26:1   Agrippa said to Paul, "You can speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand and proceeded to make his defense:

26:2   "In regard to all the things of which the Jews accuse me, I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that I will soon make my defense before you today;

26:3  especially because I acknowledge you as an expert in all customs and questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

26:4   "So then, all Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning I spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem;

26:5   since they have known about me for a long time, if they willingly testify, that I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion.

26:6   "And now I stand trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers;

26:7   the promise to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day And for this hope, O King, the Jews accuse me.

26:8  "Why should some consider it incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?

26:9   "So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

26:10   "And this I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they received execution I cast my vote against them.

26:11   "And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and having become furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.

26:12   "While so engaged as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,

26:13   at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who journeyed with me.

26:14   "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? Do you find it hard for you to kick against the goads.'

26:15   "And I said, 'Who do I speak to, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'You know me as Jesus whom you persecute.

26:16  'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;

26:17   rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you,

26:18   to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have received sanctification by faith in Me.'

26:19   "So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision,

26:20   but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.

26:21   "For this reason some Jews seized me in the temple and tried to put me to death.

26:22   "So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said would take place;

26:23   that the Christ would suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would first proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles."

26:24   While Paul said this in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, "Paul, you seem out of your mind! Your great learning has driven you mad."

26:25   But Paul said, "I have not gone out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth.

26:26   "For the king knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I feel persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not occurred in a corner.

26:27   "King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do."

26:28   Agrippa replied to Paul, "In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian."

26:29   And Paul said, "I would wish to God, that whether in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I have become, except for these chains."

26:30   The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who sat with them,

26:31   and when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another, saying, " This man has not done anything worthy of death or imprisonment."

26:32   And Agrippa said to Festus, "I may have set this man free if he had not appealed to Caesar."