1THREE DAYS AFTER taking up his appointment Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders brought before him the case against Paul. 3They asked Festus to favour them against him, and pressed for him to be brought up to Jerusalem, for they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. 4Festus, however, replied, 'Paul is in safe custody at Caesarea, and I shall be leaving Jerusalem shortly myself; 5so let your leading men come down with me, and if there is anything wrong, let them prosecute him.'
6After spending eight or ten days at most in Jerusalem, he went down to Caesarea, and next day he took his seat in court and ordered Paul to be brought up. 7When he appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood round bringing many grave charges, which they were unable to prove. 8Paul's plea was: 'I have committed no offence, either against the Jewish law, or against the temple, or against the Emperor.' 9Festus, anxious to ingratiate himself with the Jews, turned to Paul and asked, 'Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial on these charges before me there?' 10But Paul said, 'I am now standing before the Emperor's tribunal, and that is where I must be tried. Against the Jews I have committed no offence, as you very well know. 11If I am guilty of any capital crime, I do not ask to escape the death penalty; but if there is no substance in the charges which these men bring against me, it is not open to anyone to hand me over as a sop to them. I appeal to Caesar!' 12Then Festus, after conferring with his advisers, replied, 'You have appealed to Caesar: to Caesar you shall go.'
13After an interval of some days King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea on a courtesy visit to Festus. 14They spent several days there, and during this time Festus laid Paul's case before the king. 'We have a man', he said, 'left in custody by Felix; 15and when I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and elders of the Jews laid an information against him, demanding his condemnation. 16I answered them, "It is not Roman practice to hand over any accused man before he is confronted with his accusers and given an opportunity of answering the charge." 17So when they had come here with me I lost no time; the very next day I took my seat in court and ordered the man to be brought up. 18But when his accusers rose to speak, they is brought none of the charges I was expecting; 19they merely had certain points of disagreement with him about their peculiar religion, and about someone called Jesus, a dead man whom Paul alleged to be alive. 20Finding myself out of my depth in such discussions, I asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand his trial there on these issues. 21But Paul appealed to be remanded in custody for His Imperial Majesty's decision, and I ordered him to be detained until I could send him to the Emperor.' 22Agrippa said to Festus, 'I should rather like to hear the man myself.' 'Tomorrow', he answered, 'you shall hear him.'
23So next day Agrippa and Bernice came in full state and entered the audience-chamber accompanied by high-ranking officers and prominent citizens; and on the orders of Festus Paul was brought up. 24Then Festus said, 'King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man: the whole body of the Jews approached me both in Jerusalem and here, loudly insisting that he had no right to remain alive. 25But it was clear to me that he had committed no capital crime, and when he himself appealed to His Imperial Majesty, I decided to send him. 26But I, have nothing definite about him to put in writing for our Sovereign. Accordingly I have brought him up before you all and particularly before you. King Agrippa, so that as a result of this preliminary inquiry I may have something to report. 27There is no sense, it seems to me, in sending on a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.'
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