And Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth his hand, and made his defence:
I think myself happy, king Agrippa, that I am to make my defence before thee this day touching all the things whereof I am accused by the Jews:
{Or, because thou art especially expert }especially because thou art expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
My manner of life then from my youth up, which was from the beginning among mine own nation and at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
having knowledge of me from the first, if they be willing to testify, that after the straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
And now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers;
unto which promise our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God night and day, hope to attain. And concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O king!
Why is it judged incredible with you, if God doth raise the dead?
I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
And this I also did in Jerusalem: and I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.
And punishing them oftentimes in all the synagogues, I strove to make them blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.
{Or, On which errand}Whereupon as I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,
at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them that journeyed with me.
And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying unto me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against {Greek: goads.}the goad.
And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.
But arise, and stand upon thy feet: for to this end have I appeared unto thee, to appoint thee a minister and a witness both of the things {Many ancient authorities read which thou hast seen.}wherein thou hast seen me, and of the things wherein I will appear unto thee;
delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee,
to open their eyes, {Or, to turn them}that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.
Wherefore, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:
but declared both to them of Damascus first and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judæa, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of {Or, their repentance}repentance.
For this cause the Jews seized me in the temple, and assayed to kill me.
Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand unto this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses did say should come;
{Or, if Or, whether}how that the Christ {Or, is subject to suffering}must suffer, and {Or, if Or, whether}how that he first by the resurrection of the dead should proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.
And as he thus made his defence, Festus saith with a loud voice, Paul, thou art mad; thy much learning {Greek: turneth thee to madness.}is turning thee mad.
But Paul saith, I am not mad, most excellent Festus; but speak forth words of truth and soberness.
For the king knoweth of these things, unto whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him; for this hath not been done in a corner.
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
And Agrippa said unto Paul, {Or, In a little time thou &c.}With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian.
And Paul said, I would to God, that whether with little or with much, not thou only, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds.
And the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
and when they had withdrawn, they spake one to another, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
And Agrippa said unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Cæsar.
Querverweise zu Apostelgeschichte 26,22 Apg 26,22
delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom I send thee,
how I shrank not from declaring unto you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly, and from house to house,
testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus {Many ancient authorities omit Christ.}Christ.
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
save that the Holy Spirit testifieth unto me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
But I hold not my life of any account as dear unto myself, {Or, in comparison of accomplishing my course }so that I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the {Or, good tidings}gospel of the grace of God.
And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, shall see my face no more.
Wherefore I testify unto you this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men.
For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole counsel of God.
And now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers;
But this I confess unto thee, that after the Way which they call a sect, so serve I the God of our fathers, believing all things which are according to the law, and which are written in the prophets;
But there came Jews thither from Antioch and Iconium: and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy {Greek: bondservants}servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth.
whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets that have been from of old.
Moses indeed said, {Deuteronomy 18:15.}A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, {Or, as he raised up me}like unto me; to him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you.
{Deuteronomy 18:19.}And it shall be, that every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.
Yea and all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days.
And when they had appointed him a day, they came to him into his lodging in great number; to whom he expounded the matter, testifying the kingdom of God, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning till evening.
But as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and entered into the city: and on the morrow he went forth with Barnabas to Derbe.
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
And Peter answered, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, I will make here three {Or, booths}tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
And he said unto them, These are my words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me.
While he was yet speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened: and every one's bands were loosed.
and he said unto them, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day;
But Abraham saith, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one go to them from the dead, they will repent.
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, if one rise from the dead.
And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace:
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city.
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And as they were seeking to kill him, tidings came up to the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch.}chief captain of the {Or, cohort}band, that all Jerusalem was in confusion.
And forthwith he took soldiers and centurions, and ran down upon them: and they, when they saw the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch.}chief captain and the soldiers, left off beating Paul.
Then the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch.}chief captain came near, and laid hold on him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and inquired who he was, and what he had done.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;
And when there arose a great dissension, the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch}chief captain, fearing lest Paul should be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the castle.
that whosoever {Or, believeth in him may have}believeth may in him have eternal life.
And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer: for as thou hast testified concerning me at Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
{Or, Search the scriptures}Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me;
But Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, {Or, having come in upon them, and he entered &c.}and he came and entered into the castle and told Paul.
And Paul called unto him one of the centurions, and said, Bring this young man unto the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch}chief captain; for he hath something to tell him.
So he took him, and brought him to the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch}chief captain, and saith, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and asked me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say to thee.
And the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch}chief captain took him by the hand, and going aside asked him privately, What is it that thou hast to tell me?
And he said, The Jews have agreed to ask thee to bring down Paul tomorrow unto the council, as though thou wouldest inquire somewhat more exactly concerning him.
Do not thou therefore yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who have bound themselves under a curse, neither to eat nor to drink till they have slain him: and now are they ready, looking for the promise from thee.
So the {Or, military tribune Greek: chiliarch}chief captain let the young man go, charging him, Tell no man that thou hast signified these things to me.
For if ye believed Moses, ye would believe me; for he wrote of me.
Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called the name of it {That is, The stone of help.}Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath Jehovah helped us.
But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Then we departed from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the lier-in-wait by the way.
And they sing the song of Moses the {Greek: bondservant.}servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are thy ways, thou King of the {Many ancient authorities read nations. Jeremiah 10:7.}ages.
Even the God that executeth vengeance for me,And subdueth peoples under me.
Thou didst cause men to ride over our heads;We went through fire and through water;But thou broughtest us out into {Hebrew: abundance.}a wealthy place.
All nations compassed me about:In the name of Jehovah I will cut them off.
They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about:In the name of Jehovah I will cut them off.
They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns:In the name of Jehovah I will cut them off.
Thou didst thrust sore at me that I might fall;But Jehovah helped me.
A Song of Ascents; of David.If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side,Let Israel now say,
If it had not been Jehovah who was on our side,When men rose up against us;
Then they had swallowed us up alive,When their wrath was kindled against us;
Our help is in the name of Jehovah,Who made heaven and earth.
For we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning our affliction which befell us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
{Or, but we ourselves}yea, we ourselves have had the {Greek: answer.}sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead:
who delivered us out of so great a death, and will deliver: on whom we have {Some ancient authorities read set our hope; and still will he deliver us.}set our hope that he will also still deliver us;
persecutions, sufferings; what things befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: and out of them all the Lord delivered me.
But the Lord stood by me, and {Or, gave me power}strengthened me; that through me the {Or, proclamation}message might be fully proclaimed, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be the glory {Greek: unto the ages of the ages.}for ever and ever. Amen.