Acts of the Apostles 25

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Before Governor Festus

1 Three days after the arrival of Festus in the province,* he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. 2 The chief priests and Jewish leaders came to him and presented to him their charge against Paul. 3 They asked him insistently to satisfy them by sending Paul to Jerusalem. They requested this because they had laid an ambush to kill Paul on the way. 4 But Festus answered them, “Paul is in custody at Caesarea, and I'm returning there soon. 5 Let some of your leaders come with me and present the charge against the man there, if he is guilty.”

6 Festus spent eight or ten days with them, then went down to Caesarea. The next day, he sat at the judicial bench and ordered that Paul be brought before him. 7 When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him and presented many serious charges against him, which they were unable to substantiate. 8 Paul defended himself, saying, “I have not committed any wrong against the religious law of the Jews nor against the Temple of God nor against Caesar.”*

9 But Festus wanted to please the Jews, so he said to Paul, “Are you willing to go to Jerusalem so that your trial on these charges can be [held] before me there?” 10 Paul replied, “I am standing right now before the court of Caesar, where I ought to be tried. I haven't done anything wrong against the Jews, and you know that well. 11 If I had done something worthy of death, I would not run away from death. However, if these accusations that the Jews are directing against me are untrue, then no one has a right to turn me over to them. I appeal my case to Caesar!” 12 Festus conferred with his assistants; then he said, “To Caesar you have appealed your case, so to Caesar you will go!”

Agrippa and Bernice

13 A few days later, King Agrippa* arrived with Bernice at Caesarea to greet Festus. 14 They stayed there many days. Festus laid out Paul's case for the king, saying to him, “There is a man here whom Felix left imprisoned. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and elders of the Jews pressed charges against him and asked me to convict him. 16 I said to them that it is not the custom of the Romans to consign someone to death unless he has first faced his opponents and been given the opportunity to defend himself and respond to the charges.

17 They came here with me, and without delay I sat the next day at the judicial bench and ordered that the man be brought in. 18 When his opponents rose to speak, they didn't mention any accusation that I was expecting. 19 Instead, a dispute broke out between them and him about their religion and about a person who died, whose name was Jesus, and who Paul says is alive. 20 I was perplexed as to how to investigate the matter, so I asked Paul whether he would be willing to go to Jerusalem so that his trial on these charges could be [held] there. 21 But he appealed his case to His Majesty for him to look into it. So I ordered that he be held until I'm in a position to send him to Caesar.” 22 Agrippa said to Festus, “I myself would like to hear that man.” He replied, “Tomorrow you'll hear him.”

23 So the next day Agrippa and Bernice came in a stately procession and entered the audience hall, surrounded by military leaders and prominent men of the city. Festus ordered that Paul be brought in. 24 Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all of you present with us here: This man whom you see: all the Jewish people in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea have complained to me [about] him, and they have been shouting that he should not remain alive. 25 As for me, I found that he had done nothing deserving death. But he appealed his case to His Majesty, so I have decided to send him to Rome. 26 However, I have nothing clear to write to our lord* regarding his case. Therefore, I have brought him before all of you, and especially you, King Agrippa, so that, once we have looked into his case, I may have something to write. 27 For I think it's unreasonable to send a prisoner without specifying the accusations directed against him.”

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Definitions

 *25:8 Caesar: Nero Claudius Caesar. He was emperor of the Roman Empire from AD 54 to 68.

 *25:13 King Agrippa: Herod Agrippa II. He was the son of Herod Agrippa I, who was mentioned in chapter 12.The Roman government had appointed him to be king over the regions of Galilee and the East Bank. Bernice was his sister and had been living with Agrippa since her husband died in AD 48. Festus may have sought their opinion because they were Jewish.

 *25:26 our lord: This refers to Caesar, the emperor of the Roman Empire. See Roman Empire in the glossary.