[1]Then Agrippa sayde vnto Paul, thou art permitted to speake for thy selfe. Then Paul stretched foorth the hande, and aunswered [for hym selfe [2]I thynke my selfe happy, king Agrippa, because I shall aunswere this day before thee, of all the thynges whereof I am accused of the Iewes [3]Namely, because thou art expert in all customes and questions, whiche are among the Iewes: Wherefore I beseche thee to heare me patiently [4]My lyfe, that I haue led of a chylde, which was at the first among myne owne nation at Hierusalem, knowe all the Iewes [5]Which knewe me from the beginning, (yf they woulde testifie) that after the most straytest sect of our religion, I lyued a pharisee [6]And nowe I stande and am iudged, for the hope of the promise made of God vnto our fathers [7]Unto which promise, our twelue tribes instantly seruyng God day & nyght, hope to come. For which hopes sake, kyng Agrippa, I am accused of the Iewes [8]Why shoulde it be thought a thyng incredible vnto you, that God shoulde rayse agayne the dead [9]I also veryly thought in my selfe that I ought to do many contrary thynges, cleane agaynst the name of Iesus of Nazareth [10]Which thyng I also dyd in Hierusalem. And many of the Saintes dyd I shut vp in pryson, hauyng receaued aucthoritie of the hye priestes: And when they were put to death, I gaue the sentence [11]And I punished them oft in euery synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme: and was yet more mad vpon them, and persecuted them, euen vnto straunge cities [12]About which thynges, as I went to Damascus, with auctoritie and commission of the hye priestes [13]Euen at mydday, O kyng, I sawe in the way, a lyght from heauen, aboue the bryghtnesse of the Sunne, shyne rounde about me and them which iourneyed with me [14]And when we were all fallen to the earth, I hearde a voyce speakyng vnto me, and saying in the Hebrewe tongue: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is harde for thee to kicke agaynste the prickes [15]And I sayde: Who art thou Lorde? And he sayde: I am Iesus whom thou persecutest [16]But ryse and stande vpon thy feete. For I haue appeared vnto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witnesse, both of those thynges which thou hast seene, and of those thynges in the which I wyll appeare vnto thee [17]Delyueryng thee from the people, and from the gentiles, vnto whom nowe I sende thee [18]To open their eyes, that they may be turned from darknesse to lyght, & from the power of Satan vnto God, that they may receaue forgeuenes of sinnes, & inheritaunce among them which are sanctified by fayth that is towarde me [19]Wherfore, O kyng Agrippa, I was not disobedient vnto the heauenly visio [20]But shewed first vnto them of Damascus, & at Hierusalem, and throughout all the coastes of Iurie, and then to the gentiles, that they shoulde repent, and turne to God, and do such workes as become them that repent [21]For this cause the Iewes caught me in the temple, & went about to kyll me [22]Seyng therefore, that I haue obtayned helpe of God, I continue vnto this day, witnessyng both to small and to great, saying none other thynges, then those which the prophetes and Moyses dyd say shoulde come [23]That Christe shoulde suffer, and that he shoulde be the first that shoulde ryse from the dead, and shoulde shewe lyght vnto the people, and to the gentiles [24]And as he thus spake for hym selfe, Festus sayde with a loude voyce: Paul, thou art besyde thy selfe, much learnyng doth make thee mad [25]But he sayde: I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speake foorth the wordes of trueth and sobernesse [26]For the kyng knoweth of these thynges, before whom also I speake freely, neither thynke I, that any of these thynges are hydden from him: For this thyng was not done in a corner [27]Kyng Agrippa, beleuest thou the prophetes? I wote wel that thou beleuest [28]Then Agrippa sayde vnto Paul: Somewhat thou perswadest me to be a christian [29]And Paul sayde: I woulde to God, that not only thou, but also all that heare me to day, were both somewhat, and also in a great deale, such as I am, except these bondes [30]And when he had thus spoken, the king rose vp, and the deputie, & Bernice, and they that sate with them [31]And when they were gone apart, they talked betwene the selues, saying: This man doth nothyng worthy of death, or of bondes [32]Then sayde Agrippa vnto Festus: This man myght haue ben let loose, yf he had not appealed vnto Caesar
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