Actuum Apostolorum 26

1 Agrippa vero ad Paulum ait: Permittitur tibi loqui pro temetipso. Tunc Paulus extenta manu cœpit rationem reddere.

Agrippa said to Paul, "You may speak for yourself." Then Paul stretched out his hand, and made his defense.

2 De omnibus, quibus accusor a Iudæis, rex Agrippa, æstimo me beatum, apud te cum sim defensurus me hodie,

"I think myself happy, King Agrippa, that I am to make my defense before you this day concerning all the things that I am accused by the Jews,

3 maxime te sciente omnia, et quæ apud Iudæos sunt consuetudines, et quæstiones: propter quod obsecro patienter me audias.

especially because you are expert in all customs and questions which are among Jews. Therefore I beg you to hear me patiently.

4 Et quidem vitam meam a iuventute, quæ ab initio fuit in gente mea in Ierosolymis, noverunt omnes Iudæi:

"Indeed, all Jews know my way of life from my youth up, which was from the beginning among my own nation and at Jerusalem;

5 præscientes me ab initio (si velint testimonium perhibere) quoniam secundum certissimam sectam nostræ religionis vixi Pharisæus.

having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

6 Et nunc in spe, quæ ad patres nostros repromissionis facta est a Deo, sto iudicio subiectus:

Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,

7 in quam duodecim tribus nostræ nocte ac die deservientes, sperant devenire. De qua spe accusor a Iudæis, rex.

which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving night and day, hope to attain. Concerning this hope I am accused by the Jews, O King.

8 Quid incredibile iudicatur apud vos, si Deus mortuos suscitat?

Why is it judged incredible with you, if God does raise the dead?

9 Et ego quidem existimaveram, me adversus nomen Iesu Nazareni debere multa contraria agere.

"In fact, I thought to myself that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus the Nazorean.

10 Quod et feci Ierosolymis, et multos sanctorum ego in carceribus inclusi, a principibus sacerdotum potestate accepta: et cum occiderentur, detuli sententiam.

This I also did in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.

11 Et per omnes synagogas frequenter puniens eos, compellebam blasphemare: et amplius insaniens in eos, persequebar usque in exteras civitates.

Punishing them often in all the synagogues, I tried to make them blaspheme. Being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.

12 In quibus dum irem Damascum cum potestate, et permissu principum sacerdotum,

"Whereupon as I traveled to Damascus with the authority and commission from the chief priests,

13 die media in via, vidi, rex, de cælo supra splendorem solis circumfulsisse me lumen, et eos, qui mecum simul erant.

at noon, O King, I saw on the way a light from the sky, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who traveled with me.

14 Omnesque nos cum decidissemus in terram, audivi vocem loquentem mihi Hebraica lingua: Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris? Durum est tibi contra stimulum calcitrare.

When we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'

15 Ego autem dixi: Quis es Domine? Dominus autem dixit: Ego sum Iesus, quem tu persequeris.

"I said, 'Who are you, Lord?' "He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

16 Sed exurge, et sta super pedes tuos: ad hoc enim apparui tibi, ut constituam te ministrum, et testem eorum, quæ vidisti, et eorum, quibus apparebo tibi,

But arise, and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you a servant and a witness both of the things which you have seen me, and of the things which I will reveal to you;

17 eripiens te de populo, et gentibus, in quas nunc ego mitto te,

delivering you from the people, and from the non-Jewish people, to whom I send you,

18 aperire oculos eorum, ut convertantur a tenebris ad lucem, et de potestate Satanæ ad Deum, ut accipiant remissionem peccatorum, et sortem inter sanctos per fidem, quæ est in me.

to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

19 Unde rex Agrippa, non fui incredulus cælesti visioni:

"Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,

20 sed his, qui sunt Damasci primum, et Ierosolymis, et in omnem regionem Iudææ, et Gentibus annunciabam, ut pœnitentiam agerent, et converterentur ad Deum, digna pœnitentiæ opera facientes.

but declared first to them of Damascus, at Jerusalem, and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the non-Jews, that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

21 Hac ex causa me Iudæi, cum essem in templo, comprehensum tentabant interficere.

For this reason Jews seized me when I was in the temple, and tried to kill me.

22 Auxilio autem adiutus Dei usque in hodiernum diem sto, testificans minori, atque maiori, nihil extra dicens quam ea, quæ Prophetæ locuti sunt futura esse, et Moyses,

Having therefore obtained the help that is from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said would happen,

23 si passibilis Christus, si primus ex resurrectione mortuorum, lumen annunciaturus est populo, et gentibus.

how the Christ would suffer, and how, by the resurrection of the dead, he would be first to proclaim light both to these people and to non-Jewish people."

24 Hæc loquente eo, et rationem reddente, Festus magna voce dixit: Insanis Paule: multæ te litteræ ad insaniam convertunt.

As he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are crazy. Your great learning is driving you insane."

25 Et Paulus: Non insanio (inquit) optime Feste, sed veritatis, et sobrietatis verba loquor.

But he said, "I am not crazy, most excellent Festus, but boldly declare words of truth and reasonableness.

26 Scit enim de his rex, ad quem et constanter loquor: latere enim eum nihil horum arbitror. Neque enim in angulo quidquam horum gestum est.

For the king knows of these things, to whom also I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him, for this has not been done in a corner.

27 Credis rex Agrippa prophetis? Scio quia credis.

King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe."

28 Agrippa autem ad Paulum: In modico suades me Christianum fieri.

Agrippa said to Paul, "With a little persuasion are you trying to make me a Christian?"

29 Et Paulus: Opto apud Deum, et in modico, et in magno, non tantum te, sed etiam omnes, qui audiunt, hodie fieri tales, qualis et ego sum, exceptis vinculis his.

Paul said, "I pray to God, that whether with little or with much, not only you, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these bonds."

30 Et exurrexit rex, et præses, et Bernice, et qui assidebant eis.

The king rose up with the governor, and Bernice, and those who sat with them.

31 Et cum secessissent, loquebantur ad invicem, dicentes: Quia nihil morte, aut vinculis dignum quid fecit homo iste.

When they had withdrawn, they spoke one to another, saying, "This man does nothing worthy of death or of bonds."

32 Agrippa autem Festo dixit: Dimitti poterat homo hic, si non appellasset Cæsarem.

Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."