Acts 25 (NMV)
1 Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem.
2 The chief priests and the Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul to him, and they urged Festus,
3 asking for a favor against Paul, that he might summon him to Jerusalem. They were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
4 But Festus replied that Paul was being held in Caesarea and that he himself was going there soon.
5 "So let your leaders come with me," he said, "and if there is any wrongdoing in this man, let them bring charges against him."
6 After staying among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. The next day, he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought in.
7 When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought many serious accusations against him, but they could not prove them.
8 Then Paul made his defense: "I have committed no offense against the Jewish law, or against the temple, or against Caesar."
9 But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, responded to Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem to be tried before me there on these charges?"
10 Paul said, "I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well.
11 If I am guilty and have done anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if none of the charges against me are true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!"
12 Then after Festus conferred with his council, he replied, "You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you will go!"
13 Several days later, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus.
14 Since they were staying there several days, Festus discussed Paul's case with the king, saying, "There is a man left as a prisoner by Felix.
15 When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews presented their case and asked for a judgment against him.
16 I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over anyone before they have faced their accusers and had an opportunity to defend themselves against the charges.
17 So when they came here with me, I did not delay the case. The next day I took my seat at the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought in.
18 The accusers stood up but brought no charge of the kind I was expecting.
19 Instead, they had some disagreements with him about their own religion and about a man named Jesus who had died, but whom Paul claimed was alive.
20 Since I was at a loss how to investigate such matters, I asked if he were willing to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding these charges.
21 But when Paul appealed to be held for the Emperor's decision, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar."
22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, "I would like to hear the man myself." "Tomorrow you will hear him," he replied.
23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience hall with the military commanders and prominent men of the city. When Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in.
24 Festus said: "King Agrippa, and all you men present with us, you see this man. The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in both Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.
25 But I found that he had done nothing deserving death. And since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.
26 However, I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination I may have something to write.
27 For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner without clearly stating the charges against him."