Aug. 15, 16
Acts 26
Act 26:1 Agrippa said
to Paul, "You may speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched
out his hand, and made his defense.
Act 26:2 "I think
myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you
this day concerning all the things that I am accused by the Jews,
Act 26:3 especially
because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among
the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.
Act 26:4 "Indeed,
all the Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the
beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem;
Act 26:5 having known
me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the
strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
Act 26:6 Now I stand
here to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our
fathers,
Act 26:7 which our
twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain.
Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa!
Act 26:8 Why is it
judged incredible with you, if God does raise the dead?
Act 26:9 "I myself
most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the
name of Jesus of Nazareth.
Act 26:10 This I also
did in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons,
having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were
put to death I gave my vote against them.
Act 26:11 Punishing
them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme.
Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to
foreign cities.
Act 26:12 "Whereupon
as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the
chief priests,
Act 26:13 at noon, O
King, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun,
shining around me and those who traveled with me.
Act 26:14 When we had
all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew
language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you
to kick against the goads.'
Act 26:15 "I said,
'Who are you, Lord?' "He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting.
Act 26:16 But arise,
and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose:
to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you
have seen, and of the things which I will reveal to you;
Act 26:17 delivering
you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,
Act 26:18 to open their
eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of
Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an
inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
Act 26:19 "Therefore,
King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
Act 26:20 but declared
first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the
country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent
and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
Act 26:21 For this
reason the Jews seized me in the temple, and tried to kill me.
Act 26:22 Having
therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day
testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the
prophets and Moses said would happen,
Act 26:23 how the
Christ must suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he
would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to the
Gentiles."
Act 26:24 As he thus
made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are
crazy! Your great learning is driving you insane!"
Act 26:25 But he said,
"I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but boldly declare words
of truth and reasonableness.
Act 26:26 For the king
knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am
persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, for this has
not been done in a corner.
Act 26:27 King Agrippa,
do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe."
Act 26:28 Agrippa said
to Paul, "With a little persuasion are you trying to make me a
Christian?"
Act 26:29 Paul said, "I
pray to God, that whether with little or with much, not only you, but
also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for
these bonds."
Act 26:30 The king rose
up with the governor, and Bernice, and those who sat with them.
Act 26:31 When they had
withdrawn, they spoke one to another, saying, "This man does
nothing worthy of death or of bonds."
Act 26:32 Agrippa said
to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not
appealed to Caesar."