1 Then Agrippa said to Paul,
you are at liberty to make
your defence. upon which
Paul disengaging his hand
-- --
from his cloak, thus made
his plea.
2 I think myself happy,
king Agrippa, in having
this opportunity of vindicating
myself in your presence, from
every thing the Jews have
laid to my charge:
3 for I know
you are fully acquainted with
the Jewish customs and controversies:
and therefore I
beg the indulgence of your attention.
4 what course of life
I led at Jerusalem, where I
was brought up from my youth
among those of my own nation,
is known to all the Jews.
5 they
can testify, if they will, that
I early profess'd myself a
Pharisee, a member of the
most rigorous sect of our religion:
6 and now I stand arraign'd
for expecting the accomplishment
of the divine
promise made to our fathers,
7 which our twelve tribes by
their continual services, night
and day, hope themselves to
obtain: yet for that hope, king
Agrippa, do the Jews now
accuse me.
8 you may think it
something incredible that God
should raise the dead:
9 I myself
too once thought myself oblig'd
strenuously to oppose the
professors of Jesus the Nazarene,
as I actually did at Jerusalem,
10
where numbers of
converts I threw into jail,
by warrant from the high
priests: and when they were
-- --
put to death, I myself was an
accomplice.
11 it was I that persecuted
them from synagogue
to synagogue, and tortured
them even to blaspheme: and
in the transport of my rage I
pursued them to foreign cities.
12 with such views, authorized
by commission from the high
priests, I was on the road to
Damascus:
13 when at mid-day,
O king, a light from heaven
exceeding the splendor of the
sun, broke all around me, and
those that accompanied me.
14 we were all struck down:
when I heard a voice directed
to me pronounce these words in
the Hebrew tongue, “Saul,
Saul, why dost thou persecute
me? it is dangerous for
thee to kick note against the
goad.”
15 I answer'd, who art
thou, Lord? he said, “I am
Jesus, whom thou persecutest.
16 but rise upright upon
thy feet: for I have appear'd
to thee in order to establish
you my minister in
testifying both what you
have seen, and what I shall
hereafter show to you,
17 by delivering
you from this people,
and from the Gentiles
to whom I now send thee,
to open their eyes,
18 and to
turn them from darkness to
light, and from the power
of Satan unto God, that
-- --
they may receive forgiveness
of sins, and partake of
the inheritance of the saints,
by believing on me.”
19 this
heavenly vision, king Agrippa,
I presently obey'd:
20 first I
warn'd the people of Damascus,
of Jerusalem, of all Judea,
and then the Gentiles, to
repent, and turn to God, by
acting suitably to their repentance.
21 for such a conduct the
Jews seiz'd upon me in the
temple, designing to assassinate
me;
22 but by the divine favour
I am still preserv'd alive,
testifying to the small and to
the great nothing but what
Moses and the prophets have
predicted should happen:
“that Christ should suffer:
23
that he should be the first
that was to rise from the
dead: and that he should
enlighten both the Jews
and the Gentiles.”
24 As he was thus making his
defence, Festus broke out into
this exclamation, “Paul, you
are mad: much study has
turn'd your brain.”
25 I am
not mad, said he, most noble
Festus, but what I say, is
very sound truth.
26 the king is
inform'd of these things, to
whom I address myself with
the greater confidence, being
persuaded he is fully apprized
of these matters, that
were far from being transacted
-- --
in private.
27 king Agrippa,
don't you give credit to the
prophetic writings? I know
you do.
28 but Agrippa reply'd
to Paul, you note almost persuade
me I shall be a christian!
29 I pray God, said
Paul, that not only you, but
all that now hear me, were
both almost and altogether
such as I am, the circumstance
of my bonds excepted.
30 When he had said this,
the king, the governour, Bernice,
and all that were
seated near them, rose up:
and being retired,
31 they declar'd
to one another, “this
man has done nothing that
deserves either death or
imprisonment:”
32 nay, Agrippa
said to Festus, “this
man might have been discharg'd
if he had not appeal'd
to Cesar.”
Mace [1729], THE NEW TESTAMENT IN Greek and English. Containing the ORIGINAL TEXT Corrected from the Authority of the most Authentic Manuscripts: AND A NEW VERSION Form'd agreeably to the Illustrations of the most Learned Commentators and Critics: WITH NOTES and VARIOUS READINGS, AND A Copious Alphabetical Index (Printed for J. ROBERTS [etc.], LONDON) [word count] [B11200].