Acts 26

Acts 26:1 ←
And Agrippa said to Paul, You may put your cause before us. Then Paul, stretching out his hand, made his answer, saying:

Acts 26:2 ←
In my opinion I am happy, King Agrippa, to be able to give my answer before you today to all these things which the Jews say against me:

Acts 26:3 ←
The more so, because you are expert in all questions to do with the Jews and their ways: so I make my request to you to give me a hearing to the end.

Acts 26:4 ←
All the Jews have knowledge of my way of life from my early years, as it was from the start among my nation, and at Jerusalem;

Acts 26:5 ←
And they are able to say, if they would give witness, that I was living as a Pharisee, in that division of our religion which is most regular in the keeping of the law.

Acts 26:6 ←
And now I am here to be judged because of the hope given by God's word to our fathers;

Acts 26:7 ←
For the effecting of which our twelve tribes have been working and waiting night and day with all their hearts. And in connection with this hope I am attacked by the Jews, O king!

Acts 26:8 ←
Why, in your opinion, is it outside belief for God to make the dead come to life again?

Acts 26:9 ←
For I, truly, was of the opinion that it was right for me to do a number of things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Acts 26:10 ←
And this I did in Jerusalem: and numbers of the saints I put in prison, having had authority given to me from the chief priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my decision against them.

Acts 26:11 ←
And I gave them punishment frequently, in all the Synagogues, forcing them to say things against God; and burning with passion against them, I went after them even into far-away towns.

Acts 26:12 ←
Then, when I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and orders of the chief priests,

Acts 26:13 ←
In the middle of the day, on the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who were journeying with me.

Acts 26:14 ←
And when we had all gone down on the earth, a voice came to me, saying in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly? It is hard for you to go against the impulse which is driving you.

Acts 26:15 ←
And I said, Who are you, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom you are attacking.

Acts 26:16 ←
But get up on your feet: for I have come to you for this purpose, to make you a servant and a witness of the things in which you have seen me, and of those in which you will see me;

Acts 26:17 ←
And I will keep you safe from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,

Acts 26:18 ←
To make their eyes open, turning them from the dark to the light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may have forgiveness of sins and a heritage among those who are made holy by faith in me.

Acts 26:19 ←
So, then, King Agrippa, I did not go against the vision from heaven;

Acts 26:20 ←
But I went about, first to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, and through all the country of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, preaching a change of heart, so that they, being turned to God, might give, in their works, the fruits of a changed heart.

Acts 26:21 ←
For this reason, the Jews took me in the Temple, and made an attempt to put me to death.

Acts 26:22 ←
And so, by God's help, I am here today, witnessing to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come about;

Acts 26:23 ←
That the Christ would go through pain, and being the first to come back from the dead, would give light to the people and to the Gentiles.

Acts 26:24 ←
And when he made his answer in these words, Festus said in a loud voice, Paul, you are off your head; your great learning has made you unbalanced.

Acts 26:25 ←
Then Paul said, I am not off my head, most noble Festus, but my words are true and wise.

Acts 26:26 ←
For the king has knowledge of these things, to whom I am talking freely; being certain that all this is common knowledge to him; for it has not been done in secret.

Acts 26:27 ←
King Agrippa, have you faith in the prophets? I am certain that you have.

Acts 26:28 ←
And Agrippa said to Paul, A little more and you will be making me a Christian.

Acts 26:29 ←
And Paul said, It is my prayer to God that, in little or great measure, not only you, but all those hearing me today might be even as I am, but for these chains.

Acts 26:30 ←
And the king and the ruler and Bernice and those who were seated with them got up;

Acts 26:31 ←
And when they had gone away they said to one another, This man has done nothing which might give cause for death or prison.

Acts 26:32 ←
And Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been made free, if he had not put his cause before Caesar.


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