1 ARST Then Agrippa said to Paul,“You may now speak on your own behalf.” Then Paul held out his hand to show that he was about to speak. He defended himself by saying, BSB BSB: Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:
2 ARST “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I can explain myself to you today. I will tell you why the Jewish leaders are wrong when they say that I have done bad things. BSB BSB: “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today to defend myself against all the accusations of the Jews,
3 ARST I am especially fortunate because you know so much about the customs of us Jews and the questions that we argue about. So please listen to me as I tell my whole story.” BSB BSB: especially since you are acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen to me patiently.
4 ARST “My fellow Jews know how I have lived my life since the time I was a child. They know that I have always lived among Jews and that I received my education in Jerusalem. BSB BSB: Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from my earliest childhood among my own people, and also in Jerusalem.
5 ARST They have known me since I was young. They could tell you, if they were willing, that as a Pharisee, I obeyed the most rigid customs of our religion very carefully. BSB BSB: They 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.
6 ARST Today I am on trial because I am confidently expecting that God will do what he promised to our ancestors. BSB BSB: And now I stand on trial because of my hope in the promise that God made to our fathers,
7 ARST Our 12 Jewish tribes are also waiting confidently for God to do what he promised. That is why they continue to honor him and worship him so diligently. And yet, Honored King, these Jewish leaders are saying that I have done wrong because I too am waiting confidently. BSB BSB: the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews.
8 ARST None of you should find it hard to believe that God would cause people who had died to live again. BSB BSB: Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
9 ARST But I will admit that I too once found it hard to believe. I was sure that I should do everything that I could to stop people from believing in Jesus from the town of Nazareth. BSB BSB: So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 ARST So that is what I did when I lived in Jerusalem. I put many of the believers in prison. The chief priests there had given me the power to do that. And when the Sanhedrin was deciding whether to kill believers, I voted in favor of that. BSB BSB: And 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.
11 ARST I continually punished believers in Jesus in every synagogue where I could find them. I tried to force them to say that they did not believe in Jesus. I was so angry with them that I even went to foreign cities to find them. BSB BSB: I 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 ARST Because I told them I wanted to arrest believers in Damascus, the chief priests gave me the power to do that. So I traveled to Damascus. BSB BSB: In this pursuit I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
13 ARST While I was on my way there, O King, I saw a bright light in the sky. Even though it was around noon, this light was even brighter than the sun! It shone all around me and also around those who were traveling with me. BSB BSB: About 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.
14 ARST We all fell to the ground. Then I heard the voice of someone speaking to me in the Hebrew language. He said,‘Saul, Saul, you should not be fighting against me. You are harming yourself, like an animal that is kicking against a sharp prod.’ BSB BSB: We 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.’
15 ARST Then I said,‘Please tell me who you are.’ And the person who was speaking to me said,‘I am Jesus! I am the one you are fighting against. BSB BSB: ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.
16 ARST But get up off the ground now. I have appeared to you in order to make you my servant. I want you to tell other people who I am, now that you have seen me. I will show you more about myself later, and I want you to tell others about that too. BSB BSB: ‘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.
17 ARST I am sending you both to Jewish people and to non- Jewish people. I will protect you from them. BSB BSB: I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them
18 ARST I want you to help them recognize who I really am. I want you to help them to live in a way that pleases God. I want them to know that God can make them free from the devil’ s influence. I want them to know that God will forgive their sins. I want them to receive the good things that people whom God saves because they believe in me will have forever. BSB BSB: to 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 ARST So, King Agrippa, I did what God told me to do when he gave me that vision. BSB BSB: So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
20 ARST First, I spoke to the Jews in Damascus. Then I spoke to the Jews in Jerusalem and in the countryside of Judea. I also spoke to the non- Jews there. I told them that they should stop sinning and ask God to help them live in the right way. I told them they should do things that showed they had stopped sinning. BSB BSB: First 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.
21 ARST It is because I preached this message that some Jews seized me when I was in the temple courtyard and tried to kill me. BSB BSB: For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.
22 ARST Because God has been helping me, I have been able to keep proclaiming these things to this very day. I have continued to tell people, regardless of their status, exactly what the prophets and Moses said would happen. BSB BSB: But 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:
23 ARST They said that the Messiah would suffer and die. They said that he would be the first person to live again after he had died. They also said that he would tell people how God was able to save them. He would tell this, both to his own Jewish people and to non- Jewish people.” BSB BSB: that the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”
26 ARST I can assure you that I am not crazy, because King Agrippa is familiar with the things I have been talking about so enthusiastically to him. I am very sure that he is aware of all of these things. They all happened very publicly. BSB BSB: For 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.
27 ARST King Agrippa, do you believe what the prophets wrote? I know that you believe those things.” BSB BSB: King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
28 ARST Then Agrippa answered Paul,“I would need to hear much more than this to decide to become a Christian!” BSB BSB: Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Can you persuade me in such a short time to become a Christian?”
29 ARST Paul replied,“Perhaps you need to hear more, or perhaps you could decide now. But either way, I pray to God that you and all of the others who are listening to me today will become like me, except for these chains!” BSB BSB: “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.”
30 ARST Then King Agrippa stood up. The governor, Bernice, and all the other important people who had come in with them also got up BSB BSB: Then the king and the governor rose, along with Bernice and those seated with them.
31 ARST and left the room. After they left, they said to each other,“We should not execute this man or keep him in prison. He has done nothing to deserve that.” BSB BSB: On their way out, they said to one another, “This man has done nothing worthy of death or imprisonment.”
32 ARST Then Agrippa said to Festus,“If this man had not appealed to Caesar, you could have released him.” BSB BSB: And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.