Acts 25 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

Paul before Festus

Now Festus arrived in the province, and three days later he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea [Maritima].

Act 25:2And [there in Jerusalem] the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul [before Festus], and they repeatedly pleaded with him,

Act 25:3

Act 25:3asking as a concession against Paul, that he would have him brought to Jerusalem; (meanwhile planning an ambush to kill him on the way).

Act 25:4

Act 25:4Festus answered that Paul was being held in custody in Caesarea [Maritima] and that he himself was about to leave shortly.

Act 25:5

Act 25:5“So,” he said, “let those who are in a position of authority among you go there with me, and if there is anything criminal about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

Act 25:6

Now after Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the tribunal (the judicial bench), and ordered Paul to be brought [before him].

Act 25:7

Act 25:7After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him which they were not able to prove,

Act 25:8

Act 25:8while Paul declared in his own defense, “I have done no wrong and committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”

Act 25:9

Act 25:9But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul, “[fn]Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial there in my presence [before the Jewish Sanhedrin] on these charges?”

Act 25:10

Act 25:10Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know.

Act 25:11

Act 25:11“Therefore, if I am guilty and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not try to escape death; but if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I [fn]appeal to Caesar (Emperor Nero).”

Act 25:12

Act 25:12Then Festus, after conferring with [the men who formed] his council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.”

Act 25:13

Now several days later, [fn]Agrippa [II] the king and [fn]Bernice [his sister] arrived at Caesarea and paid their respects to Festus [the new governor].

Act 25:14

Act 25:14While they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man here who was left as a prisoner by Felix.

Act 25:15

Act 25:15“When I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews [told me about him and] brought charges against him, petitioning for a sentence of condemnation against him.

Act 25:16

Act 25:16“I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man [for punishment] before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has the opportunity to defend himself against the charges.

Act 25:17

Act 25:17“So after they arrived together here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my place on the tribunal and ordered that the man be brought before me.

Act 25:18

Act 25:18“When his accusers stood up, they brought no charges against him of crimes that I was expecting [neither civil nor criminal actions],

Act 25:19

Act 25:19instead they had some points of disagreement with him about their own [fn]religion and about one Jesus, a man who had died, but whom Paul kept asserting and insisting [over and over] to be alive.

Act 25:20

Act 25:20“And I, being at a loss as to how to investigate these things, asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding these matters.

Act 25:21

Act 25:21“But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for a decision by the Emperor [Nero], I ordered him to be kept in custody until I could send him to Caesar.”

Act 25:22

Act 25:22Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” Festus replied, “you will hear him.”

Paul before Agrippa

Act 25:23

So the next day Agrippa and [his sister] Bernice came with great pageantry, and they went into the auditorium accompanied by the military commanders and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.

Act 25:24

Act 25:24Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man [Paul] about whom all the Jewish people appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly insisting that he ought not to live any longer.

Act 25:25

Act 25:25“But I found that he had done nothing worthy of death; however, since he appealed to the Emperor [Nero], I decided to send him [to Rome].

Act 25:26

Act 25:26“But I have nothing specific about him to write to my lord. So I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I will have something to put in writing.

Act 25:27

Act 25:27“For it seems absurd and unreasonable to me to send a prisoner [to Rome] without indicating the charges against him.”