Acts
Chapter 26
Overview
Paul is a prisoner speaking before King Agrippa, Governor Festus, Bernice, and other leading guests. This is not quite a formal trial; Paul has been allowed to explain himself while Festus considers his case. He begins with shared Jewish hopes, then tells how he went from attacking Jesus’ followers to carrying Jesus’ message. His defense grows into a direct appeal to the people judging him—a curious courtroom turn, since the prisoner starts questioning the judges. The chapter closes with a private assessment of his guilt and the consequences of his appeal.
1Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:
2“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that today I can defend myself before you against all the accusations made by Jewish people.
3“I am especially fortunate because you know all the customs and disputes of the Jewish people. So I ask you to listen to me patiently.
4“All the Jewish people know how I have lived since my youth, from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.
5“They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, following the strictest group within our religion.
6“Now I stand here on trial because I hope in the promise God made to our ancestors.
7“Our twelve tribes hope to receive what God promised, and they serve him earnestly night and day. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that Jewish people are accusing me.
8“Why do any of you consider it unbelievable that God raises the dead?
9“I myself was once convinced that I had to do many things against the name and cause of Jesus of Nazareth.
10“That is exactly what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests, I locked up many of God’s people in prison. When they were being put to death, I approved.
11“I punished them repeatedly in every synagogue and tried to force them to speak against Jesus. I was so furiously enraged at them that I pursued them even into foreign cities.
12“While doing this, I traveled to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests.
13“King Agrippa, at midday on the road, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun. It shone around me and those traveling with me.
14“We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in the language of the Jewish people: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by kicking against the cattle prod.’
15“I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
16“‘But get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you.
17“‘I will rescue you from your own people and from the non-Jews. I am sending you to them
18“‘to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from Satan’s power to God. Then they may receive forgiveness for their sins and a place among those whom faith in me has set apart as God’s own.’
19“So, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision from heaven.
20“I first told the people in Damascus, then those in Jerusalem and throughout Judea, and then the non-Jews, that they must change how they think and live, turn to God, and do things that show their change is real.
21“For this reason, some Jewish people seized me in the Temple and tried to kill me.
22“But God has helped me, and so I stand here to this day, telling everyone—both humble and powerful—what I have seen. I say nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said was going to happen:
23“that the Messiah, God’s promised king, would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would announce light both to the Jewish people and to the non-Jews.”
24As Paul was making this defense, Festus shouted, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!”
25Paul replied, “I am not insane, Your Excellency Festus. I am speaking words of truth and sound judgment.
26“King Agrippa knows about these things, so I speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it did not happen in some hidden corner.
27“King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
28Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”
29Paul replied, “Whether quickly or over a long time, I pray to God that not only you but everyone listening to me today might become what I am—except for these chains.”
30Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and those sitting with them got up.
31After leaving the room, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing that deserves death or imprisonment.”
32Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed his case to Caesar, the Roman emperor.”