Acts 25:6-17

6After he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to 1Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on 2the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. 7After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing 3many and serious charges against him 4which they could not prove, 8while Paul said in his own defense, “5I have committed no offense either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” 9But Festus, 6wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “7Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and 8stand trial before me on these charges?” 10But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s 9tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. 11If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I 10appeal to Caesar.” 12Then when Festus had conferred with 11his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.”

13Now when several days had elapsed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at 12Caesarea 13and paid their respects to Festus. 14While they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man who was 14left as a prisoner by Felix; 15and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews 15brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. 16I 16answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before 17the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. 17So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on 18the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought before me.