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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Acts 26 NET Bible</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/acts/26.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/acts/26-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NET Bible</a> > Acts 26</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../acts/25.htm" title="Acts 25">◄</a> Acts 26 <a href="../acts/27.htm" title="Acts 27">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">NET Bible</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/net/esv/acts/26.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="title">Paul Offers His Defense</p><p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul held out his hand and began his defense:</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>“Regarding all the things I have been accused of by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that I am about to make my defense before you today, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>because you are especially familiar with all the customs and controversial issues of the Jews. Therefore I ask you to listen to me patiently. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>Now all the Jews know the way I lived from my youth, spending my life from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>They know, because they have known me from time past, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our ancestors, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve God night and day. Concerning this hope the Jews are accusing me, Your Majesty! <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Why do you people think it is unbelievable that God raises the dead? <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>Of course, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus the Nazarene. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>And that is what I did in Jerusalem: Not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were sentenced to death. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged at them, I went to persecute them even in foreign cities.</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>“While doing this very thing, as I was going to Damascus with authority and complete power from the chief priests, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>about noon along the road, Your Majesty, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining everywhere around me and those traveling with me. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by kicking against the goads.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this reason, to designate you in advance as a servant and witness to the things you have seen and to the things in which I will appear to you. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>to open their eyes so that they turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>but I declared to those in Damascus first, and then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with repentance. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts and were trying to kill me. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>I have experienced help from God to this day, and so I stand testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except what the prophets and Moses said was going to happen: <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>that the Christ was to suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, to proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>As Paul was saying these things in his defense, Festus exclaimed loudly, “You have lost your mind, Paul! Your great learning is driving you insane!” <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>But Paul replied, “I have not lost my mind, most excellent Festus, but am speaking true and rational words. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>For the king knows about these things, and I am speaking freely to him, because I cannot believe that any of these things has escaped his notice, for this was not done in a corner. <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe.” <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>Agrippa said to Paul, “In such a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?” <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>Paul replied, “I pray to God that whether in a short or a long time not only you but also all those who are listening to me today could become such as I am, except for these chains.”</p> <p class="bodytext"><span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>So the king got up, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them, <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>and as they were leaving they said to one another, “This man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment.” <span class="reftext"><a href="/acts/26-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”</p></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><a href="http://netbible.com/">NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com.<br />Used by permission. 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