1. Five days later the High Priest Ananias went to Caesarea with some elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. They appeared before Felix and made their charges against Paul.
2. Then Paul was called in, and Tertullus began to make his accusation, as follows:“Your Excellency! Your wise leadership has brought us a long period of peace, and many necessary reforms are being made for the good of our country.
3. We welcome this everywhere and at all times, and we are deeply grateful to you.
4. I do not want to take up too much of your time, however, so I beg you to be kind and listen to our brief account.
5. We found this man to be a dangerous nuisance; he starts riots among Jews all over the world and is a leader of the party of the Nazarenes.
6. He also tried to defile the Temple, and we arrested him.
8. If you question this man, you yourself will be able to learn from him all the things that we are accusing him of.”
9. The Jews joined in the accusation and said that all this was true.
10. The governor then motioned to Paul to speak, and Paul said,“I know that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, and so I am happy to defend myself before you.
11. As you can find out for yourself, it was no more than twelve days ago that I went to Jerusalem to worship.
12. The Jews did not find me arguing with anyone in the Temple, nor did they find me stirring up the people, either in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city.
13. Nor can they give you proof of the accusations they now bring against me.
14. I do admit this to you: I worship the God of our ancestors by following that Way which they say is false. But I also believe in everything written in the Law of Moses and the books of the prophets.
15. I have the same hope in God that these themselves have, namely, that all people, both the good and the bad, will rise from death.
16. And so I do my best always to have a clear conscience before God and human beings.
17. “After being away from Jerusalem for several years, I went there to take some money to my own people and to offer sacrifices.
18. It was while I was doing this that they found me in the Temple after I had completed the ceremony of purification. There was no crowd with me and no disorder.
19. But some Jews from the province of Asia were there; they themselves ought to come before you and make their accusations if they have anything against me.