Acts 25:1-12

Paul Appeals to Caesar

1 Now three days after Festus had arrived in ¹the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

2 And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews ²laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him,

3 asking as a favor against Paul^[a] that he summon him to Jerusalem—because ³they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way.

4 Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly.

5 “So, ” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him. ”

6 After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on ⁴the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

7 When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him ⁵that they could not prove.

8 Paul argued in his defense, “Neither ⁶against ⁷the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor ⁸against Caesar have I committed any offense. ”

9 But Festus, ⁹wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me? ”

10 But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s ¹⁰tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well.

11 If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. ¹¹I appeal to Caesar. ”

12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go. ”

Cross References

• 1. 25:1 ch. 23:34
• 2. 25:2 ver. 15
• 3. 25:3 See ch. 9:24
• 4. 25:6 ver. 10, 17; See Matt. 27:19
• 5. 25:7 ch. 24:13
• 6. 25:8 [ch. 24:12; 28:17]; See ch. 6:13
• 7. 25:8 John 7:19; 19:7
• 8. 25:8 John 19:12
• 9. 25:9 ch. 24:27
• 10. 25:10 ver. 6, 17
• 11. 25:11 ch. 26:32; 28:19

Footnotes

• [a] 25:3 Greek 'him'