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    Acts · 32 verses

    Acts 26

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    Paul wishes everyone listening to become what he is, with one brisk exception: nobody need acquire his chains.

    The road from persecution to proclamationvv. 1–23

    Agrippa gives Paul the floor, and Paul begins with the tidy particulars: Jerusalem, the Pharisees, the promise to the twelve tribes, and the curious question of why resurrection should be thought incredible. Then comes the untidy middle. Paul had imprisoned and persecuted the saints, even travelling to foreign cities, until a light brighter than the sun stopped him on the road to Damascus. Jesus appoints him servant and witness, and Paul says he has not been disobedient to the heavenly vision. His defence ends not with a private revelation but with the claim that the Christ would suffer, rise first from the dead, and proclaim light to Jews and Gentiles.

    Madness, chains, and an inconvenient appealvv. 24–32

    Festus cannot let the speech pass without calling it madness, which gives Paul the opportunity to describe it as truth and sobriety. Paul then turns the question towards Agrippa, who answers with a question of his own. Paul’s wish is expansive, though carefully edited at the end: all who hear him may become what he is, except for these chains. The company rises and confers on the way out. Their verdict is remarkably plain—Paul has done nothing worthy of death or imprisonment—after which Agrippa supplies the administrative snag: Caesar has already entered the story.

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    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Acts 26:1Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense:

    2. Acts 26:2“King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today to defend myself against all the accusations of the Jews,

    3. Acts 26:3especially since you are acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. I beg you, therefore, to listen to me patiently.

    4. Acts 26:4Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from my earliest childhood among my own people, and also in Jerusalem.

    5. Acts 26:5They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.

    6. Acts 26:6And now I stand on trial because of my hope in the promise that God made to our fathers,

    7. Acts 26:7the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. It is because of this hope, O king, that I am accused by the Jews.

    8. Acts 26:8Why would any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

    9. Acts 26:9So then, I too was convinced that I ought to do all I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

    10. Acts 26:10And that is what I did in Jerusalem. With authority from the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.

    11. Acts 26:11I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

    12. Acts 26:12In this pursuit I was on my way to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests.

    13. Acts 26:13About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions.

    14. Acts 26:14We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

    15. Acts 26:15‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied.

    16. Acts 26:16‘But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen from Me and what I will show you.

    17. Acts 26:17I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them

    18. Acts 26:18to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those sanctified by faith in Me.’

    19. Acts 26:19So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

    20. Acts 26:20First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.

    21. Acts 26:21For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.

    22. Acts 26:22But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:

    23. Acts 26:23that the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”

    24. Acts 26:24At this stage of Paul’s defense, Festus exclaimed in a loud voice, “You are insane, Paul! Your great learning is driving you to madness!”

    25. Acts 26:25But Paul answered, “I am not insane, most excellent Festus; I am speaking words of truth and sobriety.

    26. Acts 26:26For the king knows about these matters, and I can speak freely to him. I am confident that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner.

    27. Acts 26:27King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

    28. Acts 26:28Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Can you persuade me in such a short time to become a Christian?”

    29. Acts 26:29“Short time or long,” Paul replied, “I wish to God that not only you but all who hear me this day may become what I am, except for these chains.”

    30. Acts 26:30Then the king and the governor rose, along with Bernice and those seated with them.

    31. Acts 26:31On their way out, they said to one another, “This man has done nothing worthy of death or imprisonment.”

    32. Acts 26:32And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

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    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 549 passages were voted onto 31 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 181 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
    • 18Ephesians 1:18I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,
    • 18Acts 20:32And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.
    • 18Ephesians 5:8For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
    • 18Isaiah 42:7to open the eyes of the blind, to bring prisoners out of the dungeon and those sitting in darkness out from the prison house.
    • 182 Corinthians 4:6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
    • 18Colossians 1:12–14giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
    • 18John 8:12Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
    • 18Luke 1:79to shine on those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
    • 181 Thessalonians 5:4–8But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.
    • 181 John 3:8The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
    • 181 Corinthians 6:10–11nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
    • 20Matthew 3:8Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.
    • 20Acts 3:19Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
    • 19Isaiah 50:5The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious, nor have I turned back.
    • 241 Corinthians 2:13–14And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

    Onward

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