NLT Illustrated Study Bible - Book of Acts - Flipbook - Page 72
A cts 2 5 : 2 7
2028
have brought him before all of you, and espe
cially you, King Agrippa, so that after we ex
amine him, I might have something to write.
27 For it makes no sense to send a prisoner to
the emperor without specifying the charges
against him!”
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may
26
speak in your defense.”
So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started
his r defense: 2 “I am fortunate, King Agrippa,
that you are the one hearing my defense
today against all these accusations made by
the Jewish leaders, 3 for I know you are an
expert on all Jewish customs and controver
sies. Now please listen to me patiently!
4 “As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I
was given a thorough Jewish training from
my earliest childhood among my own people
and in Jerusalem. 5 If they would admit it,
they know that I have been a member of the
Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion.
6 Now I am on trial because of my hope in
the fulfillment of God’s promise made to
our ancestors. 7 In fact, that is why the twelve
tribes of Israel zealously worship God night
and day, and they share the same hope I have.
Yet, Your Majesty, they accuse me for having
this hope! 8 Why does it seem incredible to
any of you that God can raise the dead?
9 “I used to believe that I ought to do
everything I could to oppose the very name
of Jesus the Nazarene.* 10 Indeed, I did just
that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading
priests, I caused many believers* there to
be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against
them when they were condemned to death.
11 Many times I had them punished in the
synagogues to get them to curse Jesus.* I
was so violently opposed to them that I even
chased them down in foreign cities.
12 “One day I was on such a mission to Da
mascus, armed with the authority and com
mission of the leading priests. 13 About noon,
Your Majesty, as I was on the road, a light
from heaven brighter than the sun shone
down on me and my companions. 14 We all
fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in
Aramaic,* ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecut
ing me? It is useless for you to fight against
my will.*’
15 “ ‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.
“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one
you are persecuting. 16 Now get to your feet!
For I have appeared to you to appoint you as
my servant and witness. Tell people that you
have seen me, and tell them what I will show
you in the future. 17 And I will rescue you
from both your own people and the Gentiles.
Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles 18 to
open their eyes, so they may turn from dark
ness to light and from the power of Satan to
God. Then they will receive forgiveness for
their sins and be given a place among God’s
people, who are set apart by faith in me.’
19 “And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vi
sion from heaven. 20 I preached first to those
in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and through
out all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all
must repent of their sins and turn to God—
and prove they have changed by the good
things they do. 21 Some Jews arrested me
in the Temple for preaching this, and they
tried to kill me. 22 But God has protected me
right up to this present time so I can testify
to everyone, from the least to the greatest.
I teach nothing except what the prophets
and Moses said would happen—23 that the
Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise
from the dead, and in this way announce
God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”
24 Suddenly, Festus shouted, “Paul, you are
insane. Too much study has made you crazy!”
25 But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most
Excellent Festus. What I am saying is the
sober truth. 26 And King Agrippa knows
about these things. I speak boldly, for I am
26:1
r apologeomai (0626)
Phil
1:7
26:4
Gal 1:13
Phil 3:56
26:6
Gen 3:15; 22:18; 26:4
Deut 18:15
Isa 7:14; 9:67
Jer 23:56; 33:14
Ezek 34:23; 37:24
Dan 9:24
Mal 3:1; 4:2
26:7
Phil 3:11
1 Thes 3:10
26:8
Dan 12:2
26:9
John 15:21; 16:2
1 Tim 1:13
26:10
Acts 8:3; 22:45
26:1218
//Acts 9:119; 22:616
26:14
Acts 9:7
26:16
Gal 1:12
Col 1:25
1 Tim 1:12
26:17
Acts 13:4648; 22:21
Rom 11:13; 15:16
Gal 1:1516; 2:79
1 Tim 2:7
2 Tim 1:11
26:18
Isa 35:5; 42:7, 16;
61:1
Luke 1:77, 79
Eph 1:11; 5:8
Col 1:13
1 Pet 2:9
26:20
Matt 3:8
Acts 9:1929
26:22
Luke 24:27, 44
26:23
Isa 42:6; 49:6
Luke 24:4647
Rom 1:34
1 Cor 15:20
Col 1:18
Rev 1:5
26:24
1 Cor 4:10
26:26
John 18:20
26:9 Or Jesus of Nazareth. 26:10 Greek many of God’s holy people. 26:11 Greek to blaspheme. 26:14a Or Hebrew.
26:14b Greek It is hard for you to kick against the oxgoads.
26:123 In his eloquent defense before
King Agrippa, Paul argued that his
preaching was completely consistent
with the Jewish faith. The defense begins
with a courteous acknowledgement
of Agrippa’s competence to hear the
evidence (26:23), outlines the nature of
Paul’s background, Jewish training, and
membership in the Pharisees (26:45),
and explains that the charges against
him are merely for believing the fulfill
ment of Jewish hopes for the resurrec
tion (26:68). Paul then tells the story of
his conversion from strong opponent of
Christianity (26:911) through a vision
on the way to Damascus (26:1218;
T H E P E N TAT E U C H
see 9:118). His preaching was nothing
more than obeying this divine vision
(26:1920). Even though he encountered
violent opposition from his fellow Jews
(26:21), God protected him as he taught
a message that the Jews should have
embraced (26:2223). This defense is a
model for Christians put on trial for their
faith (see 9:15; Luke 21:1215).
26:1218 See 9:118.
26:1718 Throughout his defense in
this trial for his life, Paul also clearly
set out the conditions for receiving new
life in Christ (also in 26:20, 23; see Matt
10:1920).
ISRAEL’S HISTORY
26:2223 Paul stressed God’s protec
tion as he carried out his witness (cp.
3:18; 10:43; Luke 24:2527, 4447). Paul
then called on his hearers to believe his
message, that Jesus is the Messiah who
fulfills the promises of the OT (see Luke
24:27, 44).
26:24 Paul, you are insane: Festus, a
Roman, thought all this talk about the
prophets and resurrection was crazy (cp.
17:18, 32), and he concluded that Paul
must have driven himself mad with too
much study.
26:26 they were not done in a corner:
The major events of the Christian faith
POETRY & WISDOM
