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26 Agrippa vero ad Paulum ait: Permittitur tibi loqui pro temetipso. Tunc Paulus extenta manu coepit rationem reddere:

De omnibus quibus accusor a Judaeis, rex Agrippa, aestimo me beatum apud te cum sim defensurus me hodie,

maxime te sciente omnia, et quae apud Judaeos sunt consuetudines et quaestiones: propter quod obsecro patienter me audias.

Et quidem vitam meam a juventute, quae ab initio fuit in gente mea in Jerosolymis, noverunt omnes Judaei:

praescientes me ab initio (si velint testimonium perhibere) quoniam secundum certissimam sectam nostrae religionis vixi pharisaeus.

Et nunc, in spe quae ad patres nostros repromissionis facta est a Deo, sto judicio subjectus:

in quam duodecim tribus nostrae nocte ac die deservientes, sperant devenire. De qua spe accusor a Judaeis, rex.

Quid incredibile judicatur apud vos, si Deus mortuos suscitat?

Et ego quidem existimaveram me adversus nomen Jesu Nazareni debere multa contraria agere,

10 quod et feci Jerosolymis, et multos sanctorum ego in carceribus inclusi, a principibus sacerdotum potestate accepta: et cum occiderentur, detuli sententiam.

11 Et per omnes synagogas frequenter puniens eos, compellebam blasphemare: et amplius insaniens in eos, persequebar usque in exteras civitates.

12 In quibus dum irem Damascum cum potestate et permissu principum sacerdotum,

13 die media in via vidi, rex, de caelo supra splendorem solis circumfulsisse me lumen, et eos qui mecum simul erant.

14 Omnesque nos cum decidissemus in terram, audivi vocem loquentem mihi hebraica lingua: Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris? durum est tibi contra stimulum calcitrare.

15 Ego autem dixi: Quis es, domine? Dominus autem dixit: Ego sum Jesus, quem tu persequeris.

16 Sed exsurge, et sta super pedes tuos: ad hoc enim apparui tibi, ut constituam te ministrum, et testem eorum quae vidisti, et eorum quibus apparebo tibi,

17 eripiens te de populo et gentibus, in quas nunc ego mitto te,

18 aperire oculos eorum, ut convertantur a tenebris ad lucem, et de potestate Satanae ad Deum, ut accipiant remissionem peccatorum, et sortem inter sanctos, per fidem quae est in me.

19 Unde, rex Agrippa, non fui incredulus caelesti visioni:

20 sed his qui sunt Damasci primum, et Jerosolymis, et in omnem regionem Judaeae, et gentibus, annuntiabam, ut poenitentiam agerent, et converterentur ad Deum, digna poenitentiae opera facientes.

21 Hac ex causa me Judaei, cum essem in templo, comprehensum tentabant interficere.

22 Auxilio autem adjutus Dei usque in hodiernum diem, sto, testificans minori atque majori, nihil extra dicens quam ea quae prophetae locuti sunt futura esse, et Moyses,

23 si passibilis Christus, si primus ex resurrectione mortuorum, lumen annuntiaturus est populo et gentibus.

24 Haec loquente eo, et rationem reddente, Festus magna voce dixit: Insanis, Paule: multae te litterae ad insaniam convertunt.

25 Et Paulus: Non insanio, inquit, optime Feste, sed veritatis et sobrietatis verba loquor.

26 Scit enim de his rex, ad quem et constanter loquor: latere enim eum nihil horum arbitror. Neque enim in angulo quidquam horum gestum est.

27 Credis, rex Agrippa, prophetis? Scio quia credis.

28 Agrippa autem ad Paulum: In modico suades me christianum fieri.

29 Et Paulus: Opto apud Deum, et in modico et in magno, non tantum te, sed etiam omnes qui audiunt hodie fieri tales, qualis et ego sum, exceptis vinculis his.

30 Et exsurrexit rex, et praeses, et Bernice, et qui assidebant eis.

31 Et cum secessissent, loquebantur ad invicem, dicentes: Quia nihil morte aut vinculis dignum quid fecit homo iste.

32 Agrippa autem Festo dixit: Dimitti poterat homo hic, si non appellasset Caesarem.

26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”(A)

So Paul motioned with his hand(B) and began his defense: “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you(C) today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews,(D) and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs(E) and controversies.(F) Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

“The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child,(G) from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. They have known me for a long time(H) and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect(I) of our religion, living as a Pharisee.(J) And now it is because of my hope(K) in what God has promised our ancestors(L) that I am on trial today. This is the promise our twelve tribes(M) are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night.(N) King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me.(O) Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?(P)

“I too was convinced(Q) that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose(R) the name of Jesus of Nazareth.(S) 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people(T) in prison,(U) and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.(V) 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished,(W) and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice(X) saying to me in Aramaic,[a](Y) ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.(Z) I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.(AA) 17 I will rescue you(AB) from your own people and from the Gentiles.(AC) I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes(AD) and turn them from darkness to light,(AE) and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins(AF) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’(AG)

19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient(AH) to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus,(AI) then to those in Jerusalem(AJ) and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles,(AK) I preached that they should repent(AL) and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.(AM) 21 That is why some Jews seized me(AN) in the temple courts and tried to kill me.(AO) 22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen(AP) 23 that the Messiah would suffer(AQ) and, as the first to rise from the dead,(AR) would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”(AS)

24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind,(AT) Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning(AU) is driving you insane.”

25 “I am not insane, most excellent(AV) Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things,(AW) and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”(AX)

29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”(AY)

30 The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice(AZ) and those sitting with them. 31 After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”(BA)

32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free(BB) if he had not appealed to Caesar.”(BC)

Footnotes

  1. Acts 26:14 Or Hebrew