1 And Agrippa said to Paul, "You are permitted to speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:
2 "Concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I count myself fortunate that I am to make my defense before you today,
3 especially because I know you to be an expert in all the customs and questions among the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.
4 My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know,
5 since they have known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.
6 And now I stand here on trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,
7 to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, earnestly serving God night and day. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.
8 Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?
9 I myself indeed thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 And this I did in Jerusalem: I shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were being put to death, I cast my vote against them.
11 And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to compel them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.
12 While thus occupied, as I was going to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
13 at midday, O king, I saw on the road a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.
14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
15 And I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said, 'I am Jesus, whom you persecute.
16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things you have seen and of the things in which I will appear to you,
17 rescuing you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you,
18 to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
19 For this reason, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.
21 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to kill me.
22 Therefore, having obtained help from God, I continue to this day, testifying both to small and great, saying nothing other than what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:
23 that the Christ would suffer, and that he, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to the people and to the Gentiles."
24 And as he was making his defense in this way, Festus said with a loud voice, "You are out of your mind, Paul; your great learning is driving you mad."
25 But he said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking words of truth and soberness.
26 For the king knows of these things, before whom I also speak boldly; for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him, since this was not done in a corner.
27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe."
28 And Agrippa said to Paul, "With a little more you are persuading me to become a Christian."
29 And Paul said, "I would pray to God that, whether with little or with much, not only you but also all who hear me today would become such as I am, apart from these bonds."
30 And when he had thus spoken, the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them;
31 and when they had gone aside, they spoke with one another, saying, "This man is doing nothing worthy of death or of bonds."
32 And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."