Acts 26
1 So Agrippa said to Paul: He permits you to be speaking in your own behalf. Then Paul having stretched out his hand made [his] defense: 2 Concerning all of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself blessed [about] to be making my defense today before you, 3 you being especially knowledgeable of all the customs and questions of the Jews. Therefore I ask you to patiently hear me. 4 Indeed therefore all Judea knows my manner of life from youth which came to pass from the beginning in my nation and in Jerusalem, 5 having foreknown me for [a] long time, if they want to testify, that according to the most careful1 sect [of your] religion I zoe-lived2 [as a] Pharisee. 6 And now upon [the] hope of the promise which came to pass to our fathers have I stood being judged, 7 to which, in earnestness ministering day and night, I hope our twelve tribes to attain, concerning which hope I am accused by the Jews, O King. 8 Why is it judged by you unbelievable that God raises the dead? 9 I indeed therefore supposed I must against the name of Jesus the Nazarene practice many opposing [things], 10 which I also did in Jerusalem, and many of [their] holy [ones] I shut in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were being done away with I cast [my] vote against [them]. 11 And according to every synagogue often punishing them I was forcing them to be slandering [God], and being exceedingly enraged against them, I was persecuting them to indeed outer cities. 12 Whereupon going to Damascus with authority and charge of the chief priest, 13 during midday along the road I saw, O King, from heaven, above the radiance of the sun, [a] light shining around me and those going with me, 14 and when all of us fell to the ground3 I heard [a] voice saying to me in the Hebrew language: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? [It is] hard for you to be kicking against the goad4. 15 So I said: Who are you, Lord? So the Lord said to me: I am Jesus whom you persecute. 16 But arise and stand on your feet, for to this have I been seen by you, to appoint you officer and witness of those [things] you have seen and of those [things in which] I will be seen by you. 17 delivering you from the people and from the nations, to which I send you 18 to open their eyes, having turned [them] from darkness to light, and [from] authority of Satan to God, that they receive allowance of sins and [a] portion with those having been made holy by faith in me. 19 From whence, King Agrippa, I did not become disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but to those in Damascus first and [those in] Jerusalem, and every region of Judea, and to the nations5, I was proclaiming [that they should] be repenting and be turning to God, practicing works worthy of repentance. 21 On account of these [things the] Jews having seized me were trying to do [me] violence. 22 Therefore having attained assistances from God until this day, I have stood testifying to small and to great, saying nothing except what the prophets and Moses said is [about] to come to pass, 23 if the Christ [is] subject to suffering, if [he is the] first [one] from the resurrection of [the] dead, [then] light is [about] to be proclaimed to both the people and the nations6. 24 So when he made his defense with these [words], Phestus said with [a] great voice: You are insane, Paul. Much learning turns you to insanity. 25 But Paul said, I am not insane, most excellent Phestus, but [rather] I boldly declare words of truth and rationality. 26 For the king knows concerning these [things], to whom I also speak boldly proclaiming, for I am persuaded nothing escapes his notice, for this was not done in [a] corner. 27 Do you believe, King Agrippa, in the prophets? I know that you believe. 28 So Agrippa [said] to Paul: In a short [time] you persuade me to become a Christian. 29 But Paul [said]: I would pray to God both in [a] short [time] and in [a] great [time] not only you but also all those having heard me today to become such like I also am, except for these bonds. 30 So the king arose, and the ruler and Bernice and those sitting with them, 31 and having withdrawn they were speaking to one another saying that: Nothing worthy of death or bonds does this man practice. 32 So Agrippa said to Phestus: This man was able to be released except [that] he appealed to Caesar.1or "exact", "careful"
2from ZOE "ZOH-ay" (ζωη)—Life 'collectively', interdependent, interconnected. Although it means 'life' in the conventional sense (for example: Matt.9:18, Matt.27:63, Luke.2:36, Acts.25:24, Rom.7:2, 2Cor.1:8, 1Thes.4:17, 1Tim.5:10, Rev.19:20), Jesus uses ZOE exclusively of 'life eternal' (with the possible exceptions of Luke.15:13, Luke.16:25). The other N.T. writers use ZOE in both senses—temporal and eternal, generally clear from the context. The Father is the 'zoe-living God' (see Matt.16:16). The Septuagint (LXX) in Gen.2:7 has "...[God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of zoe-life, and the man became a zoe-living psyche-life" (and see 1Cor.15:45); and Gen.3:20 (LXX) "And Adam called his wife's name ZOE, because she was the mother of all zoe-living." Contrast PSYCHE (ψυχη): an individual manifestation of life/consciousness. See John.12:25 where both ZOE and PSYCHE occur. Greek also has the word BIOS (βιoς ) for 'life' in the sense of biological processes.
3GE "GAY" (γη) "earth", "land" (remember that they didn't understand about the Earth being a planet floating in space yet), sometimes "ground" or "dirt".
4a sharpened stick used to prod cattle
5i.e. the Gentiles
6i.e. the Gentiles