Paul Appeals to Caesar
Acts 25Three days after Festus arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Then the high priest and the leaders of the Jews brought charges against Paul. They also appealed, asking for a favor against Paul, that Festus would summon him to Jerusalem, because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. However Festus answered that Paul was to be kept in Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly. “Therefore”, he said, “Those among y’all in power can go down with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can bring charges against him.”
After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought in. Once Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him which they were not able to prove.
Then he said in his defense, “I have not sinned against the Jewish law, against the temple, or against Caesar.”
But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?”
But Paul said, “I am standing at Caesar’s tribunal, where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I have done wrong and have committed anything deserving of death, I do not refuse to die. But if none of the things they accuse me of is true, no one should be able to give me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!”
After Festus had conferred with the council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
A few days later, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. Since they were staying there several days, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man whom Felix left as a prisoner. When I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him.
“I answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over a human before the accused has met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make a defense against the charges. When they had assembled here, I did not delay the case, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought in. When the accusers stood up, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead they had certain disagreements against him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus whom Paul claimed to be alive. Since I was at a loss on how to investigate these matters, I asked if he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges. But when Paul appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of the Emperor, I ordered him to be kept until I could send him to Caesar.”
Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.”
“Tomorrow,” he replied, “you will hear him.”
The next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the auditorium with the military commanders and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. Festus said, “King Agrippa, and all the men who are present with us, y’all see this man. The whole Jewish populace petitioned me both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he should not live any longer. I found that he had done nothing worthy of death, but because he appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. Yet I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before y’all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after examination has taken place I may have something to write. For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, without specifying the charges against him.”