Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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Paul Defends Himself before Agrippa
1 Agrippa said to Paul, “You
have permission to speak on
your own behalf.” Paul stretched out
his hand and defended himself as
follows:
2 “King Agrippa! I consider myself
fortunate that today I am to defend
myself before you from all the
things the Jews accuse me of,
3 particularly
since you know so well all
the Jewish customs and disputes. I
ask you, then, to listen to me with
patience.
4 “All the Jews know how I have
lived ever since I was young. They
know how I have spent my whole
life, at first in my own country and
then in Jerusalem.
5 They have always
known, if they are willing to
testify, that from the very first I
have lived as a member of the strictest
party of our religion, the Pharisees. note
6 And now I stand here to be
tried because of the hope I have in
the promise that God made to our
ancestors—
7 the very thing that the
twelve tribes of our people hope to
receive, as they worship God day
and night. And it is because of this
hope, Your Majesty, that I am being
accused by the Jews!
8 Why do you
who are here find it impossible to
believe that God raises the dead? note
9 “I myself thought that I should
do everything I could against the
cause of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 That is
what I did in Jerusalem. I received
authority from the chief priests and
put many of God's people in prison;
and when they were sentenced to
death, I also voted against them.
11 Many times I had them punished
in the synagogues and tried to make
them deny their faith. I was so furious
with them that I even went to
foreign cities to persecute them. note
Paul Tells of His Conversion
(Acts 9.1–19; 22.6–16)
12 “It was for this purpose that I
went to Damascus with authority
and orders from the chief priests.
13 It was on the road at midday, Your
Majesty, that I saw a light much
brighter than the sun, coming from
the sky and shining around me and
the men traveling with me.
14 All of
us fell to the ground, and I heard a
voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul,
Saul! Why are you persecuting me?
You are hurting yourself by hitting
back, like an ox kicking against its
owner's stick.’
15 ‘Who are you,
Lord?’ I asked. And the Lord answered,
‘I am Jesus, whom you persecute.
16 But get up and stand on
your feet. I have appeared to you to
appoint you as my servant. You are
to tell others what you have seen of
me note today and what I will show you
in the future.
17 I will rescue you
from the people of Israel and from
the Gentiles to whom I will send
you.
18 You are to open their eyes
and turn them from the darkness to
the light and from the power of Satan
to God, so that through their
faith in me they will have their sins
forgiven and receive their place
among God's chosen people.’
Paul Tells of His Work
19 “And so, King Agrippa, I did not
disobey the vision I had from
heaven.
20 First in Damascus and in
Jerusalem and then in the whole
country of Israel and among the
Gentiles, I preached that they must
repent of their sins and turn to God
and do the things that would show
they had repented. note
21 It was for this
reason that the Jews seized me
while I was in the Temple, and they
tried to kill me.
22 But to this very
day I have been helped by God, and
so I stand here giving my witness to
all, to small and great alike. What I
say is the very same thing which the
prophets and Moses said was going
to happen:
23 that the Messiah must
suffer and be the first one to rise
from death, to announce the light of
salvation to the Jews and to the Gentiles.” note
-- --
24 As Paul defended himself in this
way, Festus shouted at him, “You
are mad, Paul! Your great learning is
driving you mad!”
25 Paul answered, “I am not mad,
Your Excellency! I am speaking the
sober truth.
26 King Agrippa! I can
speak to you with all boldness, because
you know about these things. I
am sure that you have taken notice
of every one of them, for this thing
has not happened hidden away in a
corner.
27 King Agrippa, do you believe
the prophets? I know that you
do!”
28 Agrippa said to Paul, “In this
short time do you think you will
make me a Christian?”
29 “Whether a short time or a long
time,” Paul answered, “my prayer to
God is that you and all the rest of
you who are listening to me today
might become what I am—except,
of course, for these chains!”
30 Then the king, the governor,
Bernice, and all the others got up,
31 and after leaving they said to each
other, “This man has not done anything
for which he should die or be
put in prison.”
32 And Agrippa said
to Festus, “This man could have
been released if he had not appealed
to the Emperor.”
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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