Acts 26
1 And 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.
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Yoʋ have permission to speak for yoʋrself.” So Paul stretched out his hand and began to make his defense:
2 Of 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;
“I consider myself fortunate that it is before yoʋ, King Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense today concerning all the things of which I am being accused by the Jews,
3 moost for thou knowist alle thingis that ben among Jewis, customes and questiouns. For which thing, Y biseche, here me pacientli.
especially since yoʋ are acquainted with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg yoʋ to listen to me patiently.
4 For alle Jewis that bifor knewen me fro the bigynnyng, knewen my lijf fro yongthe; that fro the bigynnyng was in my folc in Jerusalem,
“All the Jews know about my manner of life from my youth up, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation in Jerusalem.
5 if thei wolen bere witnessing, that bi the moost certeyn sect of oure religioun, Y lyuede a Farisee.
They have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.
6 And now for the hope of repromyssioun, that is maad to oure fadris of God, Y stonde suget in dom;
And now I am standing trial because of my hope in the promise God made to our fathers,
7 in which hope oure twelue lynagis seruynge niyt and dai hopen to come; of which hope, sir king, Y am accusid of the Jewis.
a promise that our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve him night and day. Regarding this hope, King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews.
8 What vnbileueful thing is demed at you, if God reisith deed men?
Why is it deemed unbelievable by you that God raises the dead?
9 And sotheli Y gesside, that Y ouyte do many contrarie thingis ayens the name of Jhesu Nazarene.
“Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 Which 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.
And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. I locked up many of the saints in prison by the authority I received from the chief priests, and when they were being put to death, I cast my vote against them.
11 And bi alle synagogis ofte Y punyschide hem, and constreynede to blasfeme; and more Y wex wood ayens hem, and pursuede in to alien citees.
I also punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. And being furiously enraged against them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.
12 In whiche, the while Y wente to Damask, with power and suffring of princis of preestis,
“While engaged in such things, I was on my way to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
13 at 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.
when at midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who were traveling with me.
14 And 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.
When we had all fallen down to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are yoʋ persecuting me? It is hard for yoʋ to kick against the goads.’
15 And Y seide, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord seide, Y am Jhesus, whom thou pursuest.
I said, ‘Who are yoʋ, Lord?’ He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom yoʋ are persecuting.
16 But 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.
But rise and stand on yoʋr feet, for I have appeared to yoʋ for this purpose, to appoint yoʋ as a servant and witness to the things yoʋ have seen and to the things in which I will appear to yoʋ.
17 And Y schal delyuere thee fro puplis and folkis, to whiche now Y sende thee,
I will rescue yoʋ from yoʋr own people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending yoʋ
18 to 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.
to open their eyes so that they may turn away from darkness to light, and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and an allotment among those who have been sanctified by faith in me.’
19 Wherfor, sir kyng Agrippa, Y was not vnbileueful to the heuenli visioun;
“Consequently, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,
20 but 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.
but first to those in Damascus and then to those in Jerusalem, to all the region of Judea and to the Gentiles, I proclaimed that they should repent and turn to God, doing works consistent with repentance.
21 For this cause Jewis token me, whanne Y was in the temple, to sle me.
That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and were trying to kill me.
22 But 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,
But having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except what the Prophets and Moses said would take place:
23 if 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.
that the Christ would suffer and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”
24 Whanne he spak these thingis, and yeldide resoun, Festus seide with greet vois, Poul, thou maddist; many lettris turnen thee to woodnesse.
As Paul was saying these things in his own defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Yoʋ are out of yoʋr mind, Paul. Too much learning is driving yoʋ insane!”
25 And Poul seide, Y madde not, thou beste Festus, but Y speke out the wordis of treuthe and of sobernesse.
But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking words of truth and good sense.
26 For 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.
For the king knows about these things, to whom I am speaking boldly. I am convinced that none of these things has escaped his notice at all, for this has not been done in a corner.
27 Bileuest thou, king Agrippa, `to prophetis? Y woot that thou bileuest.
Do yoʋ believe the Prophets, King Agrippa? I know that yoʋ believe.”
28 And Agrippa seide to Poul, In litil thing thou counseilist me to be maad a cristen man.
Agrippa said to Paul, “Do yoʋ think yoʋ can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?”
29 And 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.
Paul said, “Whether quickly or not, I pray to God that not only yoʋ but also all who are listening to me today would become as I am, except for these chains.”
30 And the kyng roos vp, and the president, and Beronyce, and thei that saten niy to hem.
After Paul said these things, the king stood up, along with the governor, Bernice, and those who were sitting with them.
31 And whanne thei wenten awei, thei spaken togider, and seiden, That this man hath not don ony thing worthi deth, nether boondis.
After leaving the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is doing nothing that deserves death or imprisonment.”
32 And Agrippa seide to Festus, This man miyt be delyuerid, if he hadde not appelid to the emperour.
And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
