Parallel Bible results for "acts 26"

Acts 26

The Message Bible MSG

1 Agrippa spoke directly to Paul: "Go ahead - tell us about yourself."

2 "I can't think of anyone, King Agrippa, before whom I'd rather be answering all these Jewish accusations than you,

3 knowing how well you are acquainted with Jewish ways and all our family quarrels.

4 "From the time of my youth, my life has been lived among my own people in Jerusalem.

5 Practically every Jew in town who watched me grow up - and if they were willing to stick their necks out they'd tell you in person - knows that I lived as a strict Pharisee, the most demanding branch of our religion.

6 It's because I believed it and took it seriously,

7 committed myself heart and soul to what God promised my ancestors - the identical hope, mind you, that the twelve tribes have lived for night and day all these centuries - it's because I have held on to this tested and tried hope that I'm being called on the carpet by the Jews. They should be the ones standing trial here, not me!

8 For the life of me, I can't see why it's a criminal offense to believe that God raises the dead.

9 "I admit that I didn't always hold to this position. For a time I thought it was my duty to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might.

10 Backed with the full authority of the high priests, I threw these believers - I had no idea they were God's people! - into the Jerusalem jail right and left, and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their execution.

11 I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus, a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people. And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.

12 "One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorizing my action,

13 right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh, King, it was so bright!

14 We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew: 'Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?'

15 "I said, 'Who are you, Master?'

16 But now, up on your feet - I have a job for you. I've handpicked you to be a servant and witness to what's happened today, and to what I am going to show you.

17 "'I'm sending you off

18 to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.'

19 "What could I do, King Agrippa? I couldn't just walk away from a vision like that! I became an obedient believer on the spot.

20 I started preaching this life-change - this radical turn to God and everything it meant in everyday life - right there in Damascus, went on to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside, and from there to the whole world.

21 "It's because of this 'whole world' dimension that the Jews grabbed me in the Temple that day and tried to kill me. They want to keep God for themselves.

22 But God has stood by me, just as he promised, and I'm standing here saying what I've been saying to anyone, whether king or child, who will listen. And everything I'm saying is completely in line with what the prophets and Moses said would happen:

23 One, the Messiah must die; two, raised from the dead, he would be the first rays of God's daylight shining on people far and near, people both godless and God-fearing."

24 That was too much for Festus. He interrupted with a shout: "Paul, you're crazy! You've read too many books, spent too much time staring off into space! Get a grip on yourself, get back in the real world!"

25 But Paul stood his ground. "With all respect, Festus, Your Honor, I'm not crazy. I'm both accurate and sane in what I'm saying.

26 The King knows what I'm talking about. I'm sure that nothing of what I've said sounds crazy to him. He's known all about it for a long time. You must realize that this wasn't done behind the scenes.

27 You believe the prophets, don't you, King Agrippa? Don't answer that - I know you believe."

28 But Agrippa did answer: "Keep this up much longer and you'll make a Christian out of me!"

29 Paul, still in chains, said, "That's what I'm praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me - except, of course, for this prison jewelry!"

30 The king and the governor, along with Bernice and their advisors, got up

31 and went into the next room to talk over what they had heard. They quickly agreed on Paul's innocence, saying, "There's nothing in this man deserving prison, let alone death."

32 Agrippa told Festus, "He could be set free right now if he hadn't requested the hearing before Caesar."

The Latin Vulgate VUL

1 Agrippa vero ad Paulum ait permittitur tibi loqui pro temet ipso tunc Paulus extenta manu coepit rationem reddere

2 de omnibus quibus accusor a Iudaeis rex Agrippa aestimo me beatum apud te cum sim defensurus me hodie

3 maxime te sciente omnia quae apud Iudaeos sunt consuetudines et quaestiones propter quod obsecro patienter me audias

4 et quidem vitam meam a iuventute quae ab initio fuit in gente mea in Hierosolymis noverunt omnes Iudaei

5 praescientes me ab initio si velint testimonium perhibere quoniam secundum certissimam sectam nostrae religionis vixi Pharisaeus

6 et nunc in spe quae ad patres nostros repromissionis facta est a Deo sto iudicio subiectus

7 in quam duodecim tribus nostrae nocte ac die deservientes sperant devenire de qua spe accusor a Iudaeis rex

8 quid incredibile iudicatur apud vos si Deus mortuos suscitat

9 et ego quidem existimaveram me adversus nomen Iesu Nazareni debere multa contraria agere

10 quod et feci Hierosolymis et multos sanctorum ego in carceribus inclusi a principibus sacerdotum potestate accepta et cum occiderentur detuli sententiam

11 et per omnes synagogas frequenter puniens eos conpellebam blasphemare et amplius insaniens in eos persequebar usque in exteras civitates

12 in quibus dum irem Damascum cum potestate et permissu principum sacerdotum

13 die media in via vidi rex de caelo supra splendorem solis circumfulsisse me lumen et eos qui mecum simul erant

14 omnesque nos cum decidissemus in terram audivi vocem loquentem mihi hebraica lingua Saule Saule quid me persequeris durum est tibi contra stimulum calcitrare

15 ego autem dixi quis es Domine Dominus autem dixit ego sum Iesus quem tu persequeris

16 sed exsurge et sta super pedes tuos ad hoc enim apparui tibi ut constituam te ministrum et testem eorum quae vidisti et eorum quibus apparebo tibi

17 eripiens te de populo et gentibus in quas nunc ego mitto te

18 aperire oculos eorum ut convertantur a tenebris ad lucem et de potestate Satanae ad Deum ut accipiant remissionem peccatorum et sortem inter sanctos per fidem quae est in me

19 unde rex Agrippa non fui incredulus caelestis visionis

20 sed his qui sunt Damasci primum et Hierosolymis et in omnem regionem Iudaeae et gentibus adnuntiabam ut paenitentiam agerent et converterentur ad Deum digna paenitentiae opera facientes

21 hac ex causa me Iudaei cum essem in templo conprehensum temptabant interficere

22 auxilio autem adiutus Dei usque in hodiernum diem sto testificans minori atque maiori nihil extra dicens quam ea quae prophetae sunt locuti futura esse et Moses

23 si passibilis Christus si primus ex resurrectione mortuorum lumen adnuntiaturus est populo et gentibus

24 haec loquente eo et rationem reddente Festus magna voce dixit insanis Paule multae te litterae ad insaniam convertunt

25 at Paulus non insanio inquit optime Feste sed veritatis et sobrietatis verba eloquor

26 scit enim de his rex ad quem et constanter loquor latere enim eum nihil horum arbitror neque enim in angulo quicquam horum gestum est

27 credis rex Agrippa prophetis scio quia credis

28 Agrippa autem ad Paulum in modico suades me Christianum fieri

29 et Paulus opto apud Deum et in modico et in magno non tantum te sed et omnes hos qui audiunt hodie fieri tales qualis et ego sum exceptis vinculis his

30 et exsurrexit rex et praeses et Bernice et qui adsidebant eis

31 et cum secessissent loquebantur ad invicem dicentes quia nihil morte aut vinculorum dignum quid facit homo iste

32 Agrippa autem Festo dixit dimitti poterat homo hic si non appellasset Caesarem