26Acts 26

1And Agrippa said unto Paul, `It is permitted to thee to speak for thyself;' then Paul having stretched forth the hand, was making a defence:Select Acts 26:1

2`Concerning all things of which I am accused by Jews, king Agrippa, I have thought myself happy, being about to make a defence before thee to-day,Select Acts 26:2

3especially knowing thee to be acquainted with all things--both customs and questions--among Jews; wherefore, I beseech thee, patiently to hear me.Select Acts 26:3

4`The manner of my life then, indeed, from youth--which from the beginning was among my nation, in Jerusalem--know do all the Jews,Select Acts 26:4

5knowing me before from the first, (if they may be willing to testify,) that after the most exact sect of our worship, I lived a Pharisee;Select Acts 26:5

6and now for the hope of the promise made to the fathers by God, I have stood judged,Select Acts 26:6

7to which our twelve tribes, intently night and day serving, do hope to come, concerning which hope I am accused, king Agrippa, by the Jews;Select Acts 26:7

8why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth raise the dead?Select Acts 26:8

9`I, indeed, therefore, thought with myself, that against the name of Jesus of Nazareth it behoved me many things to do,Select Acts 26:9

10which also I did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I in prison did shut up, from the chief priests having received the authority; they also being put to death, I gave my vote against them,Select Acts 26:10

11and in every synagogue, often punishing them, I was constraining them to speak evil, being also exceedingly mad against them, I was also persecuting them even unto strange cities.Select Acts 26:11

12`In which things, also, going on to Damascus--with authority and commission from the chief priests--Select Acts 26:12

13at mid-day, I saw in the way, O king, out of heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me a light--and those going on with me;Select Acts 26:13

14and we all having fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew dialect, Saul, Saul, why me dost thou persecute? hard for thee against pricks to kick!Select Acts 26:14

15`And I said, Who art thou, Lord? and he said, I am Jesus whom thou dost persecute;Select Acts 26:15

16but rise, and stand upon thy feet, for for this I appeared to thee, to appoint thee an officer and a witness both of the things thou didst see, and of the things in which I will appear to thee,Select Acts 26:16

17delivering thee from the people, and the nations, to whom now I send thee,Select Acts 26:17

18to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the authority of the Adversary unto God, for their receiving forgiveness of sins, and a lot among those having been sanctified, by faith that is toward me.Select Acts 26:18

19`Whereupon, king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,Select Acts 26:19

20but to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem, to all the region also of Judea, and to the nations, I was preaching to reform, and to turn back unto God, doing works worthy of reformation;Select Acts 26:20

21because of these things the Jews--having caught me in the temple--were endeavouring to kill me .Select Acts 26:21

22`Having obtained, therefore, help from God, till this day, I have stood witnessing both to small and to great, saying nothing besides the things that both the prophets and Moses spake of as about to come,Select Acts 26:22

23that the Christ is to suffer, whether first by a rising from the dead, he is about to proclaim light to the people and to the nations.'Select Acts 26:23

24And, he thus making a defence, Festus with a loud voice said, `Thou art mad, Paul; much learning doth turn thee mad;'Select Acts 26:24

25and he saith, `I am not mad, most noble Festus, but of truth and soberness the sayings I speak forth;Select Acts 26:25

26for the king doth know concerning these things, before whom also I speak boldly, for none of these things, I am persuaded, are hidden from him; for this thing hath not been done in a corner;Select Acts 26:26

27thou dost believe, king Agrippa, the prophets? I have known that thou dost believe!'Select Acts 26:27

28And Agrippa said unto Paul, `In a little thou dost persuade me to become a Christian!'Select Acts 26:28

29and Paul said, `I would have wished to God, both in a little, and in much, not only thee, but also all those hearing me to-day, to become such as I also am--except these bonds.'Select Acts 26:29

30And, he having spoken these things, the king rose up, and the governor, Bernice also, and those sitting with them,Select Acts 26:30

31and having withdrawn, they were speaking unto one another, saying--`This man doth nothing worthy of death or of bonds;'Select Acts 26:31

32and Agrippa said to Festus, `This man might have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.'Select Acts 26:32