Acts
25
- Three days after arriving in the province,
Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem,
- where the chief priests and Jewish leaders
appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul.
- They urgently requested Festus, as a favor
to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an
ambush to kill him along the way.
- Festus answered, "Paul is being held
at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon.
- Let some of your leaders come with me and
press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong."
- After spending eight or ten days with them,
he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered
that Paul be brought before him.
- When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come
down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against
him, which they could not prove.
- Then Paul made his defense: "I have
done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against
Caesar."
- Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said
to Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before
me there on these charges ?"
- Paul answered: "I am now standing before
Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the
Jews, as you yourself know very well.
- If, however, I am guilty of doing anything
deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against
me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them.
I appeal to Caesar !"
- After Festus had conferred with his council,
he declared: "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go
!"
- A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice
arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus.
- Since they were spending many days there,
Festus discussed Paul's case with the king. He said: "There is a man
here whom Felix left as a prisoner.
- When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests
and elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked that he be condemned.
- "I told them that it is not the Roman
custom to hand over any man before he has faced his accusers and has had an
opportunity to defend himself against their charges.
- When they came here with me, I did not delay
the case, but convened the court the next day and ordered the man to be brought
in.
- When his accusers got up to speak, they did
not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected.
- Instead, they had some points of dispute
with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul
claimed was alive.
- I was at a loss how to investigate such matters;
so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there
on these charges.
- When Paul made his appeal to be held over
for the Emperor's decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar."
- Then Agrippa said to Festus, "I would
like to hear this man myself." He replied, "Tomorrow you will hear
him."
- The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with
great pomp and entered the audience room with the high ranking officers and
the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in.
- Festus said: "King Agrippa, and all
who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has
petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he
ought not to live any longer.
- I found he had done nothing deserving of
death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him
to Rome.
- But I have nothing definite to write to His
Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially
before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may
have something to write.
- For I think it is unreasonable to send on
a prisoner without specifying the charges against him."
Back |
Home |
Next