Chapter 25
Appeal to Caesar. 1 Three days after his arrival in the
province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem 2 where the chief priests
and Jewish leaders presented him their formal charges against Paul.[a] They
asked him 3 as a favor to have him sent to Jerusalem, for they were plotting to
kill him along the way. 4 Festus replied that Paul was being held in custody in
Caesarea and that he himself would be returning there shortly. 5 He said, “Let
your authorities come down with me, and if this man has done something improper,
let them accuse him.”
6 After spending no more than eight or ten days with them,
he went down to Caesarea, and on the following day took his seat on the
tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought in. 7 When he appeared, the Jews who
had come down from Jerusalem surrounded him and brought many serious charges
against him, which they were unable to prove. 8 In defending himself Paul said,
“I have committed no crime either against the Jewish law or against the temple
or against Caesar.” 9 [b]Then Festus, wishing to ingratiate himself with the
Jews, said to Paul in reply, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there
stand trial before me on these charges?” 10 Paul answered, “I am standing
before the tribunal of Caesar; this is where I should be tried. I have
committed no crime against the Jews, as you very well know. 11 If I have
committed a crime or done anything deserving death, I do not seek to escape the
death penalty; but if there is no substance to the charges they are bringing
against me, then no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to
Caesar.” 12 Then Festus, after conferring with his council, replied, “You have
appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go.”
Paul Before King Agrippa. 13 When a few days had passed,
King Agrippa and Bernice[c] arrived in Caesarea on a visit to Festus. 14 Since
they spent several days there, Festus referred Paul’s case to the king, saying,
“There is a man here left in custody by Felix. 15 When I was in Jerusalem the
chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and
demanded his condemnation. 16 I answered them that it was not Roman practice to
hand over an accused person before he has faced his accusers and had the
opportunity to defend himself against their charge. 17 So when [they] came
together here, I made no delay; the next day I took my seat on the tribunal and
ordered the man to be brought in. 18 His accusers stood around him, but did not
charge him with any of the crimes I suspected. 19 Instead they had some issues
with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died but
who Paul claimed was alive. 20 Since I was at a loss how to investigate this
controversy, I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand
trial on these charges. 21 And when Paul appealed that he be held in custody
for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to
Caesar.” 22 Agrippa said to Festus, “I too should like to hear this man.” He
replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”
23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great ceremony
and entered the audience hall in the company of cohort commanders and the
prominent men of the city and, by command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24
And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all you here present with us, look at this
man about whom the whole Jewish populace petitioned me here and in Jerusalem,
clamoring that he should live no longer. 25 I found, however, that he had done
nothing deserving death, and so when he appealed to the Emperor, I decided to
send him. 26 But I have nothing definite to write about him to our sovereign;
therefore I have brought him before all of you, and particularly before you,
King Agrippa, so that I may have something to write as a result of this
investigation. 27 For it seems senseless to me to send up a prisoner without
indicating the charges against him.”
Footnotes
25:2 Even after two years the animosity toward Paul in
Jerusalem had not subsided (see Acts 24:27).
25:9–12 Paul refuses to acknowledge that the Sanhedrin in
Jerusalem has any jurisdiction over him now (Acts 25:11). Paul uses his right
as a Roman citizen to appeal his case to the jurisdiction of the Emperor (Nero,
ca. A.D. 60) (Acts 25:12). This move broke the deadlock between Roman
protective custody of Paul and the plan of his enemies to kill him (25:3).
25:13 King Agrippa and Bernice: brother and sister, children
of Herod Agrippa I whose activities against the Jerusalem community are
mentioned in Acts 12:1–19. Agrippa II was a petty ruler over small areas in
northern Palestine and some villages in Perea. His influence on the Jewish
population of Palestine was insignificant.
Source Catholic Bible: New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)
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