Acts of the Apostles 26 entire
NRSV Updated edition (2021)
Herod Agrippa II said to Paul,
"You have permission to speak for yourself."
Then Paul stretched out his hand and began
to defend himself:
I consider myself fortunate that it is
before you, King Agrippa, I am to make
my defense against all the accusations
of the Jews, because you are especially
familiar with all the customs and
controversies of the Jews; therefore I
beg of you to listen to me patiently.
All the Jews know my way of life from
my youth, a life spent from the begin-
ning among my own people and in
Jerusalem. They have known for a
long time, if they are willing to testify,
that I have belonged to the strictest
sect of our religion and lived as a
Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial
on account of my hope in the promise
made by God to our ancestors, a promise
that our twelve tribes hope to attain, as
they earnestly worship day and night. It
is for this hope, Your Excellency, that I
am accused by Jews! Why is it thought
incredible by any of you that God raises
the dead?
Indeed, I myself was convinced that I
ought to do many things against the name
of Jesus of Nazareth / the Nazorean. And
that is what I did in Jerusalem; with
authority received from the chief priests,
I not only locked up many of the saints in
prison, but I also cast my vote against
them when they were being condemned
to death. By punishing them often in all
the synagogues I tried to force them to
blaspheme, and since I was so furiously
enraged at them, I pursued them even to
foreign cities.
With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus
with the authority and commission of the
chief priests, when at midday along the road,
Your Excellency, I saw a light from heaven,
brighter than the sun, shining around me
and my companions. When we had all fallen
to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me
in the Hebrew language / Aramaic,
Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?
It hurts you to kick against the goads
[proverb on how futile it was].
I asked, "Who are you, Lord?"
And the Lord answered, I am Jesus whom
you are persecuting. But get up and
stand on your feet, for I have appeared
to you for this purpose, to appoint you
serve and testify to the things in which
you have seen me / things you have seen
and to those in which I will appear to you.
I will rescue you from your people and
from the Gentiles -- to whom I am sending
you to open their eyes so that they may
turn from darkness to light and from the
power of Satan to God, so that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and a place
among those who are sanctified by faith
in me.
After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient
to the heavenly vision but declared first to those
in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and through-
out the countryside of Judea, and also to the
Gentiles, that they should repent and turn
to God and do deeds consistent with repen-
tance. For this reason the Jews seized me in
the Temple and tried to kill me. To this day
I have had help from God, and so I stand
here, testifying to both small and great, saying
nothing but what the prophets and Moses
(Nebi-im and Torah) said would take place:
that the Messiah must suffer and that, by
being the first to rise from the dead, he
would proclaim light both to our people and
to the Gentiles.
While he was making this defense, Festus exclaimed,
"You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning
is driving you insane!"
But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most
excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth.
Indeed, the king (Herod Agrippa II) knows about
these things, and to him I speak freely, for I am
certain that none of these things has escaped his
notice, for this was not done in a corner. King
Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know
that you believe!"
Agrippa said to Paul, "Are you so quickly
persuading me to become a Christian?"
Paul replied, "Whether quickly or not, I pray
to God that not only you but also all who are
listening to me today might become such as I
am -- except for these chains."
Then the king got up and with him the
governor and Bernice and those who had been
seated with them, and as they were leaving,
they said to one another, "This man is doing
nothing to deserve death or imprisonment."
Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have
been set free if he had not appealed to the
emperor." [ Nero who ruled from AD 54 until
his death in AD 68 ]
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