Festus told the Jews to go and accuse Paul at Caesarea.

1Festus, who was now the governor of the province, arrived in Caesarea, and three days later he went up to Jerusalem.

2In Jerusalem, the chief priests and other Jewish leaders formally told Festus about the things that they said that Paul had done that were wrong.

3They urgently asked Festus to do something for them. They asked him to command soldiers to bring Paul to Jerusalem, so that Festus could put him on trial there. But they were planning that some of them would hide near the road and wait for Paul and kill him when he was traveling to Jerusalem.

4But Festus replied, “Paul is in Caesarea, and is being guarded {soldiers are guarding him} there. I myself will go down to Caesarea in a few days.

5Choose some of your leaders to go there with me. While they are there, they can accuse Paul of the wrong things that you say that he has done.”

Paul appealed to Caesar, so Festus agreed to that.

6After Festus had been in Jerusalem eight or ten days, he went back down to Caesarea. Several of the Jewish leaders also went there. The next day Festus commanded that Paul be brought {someone to bring Paul} to him in the assembly hall so that he could judge him.

7After Paul was brought to the assembly hall, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered around him to accuse him. They told Festus that Paul had committed many crimes. But they could not prove that Paul had done the things about which they accused him.

8Then Paul spoke to defend himself. He said to Festus, “I have done nothing wrong against the laws of us (exc) Jews, and I have not disobeyed the rules concerning our Temple. I have also done nothing wrong against your government [MTY].”

9But Festus wanted to please the Jewish leaders, so he asked Paul, “Are you (sg) willing to go up to Jerusalem so that I can listen as these men accuse you there?”

10But Paul did not want to do that. So he said to Festus, “No, I am not willing to go to Jerusalem! I am now standing before you, and you (sg) are the judge whom the Roman Emperor [MTY] has authorized. This is the place where I should be judged {where you should judge me}. I have not wronged the Jewish people at all, as you know very well.

11If I had done something bad for which I should be executed {concerning which the law said that they should execute me}, I would not plead with them that they not kill me. But none of these things about which they accuse me is true, so no one can legally surrender me to these Jews. So I formally request that the emperor [MTY] should judge me at Rome.”

12Then after Festus conferred with the men who regularly advised him, he replied to Paul, “You (sg) have formally requested that I should send you to the emperor in Rome. So I will arrange for you to go there in order that he can judge you.”

Festus told King Agrippa about Paul.

13After several days, King Herod Agrippa arrived at Caesarea, along with his younger sister Bernice. They had come to formally welcome Festus as the new Governor of the province.

14King Agrippa and Bernice stayed many days in Caesarea. While they were there, Festus told Agrippa about Paul. He said to the king, “There is a man here whom Felix kept in prison while he was governor. He left him there when his time as governor ended.

15When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the other Jewish elders told me that this man had done many things against their laws. They asked me to condemn him to be executed {judge him so that people could kill him}.

16But I told them that when someone has been accused of a crime, we Romans do not immediately ◄condemn that person/declare that person to be guilty►. First, we command him to stand before the people who are accusing him and to say whether or not he has done those things. After that, the judge will decide what to do with him.

17So those Jews came here to Caesarea when I came. I did not delay. The day after we(exc) arrived, after I sat down at the place where I make decisions, I commanded that Paul be brought {soldiers to bring Paul} into the courtroom.

18The Jewish leaders did accuse him, but the things about which they accused him were not any of the evil crimes about which I thought they would accuse him.

19Instead, what they argued about with him were some teachings that some Jews believe and others do not believe. They argued about a man whose name was Jesus who had died, but the man they were accusing, whose name is Paul, kept saying, ‘Jesus is alive again.’

20I did not know what questions to ask them, and I did not know how to judge concerning their dispute. So I asked Paul, ‘Are you (sg) willing to go back to Jerusalem and have the dispute between you and these Jews judged there {and let me judge there the dispute between you and these Jews}?’

21But Paul answered, ‘No. I am not willing to go to Jerusalem!

22Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.”

Festus asked King Agrippa to tell him what to write to Caesar about Paul.

23The next day Agrippa and Bernice came very ceremoniously to the assembly hall. Some Roman commanders and prominent men in Caesarea came with them. Then, Festus told an officer to bring Paul. So after the officer went to the prison and brought him,

24Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all the rest of you who are here, you see this man. Many [HYP] Jews in Jerusalem and also those here in Caesarea appealed to me, screaming that we (exc) should not let him live any longer.

25But when I asked them to tell me what he had done, and they told me, I found out that he had not done anything for which he should be executed {anyone should execute him}. However, he has asked that our emperor should judge his case, so I have decided to send him to Rome.

26But I do not know what specifically I should write to the emperor concerning him. That is why I have brought him here. I want you all to hear him speak, and I especially want you (sg), King Agrippa, to hear him. Then, after we (inc) have questioned him, I may know what I should write to the emperor about him.

27It seems to me that it would be unreasonable to send a prisoner to the emperor in Rome without my specifying the things about which people are accusing him.”