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The Blue Letter Bible

Acts 26 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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Paul’s Defense Before Agrippa

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:1

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:1 - So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:2

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:2 - “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:3

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:3 - especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:4

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:4 - “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:5

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:5 - They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:6

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:6 - And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:7

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:7 - to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king!

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:8

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:8 - Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:9

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:9 - “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:10

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:10 - And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:11

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:11 - And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

(Act 9:1–19; 22:6–16 )

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:12

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:12 - “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:13

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:13 - At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:14

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:14 - And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language,[fn] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:15

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:15 - And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:16

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:16 - But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:17

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:17 - delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:18

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:18 - to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:19

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:19 - “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:20

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:20 - but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:21

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:21 - For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:22

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:22 - To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass:

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:23

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:23 - that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:24

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:24 - And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:25

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:25 - But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:26

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:26 - For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:27

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:27 - King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:28

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:28 - And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?”[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:29

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:29 - And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:30

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:30 - Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them.

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:31

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:31 - And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Act 26:32

Unchecked Copy BoxAct 26:32 - And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
See the ESV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
ESV Footnotes
Or the Hebrew dialect (probably Aramaic)
Or In a short time you would persuade me to act like a Christian!
ESV

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

See detailed copyright information.

For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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Acts Chapter 26 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Morphological Greek New Testament Textus Receptus Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras