| NET Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1So Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak for yourself." Then Paul held out his hand and began his defense: | 1Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense: |
| 2"Regarding all the things I have been accused of by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today, | 2“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today to defend myself against all the accusations of the Jews, |
| 3because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversial issues of the Jews. Therefore I ask you to listen to me patiently. | 3especially since you are acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen to me patiently. |
| 4Now all the Jews know the way I lived from my youth, spending my life from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. | 4Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from the earliest days of my youth, among my own people and in Jerusalem. |
| 5They know, because they have known me from time past, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. | 5They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion. |
| 6And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, | 6And now I stand on trial because of my hope in the promise that God made to our fathers, |
| 7a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve God night and day. Concerning this hope the Jews are accusing me, Your Majesty! | 7the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to realize as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews. |
| 8Why do you people think it is unbelievable that God raises the dead? | 8Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead? |
| 9Of course, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene. | 9So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. |
| 10And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were sentenced to death. | 10And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them. |
| 11I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged at them, I went to persecute them even in foreign cities. | 11I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. |
| 12"While doing this very thing, as I was going to Damascus with authority and complete power from the chief priests, | 12In this pursuit I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. |
| 13about noon along the road, Your Majesty, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining everywhere around me and those traveling with me. | 13About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. |
| 14When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by kicking against the goads.' | 14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ |
| 15So I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And the Lord replied, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. | 15‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. |
| 16But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance as a servant and witness to the things you have seen and to the things in which I will appear to you. | 16‘But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen from Me and what I will show you. |
| 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you | 17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them |
| 18to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' | 18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’ |
| 19"Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, | 19So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. |
| 20but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with repentance. | 20First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance. |
| 21For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts and were trying to kill me. | 21For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. |
| 22I have experienced help from God to this day, and so I stand testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except what the prophets and Moses said was going to happen: | 22But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen: |
| 23that the Christ was to suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, to proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles." | 23that the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.” |
| 24As Paul was saying these things in his defense, Festus exclaimed loudly, "You have lost your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!" | 24At this stage of Paul’s defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You are insane, Paul! Your great learning is driving you to madness!” |
| 25But Paul replied, "I have not lost my mind, most excellent Festus, but am speaking true and rational words. | 25But Paul answered, “I am not insane, most excellent Festus; I am speaking words of truth and sobriety. |
| 26For the king knows about these things, and I am speaking freely to him, because I cannot believe that any of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. | 26For the king knows about these matters, and I can speak freely to him. I am confident that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. |
| 27Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe." | 27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” |
| 28Agrippa said to Paul, "In such a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?" | 28Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Can you persuade me in such a short time to become a Christian?” |
| 29Paul replied, "I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains." | 29“Short time or long,” Paul replied, “I wish to God that not only you but all who hear me this day may become what I am, except for these chains.” |
| 30So the king got up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them, | 30Then the king and the governor rose, along with Bernice and those seated with them. |
| 31and as they were leaving they said to one another, "This man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment." | 31On their way out, they said to one another, “This man has done nothing worthy of death or imprisonment.” |
| 32Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar." | 32And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.” |
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