I appeal to Caesar
1Three days after taking over the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, 2and the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews laid their case against Paul before him. They pressed him, 3asking as a favor that he have Paul transferred to Jerusalem; they were preparing an ambush to kill him on the road. 4Festus answered that Paul was being held at Caesarea, and that he himself would be going there shortly. 5“So let your leading men come down with me,” he said, “and if there is anything wrong with the man, let them bring their charge.” 6After spending eight or ten days among them at most, he went down to Caesarea; and the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul brought in. 7When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood round him and brought many grave charges which they could not prove. 8Paul answered in his own defense: “I have committed no offense against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.” 9But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial there before me on these charges?” 10Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, and this is where I ought to be tried. I have done the Jews no wrong, as you yourself know very well. 11If I am guilty and have done something that deserves death, I do not ask to escape it. But if there is nothing to the charges these men bring against me, no one can hand me over to them as a favor. I appeal to Caesar.” 12Then Festus, after conferring with his council, answered: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go.”
Festus lays the case before Agrippa
13Some days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. 14Since they were staying for some time, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king. “There is a man here,” he said, “left as a prisoner by Felix. 15When I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him and asked for a verdict of condemnation. 16I answered them that it is not the Roman custom to hand a man over as a favor before the accused has met his accusers face to face and has had a chance to defend himself against the charge. 17So they came here with me, and without any delay I took my seat on the tribunal the next day and ordered the man brought in. 18When his accusers stood up, they brought no charge of the crimes I had been expecting. 19What they had against him were certain disputes about their own religion, and about a dead man called Jesus who Paul insisted was alive. 20Being at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges. 21But Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the Emperor, so I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar.” 22Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he replied, “you will hear him.” 23So the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great ceremony and entered the audience hall, together with the tribunes and the leading men of the city; and at the order of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all of you here with us, you see this man. The whole Jewish community petitioned me about him, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25But I found that he had done nothing deserving death; and since he himself has appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. 26I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. That is why I have brought him before you all, and above all before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination I may have something to write. 27For it seems to me absurd to send a prisoner on without indicating the charges against him.”
