Murdock - Acts - 26

26:1  And Agrippa said to Paul: Thou art permitted to speak in thy own behalf. Then Paul extended his hand, and made defence, saying:

26:2  In regard to all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, king Agrippa, I consider myself highly favored, that I may this day make defence before thee:

26:3  especially, as I know thee to be expert in all the controversies and laws of the Jews. I therefore request thee to hear me with indulgence.

26:4  The Jews themselves, if they would testify, know well my course of life from my childhood, which from the beginning was among my nation and in Jerusalem.

26:5  For they have long been persuaded of me, and have known, that I lived in the princely doctrine of the Pharisees.

26:6  And now, for the hope of the promise which was made by God to our fathers, I stand and am judged.

26:7  To this hope, our twelve tribes hope to come, with earnest prayers by day and by night: and for this same hope, king Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.

26:8  How judge ye? Are we not to believe, that God will raise the dead?

26:9  For I myself, at first, resolved in my own mind, that I would perpetrate many adverse things against the name of Jesus the Nazarean.

26:10  Which I also did at Jerusalem; and by the authority I received from the chief priests, I cast many of the saints into prison and when they were put to death by them, I took part with those that condemned them.

26:11  And in every synagogue I tortured them, while I pressed them to become revilers of the name of Jesus. And in the great wrath, with which I was filled against them, I also went to other cities to persecute them.

26:12  And, as I was going for this purpose to Damascus, with the authority and license of the chief priests,

26:13  at mid-day, on the road, I saw, O king, a light exceeding that of the sun, beaming from heaven upon me, and upon all those with me.

26:14  And we all fell to the ground; and I heard a voice, which said to me, in Hebrew: Saul, Saul! why persecutest thou me? It will be a hard thing for thee to kick against the goads.

26:15  And I said: My Lord, who art thou? And our Lord said to me: I am Jesus the Nazarean, whom thou persecutest.

26:16  And he said to me: Stand upon thy feet; for I have appeared to thee, for this purpose, to constitute thee a minister and a witness of this thy seeing me, and of thy seeing me hereafter.

26:17  And I will deliver thee from the people of the Jews, and from other nations; to whom I send thee,

26:18  to open their eyes; that they may turn from darkness to the light, and from the dominion of Satan unto God; and may receive remission of sins, and a portion with the saints, by faith in me.

26:19  Wherefore, king Agrippa, I did not contumaciously withstand the heavenly vision:

26:20  but I preached from the first to them in Damascus, and to them in Jerusalem and in all the villages of Judaea; and I preached also to the Gentiles, that they should repent, and should turn to God, and should do the works suitable to repentance.

26:21  And on account of these things, the Jews seized me in the temple, and sought to kill me.

26:22  But unto this day God hath helped me; and lo, I stand and bear testimony, to the small and to the great; yet saying nothing aside from Moses and the prophets, but the very things which they declared were to take place:

26:23  namely, that Messiah would suffer, and would become the first fruits of the resurrection from the dead; and that he would proclaim light to the people and to the Gentiles.

26:24  And when Paul had extended his defence thus far, Festus cried, with a loud voice: Paul, thou art deranged: much study hath deranged thee.

26:25  Paul replied to him: I am not deranged, excellent Festus; but speak words of truth and rectitude.

26:26  And king Agrippa is also well acquainted with these things; and I therefore speak confidently before him, because I suppose not one of these things hath escaped his knowledge; for they were not done in secret.

26:27  King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.

26:28  King Agrippa said to him: Almost, thou persuadest me to become a Christian.

26:29  And Paul said: I would to God, that not only thou, but likewise all that hear me this day, were almost, and altogether, as I am, aside from these bonds.

26:30  And the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and those who sat with them.

26:31  And when they had gone out, they conversed with one another, and said: This man hath done nothing worthy of death or of bonds.

26:32  And Agrippa said to Festus: The man might be set at liberty, if he had not announced an appeal to Caesar.