nkjv Acts:24-25 SEEK
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Now after five days Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus .
These gave evidence to the governor against Paul .
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And when he was called upon ,
Tertullus began his accusation ,
saying : "
Seeing that through you we enjoy great peace ,
and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight ,
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we accept it always and in all places ,
most noble Felix ,
with all thankfulness .
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Nevertheless ,
not to be tedious to you any further ,
I beg you to hear ,
by your courtesy ,
a few words from us .
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For we have found this man a plague ,
a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world ,
and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes .
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He even tried to profane the temple ,
and we seized him ,
and wanted to judge him according to our law .
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But the commander Lysias came by and with great violence took him out of our hands ,
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commanding his accusers to come to you .
By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him ."
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And the Jews also assented ,
maintaining that these things were so .
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Then Paul ,
after the governor had nodded to him to speak ,
answered : "
Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation ,
I do the more cheerfully answer for myself ,
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because you may ascertain that it is no more than twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship .
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And they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd ,
either in the synagogues or in the city .
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Nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me .
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But this I confess to you ,
that according to the Way which they call a sect ,
so I worship the God of my fathers ,
believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets .
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I have hope in God ,
which they themselves also accept ,
that there will be a resurrection of the dead ,
both of the just and the unjust .
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This being so ,
I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men .
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Now after many years I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation ,
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in the midst of which some Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple ,
neither with a mob nor with tumult .
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They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me .
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Or else let those who are here themselves say if they found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council ,
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unless it is for this one statement which I cried out ,
standing among them , "
Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day ."'
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But when Felix heard these things ,
having more accurate knowledge of the Way ,
he adjourned the proceedings and said , "
When Lysias the commander comes down ,
I will make a decision on your case ."
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So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty ,
and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him .
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And after some days ,
when Felix came with his wife Drusilla ,
who was Jewish ,
he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ .
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Now as he reasoned about righteousness ,
self-control ,
and the judgment to come ,
Felix was afraid and answered , "
Go away for now ;
when I have a convenient time I will call for you ."
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Meanwhile he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul ,
that he might release him .
Therefore he sent for him more often and conversed with him .
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But after two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix ;
and Felix ,
wanting to do the Jews a favor ,
left Paul bound .
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Now when Festus had come to the province ,
after three days he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem .
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Then the high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul ;
and they petitioned him ,
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asking a favor against him ,
that he would summon him to Jerusalem--while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him .
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But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea ,
and that he himself was going there shortly .
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Therefore ,"
he said , "
let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man ,
to see if there is any fault in him ."
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And when he had remained among them more than ten days ,
he went down to Caesarea .
And the next day ,
sitting on the judgment seat ,
he commanded Paul to be brought .
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When he had come ,
the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul ,
which they could not prove ,
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while he answered for himself , "
Neither against the law of the Jews ,
nor against the temple ,
nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all ."
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But Festus ,
wanting to do the Jews a favor ,
answered Paul and said , "
Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things ?"
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So Paul said , "
I stand at Caesar '
s judgment seat ,
where I ought to be judged .
To the Jews I have done no wrong ,
as you very well know .
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For if I am an offender ,
or have committed anything deserving of death ,
I do not object to dying ;
but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me ,
no one can deliver me to them .
I appeal to Caesar ."
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Then Festus ,
when he had conferred with the council ,
answered , "
You have appealed to Caesar ?
To Caesar you shall go !"
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And after some days King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus .
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When they had been there many days ,
Festus laid Paul '
s case before the king ,
saying : "
There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix ,
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about whom the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me ,
when I was in Jerusalem ,
asking for a judgment against him .
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To them I answered , "
It is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the accusers face to face ,
and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him .'
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Therefore when they had come together ,
without any delay ,
the next day I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought in .
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When the accusers stood up ,
they brought no accusation against him of such things as I supposed ,
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but had some questions against him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus ,
who had died ,
whom Paul affirmed to be alive .
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And because I was uncertain of such questions ,
I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there be judged concerning these matters .
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But when Paul appealed to be reserved for the decision of Augustus ,
I commanded him to be kept till I could send him to Caesar ."
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Then Agrippa said to Festus , "
I also would like to hear the man myself ." "
Tomorrow ,"
he said , "
you shall hear him ."
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So the next day ,
when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp ,
and had entered the auditorium with the commanders and the prominent men of the city ,
at Festus '
command Paul was brought in .
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And Festus said : "
King Agrippa and all the men who are here present with us ,
you see this man about whom the whole assembly of the Jews petitioned me ,
both at Jerusalem and here ,
crying out that he was not fit to live any longer .
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But when I found that he had committed nothing deserving of death ,
and that he himself had appealed to Augustus ,
I decided to send him .
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I have nothing certain to write to my lord concerning him .
Therefore I have brought him out before you ,
and especially before you ,
King Agrippa ,
so that after the examination has taken place I may have something to write .
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For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him ."
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Then Agrippa said to Paul , "
You are permitted to speak for yourself ."
So Paul stretched out his hand and answered for himself :