1. Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.”So Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:
2. “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that today I shall make my defense before you against all the accusations of the Jews,
3. especially because you are an expert in all customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to patiently listen to me.
4. “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning in my own nation and at Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.
5. They knew me from the beginning and could testify, if they wished, how according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.
6. And now I stand on trial for hope in the promise made by God to our fathers,
7. to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God day and night. Concerning this hope, King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.
8. Why is it judged incredible by you that God raises the dead?
9. “I, too, thought that I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth,