Acts 26:1-16 ▼

1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may now speak on your own behalf.” So Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense.

2 “I count myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that I am to defend myself before you today against all the charges made against me by the Jews,

3 especially since you are an expert in all the Jewish customs and controversies. And therefore I beg you to listen patiently.

4 My manner of living from my youth, a life spent from the beginning among my people and in Jerusalem, all [the] Jews know.

5 They have known about me from the start, if they are willing to testify, that I have lived my life as a Pharisee, the strictest party of our religion.

6 But now I am standing trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors.

7 Our twelve tribes hope to attain to that promise as they fervently worship God day and night; and on account of this hope I am accused by Jews, O king.

8 Why is it thought unbelievable among you that God raises the dead?

9 I myself once thought that I had to do many things against the name of Jesus the Nazorean,

10 and I did so in Jerusalem. I imprisoned many of the holy ones with the authorization I received from the chief priests, and when they were to be put to death I cast my vote against them.

11 Many times, in synagogue after synagogue, I punished them in an attempt to force them to blaspheme; I was so enraged against them that I pursued them even to foreign cities.

12 “On one such occasion I was traveling to Damascus with the authorization and commission of the chief priests.

13 At midday, along the way, O king, I saw a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my traveling companions.

14 We all fell to the ground and I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goad.’

15 And I said, ‘Who are you, sir?’ And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

16 Get up now, and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness of what you have seen [of me] and what you will be shown.