Acts:26

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* Then Agrippa said to Paul , You may speak for yourself . So Paul put out his hand and began to speak . * King Agrippa , I am happy to speak for myself before you today . I will talk about all the things the leaders of the Jews have said against me . * You know all the ways of the Jews . You know what they believe . So please take time to listen to me . * All the Jews know the way I lived from the time I was young . From the beginning I lived with my own people at Jerusalem . * They have known me for a long time . They know , if they would tell it , that I lived like the Pharisee group . They obey the law better than any others who worship God the way we do . * I believe that God will keep the promise that he made to our fathers long ago . That is why I am standing here being judged today . * All the people of our twelve tribes serve God faithfully day and night . They do this because they believe they will receive what he has promised . Because I believe this , king Agrippa , the Jewish leaders are talking against me . * Why is it so hard for any of you to believe that God should raise the dead ? * I used to think that I must do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth . * I did this in Jerusalem . The chief priests gave me power . I put many of Gods people in prison . And when they were killed , I agreed to it . * Often I punished them in all the meeting places . I tried to make them say wrong things about Christ . I was very , very angry . I even went to other cities to trouble them . * And so I was on my way to the city of Damascus . The chief priests had given me power and a letter . * I was on the road at midday , king Agrippa , and I saw a bright light . It came from the sky and was brighter than the light of the sun . It shone all around me and the men who were travelling with me . * We all fell to the ground . I heard someone say to me in the Jews language , "Saul , Saul , why are you troubling me ? You hurt yourself when you kick against the sticks which guide you ." * I said , "Who are you , Lord ?" And the Lord said , "I am Jesus , the one you are troubling . * But get up . Stand on your feet . Here is why I have shown myself to you . I have chosen you to work for me . I have chosen you to tell people what you saw when you saw me today . You are to tell them also about the other times when I will show myself to you . * I will keep you safe from your own people , the Jews . And I will keep you safe from those who are not Jews . I am sending you to them . * I send you to them to open their eyes . Then they will turn from darkness to light . You are to take them out of Satans power and turn them to God , to be forgiven of their wrong ways . Then they will be among those who are made clean and pure by believing in me ." * So , king Agrippa , I obeyed what the one from heaven told me to do . * I told the good news to the people of Damascus and Jerusalem . Then I told it all over Judea . I went to those who are not Jews . I told everyone that they must stop doing wrong things and turn to God . I told them they must show by the way they live that they have stopped doing wrong things . * That is why the leaders of the Jews caught me in the temple and tried to kill me . * God has always helped me up to today . I have stood and talked to both small people and great people . I have said nothing more than what the prophets and Moses said would happen . * They said Christ must suffer . They said he would be the first person to rise from death . He would be the first person to bring news of light to the Jews and those who are not Jews . * While Paul was saying these things Festus shouted , Paul , you are crazy ! All your book learning is making you crazy . * Paul said , No , great ruler Festus , I am not crazy . But what I say is true . It makes good sense . * The king knows about these things . I am not afraid to talk to him about them . I am sure that not one of these things happened without his knowing about it . This did not happen in secret . * King Agrippa do you believe the prophets ? I know you believe them . * Then Agrippa said to Paul , You are trying to make me a Christian right away . * Right away or later , said Paul . I wish that all who hear me today might be what I am . That is , what I am without these chains . * Then king Agrippa stood up . Festus and Bernice and those who were sitting there with them stood up also . * They left the room and talked the matter over . They said , This man is not doing anything wrong for which he ought to be in prison or die . * Agrippa said to Festus , We could let this man go free if he had not asked to go to Caesar .

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