise from the dead, would announce
2clight both to the people and to the Gentiles.
Acts 26
:24
26:24
And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, You are
1ainsane, Paul. Much learning is driving you
1insane.
Acts 26
:25
26:25
But Paul said, I am not insane, most
aexcellent bFestus, but I am uttering words of
ctruth and
dsoberness.
Acts 26
:26
26:26
For the king
1knows about these things, to whom also I speak
2freely, for I am persuaded that none of these things have escaped his notice; for this has not been done in a corner.
Acts 26
:27
26:27
King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.
Acts 26
:28
26:28
And Agrippa
replied to Paul, By so little are you trying to persuade me to become a
aChristian?
Acts 26
:29
26:29
And Paul
said, I would to God that both by little and by much, not only you, but also all those who hear me today might become even such
aas I am, except for these
bbonds.
6)
King Agrippa's judgment
26:30-32
Acts 26
:30
26:30
And the king rose up, and the
agovernor and
bBernice and
cthose sitting with them;
Acts 26
:31
26:31
And when they had withdrawn, they spoke to one another, saying, This man is doing nothing
aworthy of death or of bonds.
Acts 26
:32
26:32
And aAgrippa said to Festus,
1This man could have been
breleased, had he
2not cappealed to Caesar.
