Acts 25:10-21

Expanded Bible

¹⁰ Paul said, “I am standing at Caesar’s ·judgment seat [or court; tribunal] now, where I should be ·judged [tried]. I have done nothing wrong to ·them [^Lthe Jews]; you ·know this is true [clearly recognize this]. ¹¹ If I have done something wrong and ·the law says I must die [^Lworthy of death], I do not ask to be saved from death. But if these charges are ·not true [baseless], then no one can ·give me [hand me over; or make me a gift; ^CPaul detects Festus’ desire to gain favor with the Jews] to them. I ·want Caesar to hear my case [appeal to Caesar/the emperor; ^Cthe right of a Roman citizen for a capital offense]!”

¹² Festus talked about this with his ·advisers [council]. Then he said, “You have ·asked to see [appealed to] Caesar, so you will go to Caesar!”

Paul Before King Agrippa

¹³ A few days later King Agrippa [^CAgrippa II, the Jewish king who ruled parts of Palestine from ad 52 to 92] and Bernice [^CAgrippa’s sister and probably his lover] came to Caesarea to ·visit [or welcome; pay their respects to] Festus. ¹⁴ They stayed there for ·some time [^Lmany days], and Festus told the king about Paul’s case. Festus said, “There is a man that Felix left in prison. ¹⁵ When I went to Jerusalem, the ·leading [^Tchief] priests and the elders there made charges against him, asking me to ·sentence him to death [^Lsentence/condemn him]. ¹⁶ But I answered, ‘When a man is accused of a crime, ·Romans do not [^Lit is not a custom for Romans to] hand him over until he has been allowed to face his accusers and defend himself against their charges.’ ¹⁷ So when these people came here ·to Caesarea for the trial [^Lwith me], I did not ·waste time [postpone/delay the case]. The next day I sat on the ·judge’s seat [tribunal] and commanded that the man be brought in. ¹⁸ ·They stood up and accused him [^LThe accusers stood up (to speak)], but not of any ·serious crime [evil deeds] as I ·thought they would [expected]. ¹⁹ The things they ·said [disputed] were about their own ·religion [or superstition] and about a man named Jesus who died. But Paul ·said [claimed] that he is still alive. ²⁰ ·Not knowing [At a loss] how to ·find out about [investigate] these questions, I asked Paul, ‘·Do you want [or Are you willing] to go to Jerusalem and be ·judged [tried] there [^Lconcerning these things]?’ ²¹ But he asked to be ·kept in Caesarea [^Lheld in custody]. He wants a decision from ·the emperor [or His Majesty; the Revered/August One; ^CA title for Caesar, the ruler of the Roman world, first given to Caesar “Augustus”; here it refers to Nero]. So I ordered that he be held [in custody] until I could send him to Caesar.”