Paul answered, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city. Please let me speak to the people."

The commander gave him permission, so Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand for the people to be silent. When they were quiet, Paul spoke to them in Hebrew:

"My fellow Jews, listen to me as I make my defense before you!"

When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even quieter; and Paul went on:

Agrippa said to Paul, "You have permission to speak on your own behalf." Paul stretched out his hand and defended himself as follows:

"King Agrippa! I consider myself fortunate that today I am to defend myself before you from all the things these Jews accuse me of,

Before all these things take place, however, you will be arrested and persecuted; you will be handed over to be tried in synagogues and be put in prison; you will be brought before kings and rulers for my sake.

Make up your minds ahead of time not to worry about how you will defend yourselves,

But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, how happy you are! Do not be afraid of anyone, and do not worry.

But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honor him as Lord. Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you,

The Jews seized this man and were about to kill him. I learned that he is a Roman citizen, so I went with my soldiers and rescued him.

I found out that he had not done a thing for which he deserved to die or be put in prison; the accusation against him had to do with questions about their own law.

If I have broken the law and done something for which I deserve the death penalty, I do not ask to escape it. But if there is no truth in the charges they bring against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to the Emperor."

His opponents stood up, but they did not accuse him of any of the evil crimes that I thought they would.

I was undecided about how I could get information on these matters, so I asked Paul if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.

and for forty years he endured them in the desert.

Jesus said to them, "How unbelieving you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy to me!"

For rulers are not to be feared by those who do good, but by those who do evil. Would you like to be unafraid of those in authority? Then do what is good, and they will praise you,

I wish you would tolerate me, even when I am a bit foolish. Please do!

For you gladly tolerate anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus, not the one we preached; and you accept a spirit and a gospel completely different from the Spirit and the gospel you received from us!

Since he himself is weak in many ways, he is able to be gentle with those who are ignorant and make mistakes.