Paul’s Testimony to Agrippa (Acts 9:1–19; Acts 22:1–21)
1 UDB Then Agrippa said to Paul, "We will now allow you to speak on your own behalf." Then Paul stretched out his hand to show that he was about to speak. He said, BSB BSB: Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:
2 UDB "King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that today that I can explain to you why the Jewish leaders are wrong when they say I have done evil 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 UDB I am especially fortunate because you know all about the customs of us Jews and the questions that we argue about. So I ask you to listen patiently to me. BSB BSB: especially since you are acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen to me patiently.
4 UDB "All my fellow Jews know about how I have conducted my life from the time I was a child. They know how I lived my life from the beginning in my own nation, and also how I lived when I was 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 UDB They have known me from my very beginning, and they could tell you, if they wanted to, that since I was very young I obeyed the most rigid customs of our religion very carefully. I lived just like the other Pharisees. 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 UDB "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 UDB Our twelve Jewish tribes are also confidently waiting for God to do for us what he promised, as they honor him and worship him day and night. Honored king, I confidently expect that God will do what he promised, and they also believe that! But it is for what I expect God to do that they say I have done wrong. 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 UDB Why would any of you think that God could not raise the dead? BSB BSB: Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
9 UDB "There was a time in the past when I, too, was sure that I should do everything that I could to stop people from believing in Jesus from Nazareth town. 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 UDB So that is what I did when I lived in Jerusalem. I shut up many of the believers in prison, as the chief priests there had given me power to do. And when their people killed 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 UDB I punished those Jewish people in every synagogue where I could find them. I would force them, with all my anger against them, to make them insult God and curse his name. I even went off to foreign cities to find them so I could do everything in my power to stop 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 UDB "The chief priests gave me power to arrest believers in Damascus, and that is where I went. But while I was on my way, BSB BSB: In this pursuit I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.
13 UDB at about noon, I saw on the road a bright light in the sky. It 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 UDB We all fell to the ground. Then I heard the voice of someone speaking to me in the Hebrew language. "He said, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You only hurt yourself when you fight against me." 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 UDB "Then I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' "He 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 UDB But get up and stand on your feet! I have appeared to you in order to make you into a servant and a witness both of what you have seen of what you know about me now and of what I will show you later. 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 UDB I will protect you from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I will send you, BSB BSB: I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them
18 UDB in order to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of the enemy to God. In this way God will forgive their sins and give to them the things that all my people will have forever, the people who belong to me by faith.' 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 UDB "So, King Agrippa, I did what God told me in a vision to do. BSB BSB: So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
20 UDB First, I spoke to the Jews in Damascus and those in Jerusalem, then in all the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles. I told them that they should stop sinning and ask God for help. I told them also that they should do those things that show that they have 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 UDB "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 UDB However, God has been helping me, so I have continued to proclaim these things to this very day. I have continued to tell both ordinary people and important people 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 UDB They said that the Christ would suffer and die and that he would be the first to rise from the dead. They also said that he would proclaim, both to his own people and to the Gentiles, that God is truly able to save them." 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.”
Festus Interrupts Paul’s Defense 26 UDB For King Agrippa knows the things that I have been talking about, and I can speak freely to him about them. I am sure that none of these things could have escaped his notice, because none of these things happened in secret." 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 UDB "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 UDB Then Agrippa answered Paul, "In just a short time you have almost persuaded me 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 UDB Paul replied, "Whether it takes a short time or a long time, it does not matter. I pray to God that you and also all of the others who are listening to me today will also 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 UDB Then the king stood. The governor, Bernice, and all the others also got up BSB BSB: Then the king and the governor rose, along with Bernice and those seated with them.
31 UDB and left the room. After they left, they said to each other, "This man has done nothing deserving death or his chains." BSB BSB: On their way out, they said to one another, “This man has done nothing worthy of death or imprisonment.”
32 UDB Agrippa said to Festus, "If this man had not appealed to Caesar, he could have been released." 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.