Acts 26:12-32

New International Version

¹² “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice^(A) saying to me in Aramaic,^[a](B) ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.^(C) I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.^{(D) 17} I will rescue you^(E) from your own people and from the Gentiles.^(F) I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes^(G) and turn them from darkness to light,^(H) and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins^(I) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^(J)

¹⁹ “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient^(K) to the vision from heaven. ²⁰ First to those in Damascus,^(L) then to those in Jerusalem^(M) and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles,^(N) I preached that they should repent^(O) and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.^{(P) 21} That is why some Jews seized me^(Q) in the temple courts and tried to kill me.^{(R) 22} But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen^(S)— ²³ that the Messiah would suffer^(T) and, as the first to rise from the dead,^(U) would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”^(V)

²⁴ At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind,^(W) Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning^(X) is driving you insane.”

²⁵ “I am not insane, most excellent^(Y) Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. ²⁶ The king is familiar with these things,^(Z) and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

²⁸ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”^(AA)

²⁹ Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”^(AB)

³⁰ The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice^(AC) and those sitting with them. ³¹ After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”^(AD)

³² Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free^(AE) if he had not appealed to Caesar.”^(AF)