1. Agrippa said to Paul, "You may speak for yourself." So Paul gestured with his hand and began his defense.
2. “King Agrippa, I consider myself especially fortunate that I stand before you today as I offer my defense concerning all the accusations the Jews have brought against me.
3. This is because you understand well all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I ask you to listen to me patiently.
4. Every Jew knows the way of life I have followed since my youth because, from the beginning, I was among my people and in Jerusalem.
5. They have known me for a long time. If they wanted to, they could testify that I followed the way of life set out by the most exacting group of our religion. I am a Pharisee.
6. Today I am standing trial because of the hope in the promise God gave our ancestors.
7. This is the promise our twelve tribes hope to receive as they earnestly worship night and day. The Jews are accusing me, King Agrippa, because of this hope!
8. Why is it inconceivable to you that God raises the dead?
9. “I really thought that I ought to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazarene in every way possible.
10. And that’s exactly what I did in Jerusalem. I locked up many of God’s holy people in prison under the authority of the chief priests. When they were condemned to death, I voted against them.
11. In one synagogue after another—indeed, in all the synagogues—I would often torture them, compelling them to slander God. My rage bordered on the hysterical as I pursued them, even to foreign cities.
12. “On one such journey, I was going to Damascus with the full authority of the chief priests.
13. While on the road at midday, King Agrippa, I saw a light from heaven shining around me and my traveling companions. That light was brighter than the sun.
14. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice that said to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me? It’s hard for you to kick against a spear.’