¹Five days later Ananias the high priest went down to Caesarea. Some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus went with him. They told the governor what charges they wanted to make against Paul.

²So he was called in, and Tertullus began to make their case against him. He said to Felix, “We’ve enjoyed a long time of peace while you’ve been our governor. You are a wise leader, and you’ve made this a better nation.

³Most excellent Felix, everywhere we go, in every way we can, we say how grateful we are for this.

⁴But I don’t want to take up too much of your time, so would you be kind enough to listen to us for just a little while longer?

⁵“We’ve found that this Paul is a troublemaker. Everywhere he goes in the world, riots break out among the Jews. He’s the leader of a cult called the Nazarenes.

^6-7He even tried to make our temple impure, but we captured him.

⁸Question him yourself and you’ll see that all these charges we’re bringing against him are true.”

⁹The other Jews agreed with Tertullus and made the same accusations.

¹⁰The governor then motioned for Paul to speak. He said, “I know that you’ve been a judge over this nation for many years, so I’m happy to explain my actions to you.

¹¹About 12 days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship—you can easily verify this.

¹²These people here didn’t find me arguing with anyone at the temple. I wasn’t stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city.

¹³They can’t prove any of the charges they’re making against me.

¹⁴It is true that I worship the God of our people as a follower of the Way of Jesus. They call it a cult, but everything I believe agrees with the Law and the Prophets.

¹⁵I have the same hope in God that these men have themselves. I believe that both good and bad people will rise from the dead.

¹⁶So I always try not to do anything that God or people would consider wrong.

¹⁷“I’d been away from Jerusalem for several years, but recently I came back to offer sacrifices and to bring some gifts for Jewish people who are poor.

¹⁸I had already been made pure and clean in the Jewish way when they found me offering sacrifices in the temple courtyard. There was no crowd with me, and I wasn’t stirring up any trouble.

¹⁹But some other Jews from the province of Asia started a rumor—they should be here in front of you to bring charges if they have anything against me.

²⁰Or the Jews who are here should tell you if I was found guilty of any crime when I was put on trial by the Sanhedrin.

²¹The only thing I can think of that I might have done wrong was to shout out when I was on trial, ‘I believe that people will rise from the dead. That’s why I am on trial here today.’ ”

²²Felix, who knew a lot about the Way of Jesus, said he wouldn’t make a decision right away. “When Lysias the commander over 1,000 soldiers comes,” he told Paul, “I will settle your case.”

²³He ordered the officer to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and let his friends to take care of his needs.

²⁴Several days later Felix brought his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and sent for Paul so they could hear him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵Paul talked about how to live a godly life, about how people should control themselves, and about the time when God will judge everyone. This made Felix afraid. He said, “That’s enough for now! You may go, but when I find the time, I’ll send for you again.”

²⁶He did send for Paul again many times to talk with him, but he was also hoping that Paul would offer him some money to let him go.

²⁷After two years passed, Porcius Festus became the governor instead of Felix. But Felix wanted to do the Jews a favor, so he left Paul in prison.