Acts 26

¹And Agrippa seide to Poul, It is suffrid to thee, to speke for thi silf. Thanne Poul helde forth the hoond, and bigan to yelde resoun.

²Of alle thingis, in whiche Y am accusid of the Jewis, thou king Agrippa, Y gesse me blessid at thee, whanne Y schal defende me this dai;

³moost for thou knowist alle thingis that ben among Jewis, customes and questiouns. For which thing, Y biseche, here me pacientli.

⁴For alle Jewis that bifor knewen me fro the bigynnyng, knewen my lijf fro yongthe; that fro the bigynnyng was in my folc in Jerusalem,

⁵if thei wolen bere witnessing, that bi the moost certeyn sect of oure religioun, Y lyuede a Farisee.

⁶And now for the hope of repromyssioun, that is maad to oure fadris of God, Y stonde suget in dom;

⁷in which hope oure twelue lynagis seruynge niyt and dai hopen to come; of which hope, sir king, Y am accusid of the Jewis.

⁸What vnbileueful thing is demed at you, if God reisith deed men?

⁹And sotheli Y gesside, that Y ouyte do many contrarie thingis ayens the name of Jhesu Nazarene.

¹⁰Which thing also Y dide in Jerusalem, and Y encloside manye of the seyntis in prisoun, whanne Y hadde take powere of the princis of preestis. And whanne thei weren slayn, Y brouyte the sentence.

¹¹And bi alle synagogis ofte Y punyschide hem, and constreynede to blasfeme; and more Y wex wood ayens hem, and pursuede in to alien citees.

¹²In whiche, the while Y wente to Damask, with power and suffring of princis of preestis,

¹³at myddai, in the weie Y say, sir king, that fro heuene liyt schynede aboute me, passing the schynyng of the sunne, and aboute hem that weren togidir with me.

¹⁴And whanne we alle hadden falle doun in to the erthe, Y herde a vois seiynge to me in Ebrew tunge, Saul, Saul, what pursuest thou me? it is hard to thee, to kicke ayens the pricke.

¹⁵And Y seide, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord seide, Y am Jhesus, whom thou pursuest.

¹⁶But rise vp, and stoond on thi feet. For whi to this thing Y apperide to thee, that Y ordeyne thee mynystre and witnesse of tho thingis that thou hast seyn, and of tho in whiche Y schal schewe to thee.

¹⁷And Y schal delyuere thee fro puplis and folkis, to whiche now Y sende thee,

¹⁸to opene the iyen of hem, that thei ben conuertid fro derknesse to liyt, and fro power of Sathnas to God, that thei take remyssioun of synnes, and part among seyntis, bi feith that is in me.

¹⁹Wherfor, sir kyng Agrippa, Y was not vnbileueful to the heuenli visioun;

²⁰but Y tolde to hem that been at Damask first, and at Jerusalem, and bi al the cuntre of Judee, and to hethene men, that thei schulden do penaunce, and be conuertid to God, and do worthi werkis of penaunce.

²¹For this cause Jewis token me, whanne Y was in the temple, to sle me.

²²But Y was holpun bi the helpe of God in to this dai, and stonde, witnessinge to lesse and to more. And Y seye no thing ellis than whiche thingis the prophetis and Moises spaken that schulen come,

²³if Crist is to suffre, if he is the firste of the ayenrising of deed men, that schal schewe liyt to the puple and to hethene men.

²⁴Whanne he spak these thingis, and yeldide resoun, Festus seide with greet vois, Poul, thou maddist; many lettris turnen thee to woodnesse.

²⁵And Poul seide, Y madde not, thou beste Festus, but Y speke out the wordis of treuthe and of sobernesse.

²⁶For also the king, to whom Y speke stidfastli, woot of these thingis; for Y deme, that no thing of these is hid fro hym; for nether in a cornere was ouyt of these thingis don.

²⁷Bileuest thou, king Agrippa, `to prophetis? Y woot that thou bileuest.

²⁸And Agrippa seide to Poul, In litil thing thou counseilist me to be maad a cristen man.

²⁹And Poul seide, Y desire anentis God, bothe in litil and in greet, not oneli thee, but alle these that heren to dai, to be maad sich as Y am, outakun these boondis.

³⁰And the kyng roos vp, and the president, and Beronyce, and thei that saten niy to hem.

³¹And whanne thei wenten awei, thei spaken togider, and seiden, That this man hath not don ony thing worthi deth, nether boondis.

³²And Agrippa seide to Festus, This man miyt be delyuerid, if he hadde not appelid to the emperour.

Acts 26

¹Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:

²I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews:

³Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.

⁴My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;

⁵Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

⁶And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:

⁷Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.

⁸Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?

⁹I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

¹⁰Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.

¹¹And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.

¹²Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,

¹³At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me.

¹⁴And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

¹⁵And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

¹⁶But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee;

¹⁷Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee,

¹⁸To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

¹⁹Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision:

²⁰But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

²¹For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me.

²²Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:

²³That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.

²⁴And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.

²⁵But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.

²⁶For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.

²⁷King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.

²⁸Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

²⁹And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.

³⁰And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:

³¹And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.

³²Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Cesar.