2I thynke my selfe happy, king Agrippa, because I shall aunswere this day before thee, of all the thynges whereof I am accused of the Iewes:
3Namely, because thou art expert in all customes and questions, whiche are among the Iewes: Wherefore I beseche thee to heare me patiently.
4My lyfe, that I haue led of a chylde, which was at the first among myne owne nation at Hierusalem, knowe all the Iewes,
5Which knewe me from the beginning, (yf they woulde testifie) that after the most straytest sect of our religion, I lyued a pharisee.
6And nowe I stande and am iudged, for the hope of the promise made of God vnto our fathers:
7Unto which promise, our twelue tribes instantly seruyng God day & nyght, hope to come. For which hopes sake, kyng Agrippa, I am accused of the Iewes.
8Why shoulde it be thought a thyng incredible vnto you, that God shoulde rayse agayne the dead?
9I also veryly thought in my selfe that I ought to do many contrary thynges, cleane agaynst the name of Iesus of Nazareth:
10Which thyng I also dyd in Hierusalem. And many of the Saintes dyd I shut vp in pryson, hauyng receaued aucthoritie of the hye priestes: And when they were put to death, I gaue the sentence.
11And I punished them oft in euery synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme: and was yet more mad vpon them, and persecuted them, euen vnto straunge cities.
12About which thynges, as I went to Damascus, with auctoritie and commission of the hye priestes:
13Euen at mydday, O kyng, I sawe in the way, a lyght from heauen, aboue the bryghtnesse of the Sunne, shyne rounde about me and them which iourneyed with me.
14And when we were all fallen to the earth, I hearde a voyce speakyng vnto me, and saying in the Hebrewe tongue: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is harde for thee to kicke agaynste the prickes.
15And I sayde: Who art thou Lorde? And he sayde: I am Iesus whom thou persecutest.
16But ryse and stande vpon thy feete. For I haue appeared vnto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witnesse, both of those thynges which thou hast seene, and of those thynges in the which I wyll appeare vnto thee,
17Delyueryng thee from the people, and from the gentiles, vnto whom nowe I sende thee,
18To open their eyes, that they may be turned from darknesse to lyght, & from the power of Satan vnto God, that they may receaue forgeuenes of sinnes, & inheritaunce among them which are sanctified by fayth that is towarde me.
19Wherfore, O kyng Agrippa, I was not disobedient vnto the heauenly visio:
20But shewed first vnto them of Damascus, & at Hierusalem, and throughout all the coastes of Iurie, and then to the gentiles, that they shoulde repent, and turne to God, and do such workes as become them that repent.
21For this cause the Iewes caught me in the temple, & went about to kyll me.
22Seyng therefore, that I haue obtayned helpe of God, I continue vnto this day, witnessyng both to small and to great, saying none other thynges, then those which the prophetes and Moyses dyd say shoulde come:
23That Christe shoulde suffer, and that he shoulde be the first that shoulde ryse from the dead, and shoulde shewe lyght vnto the people, and to the gentiles.
Festus Interrupts Paul’s Defense
24And as he thus spake for hym selfe, Festus sayde with a loude voyce: Paul, thou art besyde thy selfe, much learnyng doth make thee mad.
25But he sayde: I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speake foorth the wordes of trueth and sobernesse.
26For the kyng knoweth of these thynges, before whom also I speake freely, neither thynke I, that any of these thynges are hydden from him: For this thyng was not done in a corner.
27Kyng Agrippa, beleuest thou the prophetes? I wote wel that thou beleuest.
28Then Agrippa sayde vnto Paul: Somewhat thou perswadest me to be a christian.
29And Paul sayde: I woulde to God, that not only thou, but also all that heare me to day, were both somewhat, and also in a great deale, such as I am, except these bondes.
30And when he had thus spoken, the king rose vp, and the deputie, & Bernice, and they that sate with them.
31And when they were gone apart, they talked betwene the selues, saying: This man doth nothyng worthy of death, or of bondes.
32Then sayde Agrippa vnto Festus: This man myght haue ben let loose, yf he had not appealed vnto Caesar.
