Acts 26 :: New King James Version (NKJV)

Paul’s Early Life

Paul’s Defense Before Agrippa

Act 26:1Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself:

Act 26:2

Act 26:2“I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews,

Act 26:3

Act 26:3“especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

Act 26:4

Act 26:4“My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know.

Act 26:5

Act 26:5“They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

Act 26:6

Act 26:6“And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.

Act 26:7

Act 26:7“To this promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. For this hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.

Act 26:8

Act 26:8“Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?

Act 26:9

Act 26:9“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Act 26:10

Act 26:10“This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

Act 26:11

Act 26:11“And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Recounts His Conversion

(Acts 9:1–19; 22:6–16 )

Act 26:12

Act 26:12“While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

Act 26:13

Act 26:13“at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.

Act 26:14

Act 26:14“And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

Act 26:15

Act 26:15“So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

Act 26:16

Act 26:16‘But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.

Act 26:17

Act 26:17‘I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now[fn] send you,

Act 26:18

Act 26:18‘to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’

Paul’s Post-Conversion Life

Act 26:19

Act 26:19“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

Act 26:20

Act 26:20“but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.

Act 26:21

Act 26:21“For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

Act 26:22

Act 26:22“Therefore, having obtained help from God, to this day I stand, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come—

Act 26:23

Act 26:23“that the Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead, and would proclaim light to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

Agrippa Parries Paul’s Challenge

Act 26:24

Act 26:24Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”

Act 26:25

Act 26:25But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason.

Act 26:26

Act 26:26“For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner.

Act 26:27

Act 26:27“King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”

Act 26:28

Act 26:28Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

Act 26:29

Act 26:29And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

Act 26:30

Act 26:30When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them;

Act 26:31

Act 26:31and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”

Act 26:32

Act 26:32Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

See the NKJV Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).

NKJV Footnotes

(26:17)

NU-Text and M-Text omit now.

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