| OLD TESTAMENT | NEW TESTAMENT | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The 7 Books | Old Testament History | Wisdom Books | Major Prophets | Minor Prophets | NT History | Epistles of St. Paul | General Writings | |||
| Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuter. Joshua Judges | Ruth 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings 1 Chron. 2 Chron. | Ezra Nehem. Tobit Judith Esther 1 Macc. 2 Macc. | Job Psalms Proverbs Eccles. Songs Wisdom Sirach | Isaiah Jeremiah Lament. Baruch Ezekiel Daniel | Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah | Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi | Matthew Mark Luke John Acts | Romans 1 Corinth. 2 Corinth. Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians | 1 Thess. 2 Thess. 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Hebrews | James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation |
| 1 Ἀγρίππας |
1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, Thou art free to give an account of thyself. And Paul, stretching out his hand, began his defence: 2 King Agrippa, I count myself fortunate to-day, to be defending myself against all the accusations of the Jews in thy presence. 3 No one is more familiar than thou with the customs of the Jews, and their controversies; and this makes me bold to ask thee for a patient audience. 4 What my life was like when boyhood was over, spent from the first among my own people and in Jerusalem, all the Jews know; 5 their earliest memory of me, would they but admit it, is of one who lived according to the strictest tradition of observance we have, a Pharisee. 6 And if I stand here on my trial, it is for my hope of the promise God made to our fathers. 7 Our twelve tribes worship him ceaselessly, night and day, in the hope of attaining that promise; and this is the hope, my lord king, for which the Jews call me to account. 8 Why should it be beyond the belief of men such as thou art, that God should raise the dead? | 1 Agrippa vero ad Paulum ait: Permittitur tibi loqui pro temetipso. Tunc Paulus extenta manu cœpit rationem reddere: 2 De omnibus quibus accusor a Judæis, rex Agrippa, æstimo me beatum apud te cum sim defensurus me hodie, 3 maxime te sciente omnia, et quæ apud Judæos sunt consuetudines et quæstiones: propter quod obsecro patienter me audias. 4 Et quidem vitam meam a juventute, quæ ab initio fuit in gente mea in Jerosolymis, noverunt omnes Judæi: 5 præscientes me ab initio (si velint testimonium perhibere) quoniam secundum certissimam sectam nostræ religionis vixi pharisæus. 6 Et nunc, in spe quæ ad patres nostros repromissionis facta est a Deo, sto judicio subjectus: 7 in quam duodecim tribus nostræ nocte ac die deservientes, sperant devenire. De qua spe accusor a Judæis, rex. 8 Quid incredibile judicatur apud vos, si Deus mortuos suscitat? |
| 9 ἐ |
9 Well then, I thought it my duty to defy, in many ways, the name of Jesus the Nazarene. 10 And that is what I did, at Jerusalem; it was I, under powers granted me by the chief priests, who shut up many of the faithful in prison; and when they were done to death, I raised my voice against them. 11 Often have I tried to force them into blaspheming, by inflicting punishment on them in one synagogue after another; nay, so unmeasured was my rage against them that I used to go to foreign cities to persecute them. 12 It was on such an errand that I was making my way to Damascus, with powers delegated to me by the chief priests, 13 when, journeying at midday, I saw, my lord king, a light from heaven, surpassing the brightness of the sun, which shone about me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground,[1] and I heard a voice which said to me, in Hebrew, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me? This is a thankless task of thine, kicking against the goad. 15 Who art thou, Lord? I asked. And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom Saul persecutes. 16 Rise up, and stand on thy feet; I have shewn myself to thee, that I may single thee out to serve me, as the witness of this vision thou hast had, and other visions thou wilt have of me. 17 I will be thy deliverer from the hands of thy people, and of the Gentiles, to whom I am now sending thee. 18 Thou shalt open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive, through faith in me, remission of their sins and an inheritance among the saints. | 9 Et ego quidem existimaveram me adversus nomen Jesu Nazareni debere multa contraria agere, 10 quod et feci Jerosolymis, et multos sanctorum ego in carceribus inclusi, a principibus sacerdotum potestate accepta: et cum occiderentur, detuli sententiam. 11 Et per omnes synagogas frequenter puniens eos, compellebam blasphemare: et amplius insaniens in eos, persequebar usque in exteras civitates. 12 In quibus dum irem Damascum cum potestate et permissu principum sacerdotum, 13 die media in via vidi, rex, de cælo supra splendorem solis circumfulsisse me lumen, et eos qui mecum simul erant. 14 Omnesque nos cum decidissemus in terram, audivi vocem loquentem mihi hebraica lingua: Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris? durum est tibi contra stimulum calcitrare. 15 Ego autem dixi: Quis es, domine? Dominus autem dixit: Ego sum Jesus, quem tu persequeris. 16 Sed exsurge, et sta super pedes tuos: ad hoc enim apparui tibi, ut constituam te ministrum, et testem eorum quæ vidisti, et eorum quibus apparebo tibi, 17 eripiens te de populo et gentibus, in quas nunc ego mitto te, 18 aperire oculos eorum, ut convertantur a tenebris ad lucem, et de potestate Satanæ ad Deum, ut accipiant remissionem peccatorum, et sortem inter sanctos, per fidem quæ est in me. |
| 19 ὅ |
19 Whereupon, king Agrippa, I did not show myself disobedient to the heavenly vision. 20 First to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, then to all the country of Judaea, then to the heathen, I preached repentance, bidding them turn to God, and so act as befits men who are penitent. 21 That is why the Jews, when they caught me in the temple, tried to murder me. 22 But, thanks to God’s help, I still stand here to-day, bearing my witness to small and great alike. Yet there is nothing in my message which goes beyond what the prophets spoke of, and Moses spoke of, as things to come; 23 a suffering Christ, and one who should shew light to his people and to the Gentiles by being the first to rise from the dead. | 19 Unde, rex Agrippa, non fui incredulus cælesti visioni: 20 sed his qui sunt Damasci primum, et Jerosolymis, et in omnem regionem Judææ, et gentibus, annuntiabam, ut pœnitentiam agerent, et converterentur ad Deum, digna pœnitentiæ opera facientes. 21 Hac ex causa me Judæi, cum essem in templo, comprehensum tentabant interficere. 22 Auxilio autem adjutus Dei usque in hodiernum diem, sto, testificans minori atque majori, nihil extra dicens quam ea quæ prophetæ locuti sunt futura esse, et Moyses, 23 si passibilis Christus, si primus ex resurrectione mortuorum, lumen annuntiaturus est populo et gentibus. |
| 24 |
24 When Paul had proceeded so far with his defence, Festus said in a loud voice, Paul, thou art mad; they are driving thee to madness, these long studies of thine. 25 But Paul answered, No, most noble Festus, I am not mad; the message which I utter is sober truth. 26 The king knows about all this well enough; that is why I speak with such confidence in his presence. None of this, I am sure, is news to him; it was not in some secret corner that all this happened. 27 Dost thou believe the prophets, king Agrippa? I am well assured thou dost believe them. 28 At this, Agrippa said to Paul, Thou wouldst have me turn Christian with very little ado.[2] 29 Why, said Paul, it would be my prayer to God that, whether it were with much ado or little, both thou and all those who are listening to me to-day should become just such as I am, but for these chains.[3] 30 Then the king rose, and so did the governor, and Bernice, and all those who sat there with them. 31 When they had retired, they said to one another, This man is guilty of no fault that deserves death or imprisonment. 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, If he had not appealed to Caesar, this man might have been set at liberty. | 24 Hæc loquente eo, et rationem reddente, Festus magna voce dixit: Insanis, Paule: multæ te litteræ ad insaniam convertunt. 25 Et Paulus: Non insanio, inquit, optime Feste, sed veritatis et sobrietatis verba loquor. 26 Scit enim de his rex, ad quem et constanter loquor: latere enim eum nihil horum arbitror. Neque enim in angulo quidquam horum gestum est. 27 Credis, rex Agrippa, prophetis? Scio quia credis. 28 Agrippa autem ad Paulum: In modico suades me christianum fieri. 29 Et Paulus: Opto apud Deum, et in modico et in magno, non tantum te, sed etiam omnes qui audiunt hodie fieri tales, qualis et ego sum, exceptis vinculis his. 30 Et exsurrexit rex, et præses, et Bernice, et qui assidebant eis. 31 Et cum secessissent, loquebantur ad invicem, dicentes: Quia nihil morte aut vinculis dignum quid fecit homo iste. 32 Agrippa autem Festo dixit: Dimitti poterat homo hic, si non appellasset Cæsarem. |
[1] They all fell to the ground at the first shock of the apparition, but the others soon regained their feet (9.7 above).
[2] Some commentators have thought that Agrippa said, whether sarcastically or in earnest, ‘Thou dost almost persuade me to turn Christian’; but the Greek has rather the sense, ‘Thou art trying to persuade me to be a Christian with very little effort (from thyself)’, or perhaps ‘at very short notice’.
[3] ‘But for these chains’; the Greek may mean, ‘these chains notwithstanding’.
Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd
