Acts 25

25 ¹Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ²There the chief priests and Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul and kept urging him, ³requesting a favor against him—that he summon Paul to Jerusalem. They were setting an ambush to kill him on the road. ⁴Festus replied that Paul was held at Caesarea, and he himself would leave shortly. ⁵"So," he said, "let those among you who are able go down with me and accuse the man, if there is anything wrong with him."

⁶Festus stayed with them no more than eight or ten days, then went down to Caesarea. The next day he took the judge's seat and ordered Paul brought in. ⁷When Paul arrived, the Jews from Jerusalem surrounded him, bringing many serious charges they couldn't prove. ⁸Paul answered in his defense: "I have done no wrong against the Jewish law, the temple, or Caesar."

⁹But Festus, wanting to please the Jews, asked Paul, "Will you go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?"

¹⁰Paul said, "I stand before Caesar's tribunal, where I must be judged. I've done the Jews no wrong, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹If I've done wrong, done something deserving death, I won't refuse to die. But if these men's charges against me are groundless, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar."

¹²After consulting his council, Festus answered, "You appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you will go."

¹³Some days later, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea and greeted Festus. ¹⁴As they spent many days there, Festus presented Paul's case to the king: "Felix left a man here as a prisoner. ¹⁵While I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and elders of the Jews accused him, asking me for his conviction. ¹⁶I told them it's not Roman custom to hand over anyone before the accused faces his accusers in person and gets a chance to defend himself against the charge. ¹⁷So when they gathered here, I delayed nothing—next day I sat on the judgment seat and ordered the man brought in. ¹⁸When his accusers stood up, they raised none of the criminal charges I had expected. ¹⁹Instead, they had some disputes with him about their own religion and a dead man named Jesus, whom Paul kept claiming was alive. ²⁰Unsure how to investigate this, I asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges. ²¹But since Paul appealed to be held for the Emperor's decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar."

²²Agrippa told Festus, "I'd like to hear the man myself." "Tomorrow," Festus said, "you will hear him."

Paul Stands Before Agrippa and Bernice

²³The next day Agrippa and Bernice arrived with great show and entered the hall with the military commanders and the city's prominent men. On Festus's order, Paul was brought in. ²⁴Festus said, "King Agrippa, and all here with us—you see this man. The whole Jewish community petitioned me about him, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting he must not live any longer. ²⁵But finding nothing deserving death, and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. ²⁶I have nothing definite to write my lord about him, so I brought him before you all, especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination I may have something to write. ²⁷For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without indicating the charges against him."