Acts 25 (New American Standard)

Paul before Festus

1 Festus then, having arrived in ¹the province, three days later went up to Jerusalem from ²Caesarea. 2 And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews ³brought charges against Paul, and they were urging him, 3 requesting a ^aconcession against ^bPaul, that he might ^chave him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, ⁴setting an ambush to kill him on the way ). 4 Festus then ⁵answered that Paul ⁶was being kept in custody at ⁷Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly. 5 "Therefore," he said, "let the influential men among you ^dgo there with me, and if there is anything wrong ^eabout the man, let them ^fprosecute him." 6 After he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to ⁸Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on ⁹the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. 7 After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing ¹⁰many and serious charges against him ¹¹which they could not prove, 8 while Paul said in his own defense, "¹²I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar." 9 But Festus, ¹³wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, "¹⁴Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and ^gstand trial before me on these charges?" 10 But Paul said, "I am standing before Caesar's ¹⁵tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. 11 "If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die ; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I ¹⁶appeal to Caesar." 12 Then when Festus had conferred with ^hhis council, he answered, "You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go." 13 Now when several days had elapsed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at ¹⁷Caesarea ⁱand paid their respects to Festus. 14 While they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, "There is a man who was ¹⁸left as a prisoner by Felix ; 15 and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews ¹⁹brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. 16 "I ²⁰answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before ²¹the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. 17 "So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on ²²the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought before me. 18 "When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, 19 but they simply had some ²³points of disagreement with him about their own ^j24religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20 "²⁵Being at a loss how to investigate ^ksuch matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters. 21 "But when Paul ²⁶appealed to be held in custody for ^lthe Emperor's decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar." 22 Then ²⁷Agrippa said to Festus, "I also would like to hear the man myself." "Tomorrow," he said, "you shall hear him."

Paul before Agrippa

23 So, on the next day when ²⁸Agrippa came ^mtogether with ²⁹Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the auditorium ⁿaccompanied by the ^ocommanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 Festus said, "King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom ³⁰all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that ³¹he ought not to live any longer. 25 "But I found that he had committed ³²nothing worthy of death ; and since he himself ³³appealed to ^pthe Emperor, I decided to send him. 26 "^qYet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. 27 "For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him."