| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New International Version |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1Then Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2"King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4"The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead? |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord's people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12"On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15"Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' " 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19"So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen-- |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles." |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24At this point Festus interrupted Paul's defense. "You are out of your mind, Paul!" he shouted. "Your great learning is driving you insane." |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25"I am not insane, most excellent Festus," Paul replied. "What I am saying is true and reasonable. |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do." |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29Paul replied, "Short time or long--I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains." |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. |
| 31[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 31After they left the room, they began saying to one another, "This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment." |
| 32[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 32Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar." |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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