Acts

Appeals to Caesar

Three days after Festus arrived in the province, he traveled from Caesarea to Jerusalem.

There, the chief priests and elders accused Paul again.

In a very hypocritical manner, they asked as a favor from Festus that Paul be brought to Jerusalem, but they were planning to kill him along the way.

Festus replied that Paul was in custody in Caesarea, and since he himself had to go there soon,

he added:

“Let those of you who have authority go down with me to Caesarea; and if this man has done anything wrong, let them accuse him.”

Festus did not stay in Jerusalem for more than eight or ten days, then he went to Caesarea. The next day, he took his seat on the tribunal and sent for Paul.

When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him and made many serious accusations that they could not prove.

Paul defended himself, saying: “I have not committed any offense against the law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.”

Then Festus, wanting to please the Jews, asked Paul:

“Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem to be tried before me?”

Paul answered:

“I am on trial before Caesar’s tribunal; this is where I must be judged. I have done no wrong to the Jews; you yourself know this very well.

If I have committed any crime deserving death, I am prepared to die. But if I have done nothing of which they accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

So Festus, after consulting with his council answered:

“You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar, you shall go.”

Before Agrippa

Some days later, King Agrippa and his sister Bernice arrived in Caesarea to greet Festus. Since they planned to stay there several days, Festus told the king about Paul’s case and said to him:

“We have here a man whom Felix left as a prisoner.

When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews accused him and asked me to sentence him.

I told them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over a man without giving him a chance to defend himself in front of his accusers.

So they came, and I took my seat without delay on the tribunal and sent for the man.

When the accusers had the floor, they did not accuse him of any of the crimes I was led to think he had committed; instead,

they argued with him about religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died but whom Paul claimed to be alive.

I did not know what to do about this case, so I asked Paul if he wanted to go to Jerusalem to be tried there.

But Paul appealed to be judged by the emperor. So I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.”

Agrippa said to Festus:

“I would like to hear that man.”

Festus replied:

“Tomorrow, you shall.”

The next day, Agrippa and Bernice arrived with great ceremony and entered the audience hall alongside the commanders and the elders of the city.

Festus ordered that Paul be brought in and said:

“King Agrippa, and everyone here present, you see this man about whom the whole community of the Jews came to see me in Jerusalem, protesting loudly that he must not live.

I, for my part, am convinced that he has not done anything that deserves death. But, after he appealed to be judged by the emperor, I decided to send him on.

Well, if I have no definite information, what can I write to Caesar about him? Therefore, I present him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that you may examine him and I may know what to write.

For it seems absurd to me to send a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”