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24 Then, five days after the Roman soldiers brought Paul to Caesarea, the Jewish high priest Ananias traveled there from Jerusalem. He brought some other Jewish elders with him. They also brought a man who spoke well and knew the Roman laws well. His name was Tertullus. The Jewish leaders wanted him to persuade the governor that he should punish Paul. 2 So the governor commanded his soldiers to bring Paul in. When Paul arrived, Tertullus started arguing that Felix should punish him. He said to the governor, “During the time that you have ruled us, we have lived well. By planning wisely, you have made many things better for our Jewish people. 3 Therefore, Honorable Governor Felix, we continually thank you for everything that you have done for us, wherever you have done those things. 4 But so that I do not use too much of your time, I will speak briefly. Please listen to what I have to say. I know you will make the right decision about this case. 5 Now we can assure you that this man causes trouble wherever he goes. He encourages all the Jews to rebel against you Romans. He leads a radical group within Judaism. The members of that group call themselves the Nazarenes. 6 He even tried to make our temple in Jerusalem no longer holy. And that is why we arrested him.[fn] [And we wanted to judge him according to our law. 7 [fn] But Lysias, the commander of the Roman fortress, came with his soldiers and took him away from us, 8 [fn] sending us to you.] If you question him yourself about all these matters, you will be able to learn that everything I am saying about him is true.” 9 Then the Jewish leaders who had come to Caesarea accused Paul too. They insisted that what Tertullus said about him was true.

10 Then the governor signaled with his hand that he wanted Paul to speak. So Paul spoke to defend himself. He said, “Governor Felix, I know that you have governed this Jewish province for many years. Therefore I am eager to defend myself to you because I know that you will listen to me and will judge me fairly. 11 You can easily confirm that I went to Jerusalem to worship God just 12 days ago. 12 No one can say truthfully that they saw me arguing with anyone in the temple courts, because I did not do that. No one can say truthfully that they saw me causing people to riot in any Jewish synagogue or causing trouble anywhere else in Jerusalem, because I did not do that. 13 So they cannot prove to you the things of which they are now accusing me. 14 But I admit to you that this is true: I live as Jesus taught us to live. They claim that makes me different from other Jews, but that is how I obey the God whom our Jewish ancestors worshiped. I also believe everything that Moses wrote in the laws that God gave him and everything that the prophets wrote in their books. 15 I believe, just as these men also believe, that some day God will cause everyone who has died to live again. God will do this both for those who were good and for those who were wicked. 16 Because I believe that day will come, I always try to do what pleases God and what other people think is right. 17 Let me tell you why I was in Jerusalem. After I had been in other places for several years, I returned there to bring some money to help my fellow Jews who were poor. While I was there, I also offered sacrifices in the temple courtyard. 18 Some Jews from Asia saw me offering those sacrifices in the temple courtyard. I had completed the ritual that allowed me to worship God there. There was no crowd with me. I was not causing anyone to riot. 19 No, it was those Jews from the province of Asia who caused the people to riot! And they should really be here in your court to accuse me if they think that I have done anything wrong. 20 But if they do not want to do that, these Jewish men who are here should tell you what they think I did that was wrong when I defended myself in their council. 21 They might say that I did this one thing wrong: When I was in their council, I shouted, ‘You are judging me today because I believe that God will cause all the people who have died to live again.’”

22 Now Felix already knew much about the group people called the Way, and so he stopped the trial. He said to the Jewish leaders, “Later, when Commander Lysias comes here, I will decide this case.” 23 Then Governor Felix told the officer who was guarding Paul to take Paul back to the prison. But he told him to allow Paul to do things freely in the prison. He also said that if Paul’s friends came to visit him, the officer should allow them to help Paul in any way that they wanted to.

24 But several days later Felix came back with his wife Drusilla. She was a Jew. Felix called for Paul to speak with him. He and Drusilla listened to what Paul said about trusting in Jesus the Messiah. 25 Paul talked about what God wants people to do in order to please him. Paul also explained how people should control how they act. Paul said that there would be a time when God would judge all people. Felix became afraid after hearing those things. So he said to Paul, “That is all I want to hear now. But when I have time, I will ask you to come to me again.” 26 Felix was also hoping that Paul would give him some money. So he sent for Paul to come to him many times. Paul talked with Felix every time, but he did not give him any money, so Felix did not tell his soldiers to release Paul from prison.

27 This went on for about two years. Then a man named Porcius Festus replaced Felix as the governor. And since Felix wanted to please the Jewish leaders, he left Paul in prison.

Some ancient manuscripts include the end of verse 6, verse 7, and the first part of verse 8.

See the note on the previous verse.

See the note on verse 6.

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UST by section ACTs 24:1

The Acts of the Apostles 24