Acts 25

¹Therfor whanne Festus cam in to the prouynce, aftir the thridde dai he wente vp to Jerusalem fro Cesarie.

²And the princis of prestis, and the worthieste of the Jewis wenten to hym ayens Poul, and preieden hym,

³and axiden grace ayens hym, that he schulde comaunde hym to be led to Jerusalem; and thei settiden aspies to sle hym in the weie.

⁴But Festus answerde, that Poul schulde be kept in Cesarie; sotheli that he hym silf schulde procede more auisili. Therfor he seide, Thei that in you ben myyti,

⁵come doun togidere; and if ony crime is in the man, accuse thei hym.

⁶And he dwellede among hem no more than eiyte ether ten daies, and cam doun to Cesarie; and the tother dai he sat for domesman, and comaundide Poul to be brouyt.

⁷And whanne he was brouyt forth, Jewis stoden aboute hym, whiche camen doun fro Jerusalem, puttynge ayens hym many and greuouse causis, whiche thei miyten not preue.

⁸For Poul yeldide resoun in alle thingis, That nether ayens the lawe of Jewis, nether ayens the temple, nether ayens the emperoure, Y synnede ony thing.

⁹But Festus wolde do grace to the Jewis, and answeride to Poul, and seide, Wolt thou gon vp to Jerusalem, and there be demyd of these thingis bifore me?

¹⁰And Poul seide, At the domplace of the emperour Y stonde, where it bihoueth me to be demed. Y haue not noied the Jewis, as thou knowist wel.

¹¹For if Y haue noyed, ether don ony thing worthi deth, Y forsake not to die; but if no thing of tho is, that thei accusen me, no man may yyue me to hem. Y appele to the emperour.

¹²Thanne Festus spak with the counsel, and answerde, To the emperoure thou hast appelid, to the emperoure thou schalt go.

¹³And whanne summe daies weren passid, Agrippa kyng, and Beronyce camen doun to Cesarie, to welcome Festus.

¹⁴And whanne thei dwelliden there many daies, Festus schewide to the king of Poul, and seide, A man is left boundun of Felix,

¹⁵of which, whanne Y was at Jerusalem, princis of preestis and the eldre men of Jewis camen to me, and axiden dampnacioun ayens hym.

¹⁶To whiche Y answeride, That it is not custom to Romayns, to dampne ony man, bifore that he that is accusid haue hise accuseris present, and take place of defending, to putte awei the crymes, that ben putte ayens hym.

¹⁷Therfor whanne thei camen togidere hidir, withouten ony delaye, in the dai suynge Y sat for domesman, and comaundide the man to be brouyt.

¹⁸And whanne hise accuseris stoden, thei seiden no cause, of whiche thingis Y hadde suspicioun of yuel.

¹⁹But thei hadden ayens hym summe questiouns of her veyn worschiping, and of oon Jhesu deed, whom Poul affermyde to lyue.

²⁰And Y doutide of siche maner questioun, and seide, Whether he wolde go to Jerusalem, and ther be demyd of these thingis?

²¹But for Poul appelide, that he schulde be kept to the knowing of the emperoure, Y comaundide him to be kept, til Y sende hym to the emperoure.

²²And Agrippa seide to Festus, Y my silf wolde here the man. And he seide, To morew thou schalt here hym.

²³And on the tother day, whanne Agrippa and Beronyce camen with greet desire, and entriden in to the auditorie, with tribunes and the principal men of the citee, whanne Festus bad, Poul was brouyt.

²⁴And Festus seide, King Agrippa, and alle men that ben with vs, ye seen this man, of which al the multitude of Jewis preyede me at Jerusalem, and axide, and criede, that he schulde lyue no lenger.

²⁵But Y foond, that he hadde don no thing worthi of deth; and Y deme to sende hym to the emperoure, for he appelide this thing.

²⁶Of which man Y haue not certeyne, what thing Y schal write to the lord. For which thing Y brouyte hym to you, and moost to thee, thou king Agrippa, that whanne axing is maad, Y haue what Y schal write.

²⁷For it is seyn to me with out resoun, to sende a boundun man, and not to signifie the cause of hym.

Acts 25

¹Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Cesarea to Jerusalem.

²Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him,

³And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.

⁴But Festus answered, that Paul should be kept at Cesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither.

⁵Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him.

⁶And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Cesarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought.

⁷And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.

⁸While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Cesar, have I offended any thing at all.

⁹But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?

¹⁰Then said Paul, I stand at Cesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest.

¹¹For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Cesar.

¹²Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Cesar? unto Cesar shalt thou go.

¹³And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Cesarea to salute Festus.

¹⁴And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix:

¹⁵About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.

¹⁶To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.

¹⁷Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth.

¹⁸Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed:

¹⁹But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

²⁰And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.

²¹But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Cesar.

²²Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.

²³And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.

²⁴And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.

²⁵But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him.

²⁶Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write.

²⁷For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.