17. When they came here, I didn’t put them off. The very next day I took my seat in the court and ordered that the man be brought before me.
18. When the accusers took the floor, they didn’t charge him with any of the crimes I had expected.
19. Instead, they quibbled with him about their own religion and about some dead man named Jesus, who Paul claimed was alive.
20. Since I had no idea how to investigate these matters, I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem to stand trial there on these issues.
21. However, Paul appealed that he be held in custody pending a decision from His Majesty the emperor, so I ordered that he be held until I could send him to Caesar."
22. Agrippa said to Festus, "I want to hear the man myself." "Tomorrow," Festus replied, "you will hear him."
23. The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great fanfare. They entered the auditorium with the military commanders and the city’s most prominent men. Festus then ordered that Paul be brought in.