Acts 26:1-11

Agrippa said to Paul, “You may now speak to defend yourself.” Then Paul raised his hand and began to speak. He said, “King Agrippa, I am very blessed to stand before you and will answer all the charges the evil people make against me. You know so much about all the customs and the things they argue about, so please listen to me patiently. “All my people know about my whole life, how I lived from the beginning in my own country and later in Jerusalem. They have known me for a long time. If they want to, they can tell you that I was a good Pharisee. And the Pharisees obey the laws of my tradition more carefully than any other group. Now I am on trial because I hope for the promise that God made to our ancestors. This is the promise that the twelve tribes of our people hope to receive as they serve God day and night. My king, they have accused me because I hope for this same promise! Why do any of you people think it is impossible for God to raise people from the dead? “I, too, thought I ought to do many things against Jesus from Nazareth. And that is what I did in Jerusalem. The leading priests gave me the power to put many of God’s people in jail, and when they were being killed, I agreed it was a good thing. In every synagogue, I often punished them and tried to make them speak against Jesus. I was so angry against them I even went to other cities to find them and punish them.