Study Desk

So, on the next day when ^(ab)Agrippa came ^[m]together with ^(ac)Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the auditorium ^[n]accompanied by the ^[o]commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

Festus *said, "King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom ^(ad)all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that ^(ae)he ought not to live any longer.

But I found that he had committed ^(af)nothing worthy of death; and since he himself ^(ag)appealed to ^[p]the Emperor, I decided to send him.

^[q]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.

For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him."

^(a)Agrippa said to Paul, "You are permitted to speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and proceeded to make his defense:

"In regard to all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense before you today;

^[a]especially because you are an expert in all ^(b)customs and ^[b]questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

"So then, all Jews know ^(c)my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem;

since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a ^(d)Pharisee ^(e)according to the strictest ^(f)sect of our religion.

And now I am ^[c]standing trial ^(g)for the hope of ^(h)the promise made by God to our fathers;

the promise ⁽ⁱ⁾to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this ^(j)hope, O King, I am being ^(k)accused by Jews.

Why is it considered incredible among you people ^(l)if God does raise the dead?

"So then, ^(m)I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to ⁽ⁿ⁾the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

And this is ^[d]just what I ^(o)did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the ^[e]saints in prisons, having ^(p)received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I ^(q)cast my vote against them.

And ^(r)as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being ^(s)furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them ^(t)even to ^[f]foreign cities.

"^[g]While so engaged ^(u)as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,

at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, ^[h]brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.

And when we had ^(v)all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the ^[i](w)Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ^[j]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?' And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

But get up and ^(x)stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to ^(y)appoint you a ^(z)minister and ^(aa)a witness not only to the things which you have ^[k]seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;

^(ab)rescuing you ^(ac)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,

to ^(ad)open their eyes so that they may turn from ^(ae)darkness to light and from the dominion of ^(af)Satan to God, that they may receive ^(ag)forgiveness of sins and an ^(ah)inheritance among those who have been sanctified by ^(ai)faith in Me.'

"So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,

but kept declaring both ^(aj)to those of Damascus first, and also ^(ak)at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even ^(al)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(am)repent and turn to God, performing deeds ^(an)appropriate to repentance.

For this reason some Jews ^(ao)seized me in the temple and tried ^(ap)to put me to death.

So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day ^(aq)testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what ^(ar)the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place;

^[l](as)that ^[m]the Christ was ^[n]to suffer, and ^[o]that ^(at)by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim ^(au)light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."