Acts:26:1-32
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Then Agrippa said unto Paul ,
Thou art permitted to speak for thyself .
Then Paul stretched forth the hand ,
and answered for himself :
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I think myself happy ,
king Agrippa ,
because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews :
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Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews :
wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently .
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My manner of life from my youth ,
which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem ,
know all the Jews ;
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Which knew me from the beginning ,
if they would testify ,
that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee .
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And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers :
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Unto which promise our twelve tribes ,
instantly serving God day and night ,
hope to come .
For which hope '
s sake ,
king Agrippa ,
I am accused of the Jews .
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Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you ,
that God should raise the dead ?
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I verily thought with myself ,
that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth .
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Which thing I also did in Jerusalem :
and many of the saints did I shut up in prison ,
having received authority from the chief priests ;
and when they were put to death ,
I gave my voice against them .
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And I punished them oft in every synagogue ,
and compelled them to blaspheme ;
and being exceedingly mad against them ,
I persecuted them even unto strange cities .
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Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests ,
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At midday ,
O king ,
I saw in the way a light from heaven ,
above the brightness of the sun ,
shining round about me and them which journeyed with me .
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And when we were all fallen to the earth ,
I heard a voice speaking unto me ,
and saying in the Hebrew tongue ,
Saul ,
Saul ,
why persecutest thou me ?
it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks .
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And I said ,
Who art thou ,
Lord ?
And he said ,
I am Jesus whom thou persecutest .
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But rise ,
and stand upon thy feet :
for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose ,
to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen ,
and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee ;
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Delivering thee from the people ,
and from the Gentiles ,
unto whom now I send thee ,
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To open their eyes ,
and to turn them from darkness to light ,
and from the power of Satan unto God ,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins ,
and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me .
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Whereupon ,
O king Agrippa ,
I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision :
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But shewed first unto them of Damascus ,
and at Jerusalem ,
and throughout all the coasts of Judaea ,
and then to the Gentiles ,
that they should repent and turn to God ,
and do works meet for repentance .
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For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple ,
and went about to kill me .
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Having therefore obtained help of God ,
I continue unto this day ,
witnessing both to small and great ,
saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come :
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That Christ should suffer ,
and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead ,
and should shew light unto the people ,
and to the Gentiles .
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And as he thus spake for himself ,
Festus said with a loud voice ,
Paul ,
thou art beside thyself ;
much learning doth make thee mad .
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But he said ,
I am not mad ,
most noble Festus ;
but speak forth the words of truth and soberness .
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For the king knoweth of these things ,
before whom also I speak freely :
for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him ;
for this thing was not done in a corner .
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King Agrippa ,
believest thou the prophets ?
I know that thou believest .
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Then Agrippa said unto Paul ,
Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian .
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And Paul said ,
I would to God ,
that not only thou ,
but also all that hear me this day ,
were both almost ,
and altogether such as I am ,
except these bonds .
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And when he had thus spoken ,
the king rose up ,
and the governor ,
and Bernice ,
and they that sat with them :
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And when they were gone aside ,
they talked between themselves ,
saying ,
This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds .
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Then said Agrippa unto Festus ,
This man might have been set at liberty ,
if he had not appealed unto Caesar .