Deeds (Act) of Apostles 26:1-27

¹And Agrippa said to Paul, It is suffered to thee, to speak for thyself. Then Paul held forth the hand, and began to yield reason.

²Of all things, in which I am accused of the Jews, thou king Agrippa, I guess me blessed at thee, when I shall defend me this day;

³mostly for thou knowest all things that be among Jews, customs and questions. For which thing, I beseech, hear me patiently.

⁴For all Jews that before knew me from the beginning, know my life from youth;

⁵that from the beginning was in my folk in Jerusalem, if they will bear witnessing or bear witness, that by the most certain sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee.

⁶And now for the hope of repromission, that is made to our fathers of God, I stand subject in doom;

⁷in which hope our twelve lineages, serving night and day hope to come; of which hope, sir king, I am accused of the Jews.

⁸What unbelieveful thing is deemed at you, if God raiseth dead men?

⁹And soothly I guessed, that I ought to do many contrary things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰Which thing also I did in Jeru-salem, and I enclosed many of the saints in prison, when I had taken power of the princes of priests. And when they were slain, I brought or I gave the sentence.

¹¹And by all synagogues oft I punished them, and constrained to blaspheme; and more I waxed mad against them, and pursued till into alien cities.

¹²In which, the while I went to Damascus, with power and suffering of the princes of priests,

¹³at midday, in the way I saw, sir king, that from heaven a light shined about me, passing the shining of the sun, and about them that were together with me.

¹⁴And when we all had fallen down into the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, what persecutest or pursuest thou me? it is hard to or for thee, to kick against the prick.

¹⁵And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest or pursuest.

¹⁶But rise up, and stand on thy feet. For why to this thing I appeared to thee, that I ordain thee minister and witness of those things that thou hast seen, and of those things in which I shall show or shall appear to thee.

¹⁷And I shall deliver thee from peoples and folks, to which now I send thee,

¹⁸to open the eyes of them, that they be converted or turned from darkness to light, and from power of Satan to God, that they take remission of sins, and part among saints, by faith that is in me.

¹⁹Wherefore, sir king Agrippa, I was not unbelieveful to the heavenly vision;

²⁰but I told or I showed to them, that be at Damascus first, and at Jerusalem, and by all the country of Judea, and to heathen men, that they should do penance, and be converted to God, and do worthy works of penance.

²¹For this cause, Jews took me, when I was in the temple, to slay me.

²²But I was helped by the help of God till into this day, and stand, witnessing to less and to more. And I say nothing else than which things the prophets and Moses spake that shall come,

²³if Christ is to suffer, if he is the first of the again-rising of dead men, that shall show light to the people and to heathen men.

²⁴When he spake these things, and yielded reason, Festus said with great voice, Paul, thou maddest or thou waxest mad; many letters turn thee to madness.

²⁵And Paul said, I mad not, thou best Festus, but I speak out the words of truth and of soberness.

²⁶For also the king, to whom I speak steadfastly, knoweth of these things; for I deem, that nothing of these is hid from him; for neither in a corner was aught of these things done.

²⁷Believest thou, king Agrippa, to prophets? I know that thou believest.