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1Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.”
So Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:
2“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that today I shall make my defense before you against all the accusations of the Jews,
3especially because you are an expert in all customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to patiently listen to me.[#Ac 6:14; 25:19]
4“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning in my own nation and at Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.[#Gal 1:13]
5They knew me from the beginning and could testify, if they wished, how according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.[#Ac 22:3; 23:6]
6And now I stand on trial for hope in the promise made by God to our fathers,[#Ac 24:15; 28:20]
7to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God day and night. Concerning this hope, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.[#Ezr 6:17; Jas 1:1]
8Why is it judged incredible by you that God raises the dead?
9“I myself was convinced that I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.[#Ac 22:8; 1Ti 1:13]
10This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I locked up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.[#Ac 8:3; 9:13–14]
11I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. And being extremely enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.[#Mt 10:17; Ac 22:19]
12“So I went to Damascus with authority and a commission from the chief priests.
13At midday, O King, I saw along the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
14When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Aramaic language, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’[#Ac 9:7; 21:40]
15“I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’
“He said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
16But rise and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness both of what you have seen and of what I will yet reveal to you.[#Eze 2:1; #Ac 22:14–15]
17I will deliver you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I now send you,[#Jer 1:8; Ac 9:15]
18to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’[#Isa 35:5; #1Pe 2:9; #Ac 20:32]
19“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
20but declared first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do works proving their repentance.[#Mt 3:8; Ac 3:19]
21For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.[#Ac 21:27, 30–31]
22Therefore having obtained help from God, I continue to this day, testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen:[#Lk 24:27; Ac 24:14]
23that the Christ must suffer, that He would be the first who would rise from the dead, and would announce light to His own people and to the Gentiles.”[#Ps 16:8–11; Isa 53:10–12; Col 1:18; Rev 1:5; #Isa 42:6; 49:6; Lk 2:32]
24So as he made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are mad. Much learning is turning you to madness.”[#2Ki 9:11; 1Co 4:10]
25Paul said, “I am not mad, most excellent Festus. I speak the words of truth and reason.[#Ac 23:26; 24:3]
26The king, before whom I also speak freely, knows about these things. For I am persuaded that none of this is hidden from him, for this was not done in a corner.
27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”
28Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to be a Christian.”[#Ac 11:26]
29Paul said, “I pray to God that not only you, whether in a short or long time, but all who hear me this day, might become what I am, except for these chains.”[#1Co 7:7; #Ac 21:33]
30When he had said this, the king rose, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them.
31When they had gone aside, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing deserving death or imprisonment.”[#Ac 23:9, 29]
32And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”[#Ac 28:18]