¹¹ If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I ^(A)appeal to Caesar.” ¹² Then when Festus had conferred with ^[a]his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.”

Festus and Agrippa Discuss Paul’s Trial

¹³ Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at ^(B)Caesarea ^[b]and greeted Festus. ¹⁴ And while they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man who was ^(C)left as a prisoner by Felix; ¹⁵ and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews ^(D)brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ¹⁶ I ^(E)answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before ^(F)the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. ¹⁷ So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on ^(G)the judgment seat and ordered the man to be brought before me. ¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they were not bringing any charges against him for the evil deeds I was expecting, ¹⁹ but they had some ^(H)points of disagreement with him about their own ^[c](I)religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man whom Paul asserted to be alive. ^20 (J)And being perplexed about how to investigate ^[d]such matters, I was asking whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there to be tried on these matters. ²¹ But when Paul ^(K)appealed to be held in custody for ^[e]the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.” ²² Then ^(L)Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice

²³ So, on the next day when ^(M)Agrippa came ^[f]together with ^(N)Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the hall ^[g]accompanied by the ^[h]commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the order of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴ And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom ^(O)all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that ^(P)he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵ But I found that he had committed ^(Q)nothing worthy of death, and since he himself ^(R)appealed to ^[i]the Emperor, I decided to send him. ^26 [j]Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. ²⁷ For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.”