Acts 25:21 — Acts 26:11

21 But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of ¹the ^aEmperor, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I should send him up to Caesar.

22 And Agrippa said to Festus, I myself also would like to hear the man. Tomorrow, said Festus, you shall hear him.

23 Therefore on the next day, when ^aAgrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered into the hall of audience together with the ¹commanders and prominent men of the city, and when Festus had given the order, Paul was brought.

24 And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all you men who are present with us, you behold this man, concerning whom all the multitude of ^aJews have petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought ^bnot to live any longer.

25 But I found that he had done nothing ^aworthy of death; and since he himself ^bappealed to the Emperor, I ¹decided to send him.

26 Concerning him I have nothing definite to write to my lord; therefore I have brought him before ¹you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that when the examination has taken place, I may have something to write.

27 For it seems unreasonable to me, in sending a ^aprisoner, not to also signify the charges against him.

CHAPTER 26

1 And Agrippa said to Paul, You are permitted to speak for yourself. Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his ^adefense:

2 Concerning all the things which I am ^aaccused of by the Jews, ^bKing Agrippa, I consider myself blessed that I am to make my ¹defense before you today,

3 ¹Especially since you are ²familiar with all the ^acustoms and ^bquestions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

4 The manner of my life from youth, which from the beginning was among my own ^anation and in Jerusalem, all the Jews know,

5 Since they have previously known about me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the ^astrictest ^bsect of our ¹religion I lived as a ^cPharisee.

6 And now I stand here being judged for the ^ahope of the promise made by God to our fathers,

7 To which our ^atwelve tribes, earnestly serving ^bnight and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am ^caccused by the Jews, O king.

8 Why is it judged incredible among you if God ^araises the dead?

9 Well then, I thought to myself that I ought to do many things ^acontrary to the name of Jesus the ^bNazarene,

10 Which also I did in Jerusalem; and I both shut up many of the saints in ^aprison when I had received ^bauthority from the chief priests and ^ccast a vote against them when they were being done away with.

11 And in all the ^asynagogues I punished them often and tried to compel them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged at them, I ^bpersecuted them even as far as ¹foreign cities.

Acts 25:2 — Acts 25:20

2 And the ^achief priests and leading men of the Jews gave their information to him against Paul; and they entreated him,

3 Asking for a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem, they themselves setting an ^aambush to ^bdo away with him on the way.

4 Festus therefore answered that Paul was being kept in custody in Caesarea, and that he himself was about to proceed there shortly.

5 Therefore, he said, let ¹influential men from among you go down with me, and if there is anything ²wrong in the man, let them ^aaccuse him.

6 And having stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; and on the next day he sat on the ^ajudgment seat and ordered Paul to be brought.

7 And when he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious ^acharges against him, which they were ^bnot able to prove,

8 While Paul said in his ^1adefense, ^bNeither against the ^claw of the Jews nor against the ^dtemple nor against ^eCaesar have I sinned in anything.

9 But Festus, wanting to ¹gain ^afavor with the Jews, answered Paul and said, Are you willing to go up to ^bJerusalem and be judged there before me concerning these things?

10 And Paul said, I am standing before Caesar’s ^ajudgment seat, where I ought to be judged. I have done ^bnothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know.

11 If therefore I am doing wrong and have committed anything ^aworthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if there is nothing to the things which these ^baccuse me of, no one can hand me over to them. I ^1cappeal to ²Caesar.

12 Then when Festus had conferred with the ¹council, he answered, To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.

13 Now when some days had passed, ^1aAgrippa the king and ²Bernice arrived at ^bCaesarea and greeted Festus.

14 And while they were staying some additional days there, Festus laid before the king the matters regarding Paul, saying, There is a certain man who has been ^aleft a ^bprisoner by ^cFelix,

15 Concerning whom, when I was in Jerusalem, the ^achief priests and the elders of the Jews gave information and asked for a sentence against him.

16 To them I answered that it is not the ^acustom with Romans to hand over any man before he who is ^baccused meets the ^caccusers face to face and has an opportunity for a ^ddefense concerning the charge.

17 So when they had come together here, I made no delay; on the next day, sitting on the ^ajudgment seat, I ordered the man to be brought.

18 Concerning him the accusers stood and brought no ^acharge of the evil things I was suspecting.

19 But they had certain ^aquestions against him concerning their own ¹religion and concerning a certain Jesus who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be ^balive.

20 And ¹being at a loss as to how there should be an inquiry concerning these things, I asked him if he was willing to go to ^aJerusalem and be judged there concerning these things.

Acts 24:10 — Acts 25:1

10 And when the governor nodded for him to speak, Paul answered: Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I gladly make my ^1adefense for the things concerning myself,

11 Since you can realize that it is not more than twelve days since I went up to ^aworship in ^bJerusalem.

12 And ^aneither in the ^btemple did they find me disputing with anyone nor stirring up a crowd, nor in the synagogues, nor throughout the city.

13 ^aNeither are they able to prove to you the things which they now accuse me of.

14 But I confess this to you, that according to the ^1aWay, which they call a ^bsect, so I ^2cserve the ^dGod of our fathers, believing all the things that are written in the ^eLaw and in the Prophets;

15 Having ^ahope toward God, which these themselves also look for, that there is to be a ¹resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

16 Because of this I also ^aexercise myself to always have a ^1bconscience without offense toward God and men.

17 Now after ^amany years I came bringing ^balms to my ^cnation and offerings;

18 In which they found me ¹purified in the temple, with no crowd or uproar. But certain Jews from ^aAsia,

19 Who should have been present before you and made ^aaccusation if they had anything against me —

20 Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the ^aSanhedrin,

21 Other than concerning this one sound which I cried out while standing among them, Concerning the ^aresurrection of the dead I am being judged today before you.

22 But Felix, knowing more accurately the things concerning the ^aWay, deferred them, saying, When Lysias the ^bcommander comes down, I will determine your affairs.

23 And he directed the centurion to ^akeep him in custody, and that he should have some ^bliberty and that no one should prevent his own people from attending to him.

24 But after some days, Felix arrived with ¹Drusilla his wife, who was a Jewess, and he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the ^afaith in Christ Jesus.

25 And as he was ¹reasoning concerning ^2arighteousness and ^bself-control and the ^cjudgment to come, Felix became afraid and answered, Go for the present, and when I have an opportunity, I ^dwill call for you;

26 Hoping at the same time also that ^1amoney would be given to him by Paul. Therefore he also sent for him more frequently and conversed with him.

27 And when ¹two years were completed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius ^2aFestus; and wanting to ³gain ^bfavor with the Jews, Felix ^cleft Paul ^dbound.

CHAPTER 25

1 ^aFestus therefore, having come into the province, after three days went up to Jerusalem from ^bCaesarea.

Acts 23:22 — Acts 24:9

22 So the commander dismissed the young man, charging him, Do not tell anyone that you have informed me of these things.

23 And he called to him a certain two of the centurions and said, Prepare two hundred soldiers to go as far as Caesarea, as well as seventy horsemen and two hundred ¹spearmen, by the ²third hour of the night;

24 And they were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to ^1aFelix the ^bgovernor.

25 And he wrote a letter having this form:

26 Claudius Lysias, to his ^aExcellency, Governor Felix, ^brejoice.

27 This man, having been ^aseized by the Jews and about to be ^bdone away with by them, I came upon with my detachment of soldiers and rescued, when I learned that he was a ^cRoman.

28 And intending to ^aascertain the cause for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin,

29 And found him to be accused concerning ^aquestions of their ^blaw, but having nothing ^cworthy of death or of bonds laid to his charge.

30 And when it was ^adisclosed to me that there was a ^bplot against the man, I sent him at once to you, charging the ^caccusers also to speak the things against him before you.

31 So the soldiers, according to what they had been directed, took up Paul and brought him by night to ¹Antipatris.

32 And on the next day, leaving the horsemen to depart with him, they returned to the ^abarracks.

33 And when they entered into ^aCaesarea and handed over the letter to the governor, they presented Paul also to him.

34 And when he had read it, he asked from what province he was; and learning that he was from ^aCilicia,

35 He said, I will hear your case fully when your ^aaccusers also arrive. And he ordered him to be guarded in Herod’s ^1bpraetorium.

CHAPTER 24

1 And after five days the high priest ^aAnanias came down with some elders and a certain ¹orator, Tertullus; and they gave their information against Paul to the ^bgovernor.

2 And when Paul was called, Tertullus began to accuse him saying, ¹Since we have obtained much peace through you, and since reforms are being carried out for this nation through your forethought

3 Both in every way and everywhere, we welcome it, most ^aexcellent ^bFelix, with all thankfulness.

4 But that I may not detain you further, I entreat you to hear us briefly in your forbearance.

5 For we have found this man a pest and an ^aagitator of ^binsurrections among all the Jews throughout the inhabited earth and a ringleader of the ^csect of the ^dNazarenes,

6 Who has also tried to ^aprofane the temple. Him also we laid hold of ¹and wanted to judge according to our law,

7 But Lysias the commander came by and with much force took him away from our hands

8 And ordered his accusers to come to you. When you have examined this man yourself concerning all these things, you will be able to ^aascertain from him the things which we accuse him of.

9 And the Jews also joined in the attack, affirming that these things were so.

Acts 23:1 — Acts 23:21

1 And Paul, looking intently at the ^1aSanhedrin, said, ²Men, brothers, I have conducted myself in all good ^3bconscience before God until this day.

2 And the high priest ^aAnanias commanded those who stood by him to ^bstrike him on the mouth.

3 Then Paul ¹said to him, God is going to strike you, you ^awhitewashed ^bwall. And do you sit to ^2cjudge me according to the law, and contrary to the law you order me to be struck?

4 And those standing by said, Do you revile the ^ahigh priest of God?

5 And Paul said, I did not know, brothers, that he is the high priest; for it is written, ^a“You shall not ^bspeak evilly of the ruler of your people.”

6 And Paul, knowing that one part was ^1aSadducees and the other ²Pharisees, ³cried out in the ^bSanhedrin, ⁴Men, brothers, I am a ^cPharisee, a son of Pharisees; concerning the ^dhope and ^eresurrection of the dead I am being ⁵judged!

7 And when he spoke this, a dissension took place between the Pharisees and Sadducees; and the multitude was divided.

8 For the Sadducees say that there is ^ano resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.

9 And there was a great outcry; and some of the ^ascribes of the Pharisees’ party rose up and contended, saying, We find ^bnothing evil in this man. And what if a spirit has spoken to him, or an ^cangel?

10 And when much ^adissension had taken place, the ¹commander, fearing that Paul might be torn to pieces by them, ²ordered the detachment of soldiers to go down and seize him from their midst and bring him into the ^bbarracks.

11 But in the ^anight ¹following, the Lord ^2bstood by him and said, Take ^ccourage, for as you have ³solemnly ^dtestified to the things concerning Me in Jerusalem, so also you must ⁴testify in ⁵Rome.

12 And when it became day, the ^aJews formed a ^1bplot and ²put themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had ^ckilled Paul.

13 And there were more than forty who swore to this conspiracy.

14 They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, ¹We have bound ourselves with a curse to taste nothing until we kill Paul.

15 Now therefore you, with the Sanhedrin, notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to ¹determine more accurately the things concerning him; and we, before he draws near, are ready to ^ado away with him.

16 But the son of Paul’s sister ¹heard of the ^aambush, and he came and entered into the ^bbarracks and reported it to Paul.

17 And Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, Bring this young man to the ^acommander, for he has something to report to him.

18 So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, The ^aprisoner Paul called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you.

19 And the commander took him by the hand and, withdrawing privately, inquired, What is it that you have to report to me?

20 And he said, The Jews have ^aagreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the ^bSanhedrin, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more accurately concerning him.

21 So you should not be persuaded by them, for more than forty of their men are lying in ambush for him; they have put themselves under a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they have ^adone away with him. And now they are ready, awaiting the promise from you.