CINXE.COM

<!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 NLT</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" /></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="../">NLT</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">New Living Translation</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/nlt/esv/acts/26.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.”</p><p class="reg">So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense: <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>“I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently!</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>“As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>In fact, that is why the twelve tribes of Israel zealously worship God night and day, and they share the same hope I have. Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having this hope! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Why does it seem incredible to any of you that God can raise the dead?</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>“I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">a</span></a> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">b</span></a> there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">c</span></a> I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>“One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>About noon, Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">d</span></a> <span class="red">‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">e</span></a>’</span></p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.</p><p class="reg">“And the Lord replied, <span class="red">‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span><span class="red">Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. Tell people that you have seen me, and tell them what I will show you in the future.</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span><span class="red">And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles</span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span><span class="red">to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’</span></p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>“And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen— <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-24.htm"><b>24</b></a></span>Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Too much study has made you crazy!”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-25.htm"><b>25</b></a></span>But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the sober truth. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-26.htm"><b>26</b></a></span>And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak boldly, for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-27.htm"><b>27</b></a></span>King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do—”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-28.htm"><b>28</b></a></span>Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”<a href="#footnotes"><span class="fn">f</span></a></p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-29.htm"><b>29</b></a></span>Paul replied, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-30.htm"><b>30</b></a></span>Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others stood and left. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-31.htm"><b>31</b></a></span>As they went out, they talked it over and agreed, “This man hasn’t done anything to deserve death or imprisonment.”</p><p class="reg"> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/26-32.htm"><b>32</b></a></span>And Agrippa said to Festus, “He could have been set free if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar.”</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn">a</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">26:9 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">Jesus of Nazareth.</span><br><span class="fn">b</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">26:10 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">many of God’s holy people.</span><br><span class="fn">c</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">26:11 </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">to blaspheme.</span><br><span class="fn">d</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">26:14a </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">Hebrew.</span><br><span class="fn">e</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">26:14b </span><span class="ft">Greek </span><span class="it">It is hard for you to kick against the oxgoads.</span><br><span class="fn">f</span><note caller="+" style="f"><span class="fr">26:28 </span><span class="ft">Or </span><span class="it">“A little more, and your arguments would make me a Christian.”</span><br></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><em>Holy Bible</em>, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of <a href="http://www.tyndale.com">Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.</a>, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../acts/25.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Acts 25"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Acts 25" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../acts/27.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Acts 27"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Acts 27" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/acts/26-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhchap.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>