1Agrippa said to Paul, "You may speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense.
2"King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to be able to present my defense before you today concerning all the accusations made against me by the Jews,
3especially since you are knowledgeable about all the customs and debates among the Jews. Therefore, I ask you to listen to me patiently.
4Indeed, all the Jews know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.
5If they are willing to testify, they have known me from the start as living as a Pharisee, according to the strictest sect of our religion.
6And now I stand here to be judged because of my hope in the promise God made to our ancestors,
7which our twelve tribes hope to attain by earnestly serving God day and night. It is for this hope, King Agrippa, that I am accused by the Jews!
8Why do you consider it unbelievable if God raises the dead?
9“I honestly thought I had to do many things to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10That’s what I did in Jerusalem. I used the authority I got from the chief priests to put many of God’s people in prison. And when they were sentenced to death, I voted against them.
11I often punished them in all the synagogues and tried to make them curse God. I was so furious with them that I hunted them down even in foreign cities.
12“One time, I was on my way to Damascus with authority and orders from the chief priests.
13Around noon, King Agrippa, I saw a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me.
14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It’s hard for you to kick against the goads.’
15“I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ “He said, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
16But get up and stand on your feet. I appeared to you for this reason: to appoint you as my servant and a witness of what you have seen and what I will show you.
17I will protect you from your own people and from the non-Jewish people, to whom I am sending you.
18Your mission is to open their eyes so they can turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and a place among those who are made holy through faith in me.’
19“So then, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision from heaven.
20Instead, I first told the people in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea, and also the non-Jewish people, that they should turn from their sins and turn to God, doing things that show they have repented.
21This is why the Jews grabbed me in the temple and tried to kill me.
22But with God’s help, I stand here today, telling both important people and ordinary people nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would happen.
23They said the Christ must suffer, and that by rising from the dead, he would be the first to announce light to both the Jewish people and the non-Jewish people.”
24As Paul was making his defense, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are crazy! Too much learning has driven you insane!”
25But Paul said, “I am not crazy, most excellent Festus. I am speaking the truth and what is reasonable.
26The king knows about these things, and I am speaking freely to him. I am sure that none of this is hidden from him, because it didn’t happen in secret.
27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do believe.”
28Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you trying to convince me to become a Christian so easily?”
29Paul said, "I pray to God that, whether it takes a short time or a long time, not only you, but everyone listening to me today would become just like me—except for these chains."
30The king, the governor, Bernice, and those sitting with them all stood up.
31When they left, they talked among themselves and said, "This man has done nothing that deserves death or imprisonment."
32Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."