Acts 24

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Tertullus Prosecutes Paul

¹Μετὰ δὲ πέντε ἡμέρας κατέβη ὁ ἀρχιερεὺς Ἁνανίας μετὰ πρεσβυτέρων τινῶν καὶ ῥήτορος Τερτύλλου τινός οἵτινες ἐνεφάνισαν τῷ ἡγεμόνι κατὰ τοῦ Παύλου

¹Five days later the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a lawyer^a named Tertullus, who presented to the governor their case against Paul.

²Κληθέντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἤρξατο κατηγορεῖν ὁ Τέρτυλλος λέγων Πολλῆς εἰρήνης τυγχάνοντες διὰ σοῦ καὶ διορθωμάτων γινομένων τῷ ἔθνει τούτῳ διὰ τῆς σῆς προνοίας

²When Paul had been called in, Tertullus opened the prosecution: “Because of you, we have enjoyed a lasting peace, and your foresight has brought improvements to this nation.

³πάντῃ τε καὶ πανταχοῦ ἀποδεχόμεθα κράτιστε Φῆλιξ μετὰ πάσης εὐχαριστίας

³In every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with all gratitude.

⁴ἵνα δὲ μὴ ἐπὶ πλεῖόν σε ἐνκόπτω παρακαλῶ ἀκοῦσαί σε ἡμῶν συντόμως τῇ σῇ ἐπιεικείᾳ

⁴But in order not to delay you any further, I beg your indulgence to hear us briefly.

⁵Εὑρόντες γὰρ τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον λοιμὸν καὶ κινοῦντα στάσεις πᾶσιν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τοῖς κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην πρωτοστάτην τε τῆς τῶν Ναζωραίων αἱρέσεως

⁵We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,

⁶ὃς καὶ τὸ ἱερὸν ἐπείρασεν βεβηλῶσαι ὃν καὶ ἐκρατήσαμεν

⁶and he even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him.^a

⁷—

⁸παρ’ οὗ δυνήσῃ αὐτὸς ἀνακρίνας περὶ πάντων τούτων ἐπιγνῶναι ὧν ἡμεῖς κατηγοροῦμεν αὐτοῦ

⁸By examining him yourself, you will be able to learn the truth about all our charges against him.”

⁹Συνεπέθεντο δὲ καὶ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι φάσκοντες ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχειν

⁹The Jews concurred, asserting that these charges were true.

Paul’s Defense to Felix

¹⁰Ἀπεκρίθη τε ὁ Παῦλος νεύσαντος αὐτῷ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος λέγειν Ἐκ πολλῶν ἐτῶν ὄντα σε κριτὴν τῷ ἔθνει τούτῳ ἐπιστάμενος εὐθύμως τὰ περὶ ἐμαυτοῦ ἀπολογοῦμαι

¹⁰When the governor motioned for Paul to speak, he began his response: “Knowing that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I gladly make my defense.

¹¹δυναμένου σου ἐπιγνῶναι ὅτι οὐ πλείους εἰσίν μοι ἡμέραι δώδεκα ἀφ’ ἧς ἀνέβην προσκυνήσων εἰς Ἰερουσαλήμ

¹¹You can verify for yourself that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship.

¹²καὶ οὔτε ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ εὗρόν με πρός τινα διαλεγόμενον ἢ ἐπίστασιν ποιοῦντα ὄχλου οὔτε ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς οὔτε κατὰ τὴν πόλιν

¹²Yet my accusers did not find me debating with anyone in the temple or riling up a crowd in the synagogues or in the city.

¹³οὐδὲ παραστῆσαι δύνανταί σοι περὶ ὧν νυνὶ κατηγοροῦσίν μου

¹³Nor can they prove to you any of their charges against me.

¹⁴Ὁμολογῶ δὲ τοῦτό σοι ὅτι κατὰ τὴν Ὁδὸν ἣν λέγουσιν αἵρεσιν οὕτως λατρεύω τῷ πατρῴῳ Θεῷ πιστεύων πᾶσι τοῖς κατὰ τὸν νόμον καὶ τοῖς ἐν τοῖς προφήταις γεγραμμένοις

¹⁴I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,

¹⁵ἐλπίδα ἔχων εἰς τὸν Θεόν ἣν καὶ αὐτοὶ οὗτοι προσδέχονται ἀνάστασιν μέλλειν ἔσεσθαι δικαίων τε καὶ ἀδίκων

¹⁵and I have the same hope in God that they themselves cherish, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.

¹⁶ἐν τούτῳ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀσκῶ ἀπρόσκοπον συνείδησιν ἔχειν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους διὰ παντός

¹⁶In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.

¹⁷Δι’ ἐτῶν δὲ πλειόνων ἐλεημοσύνας ποιήσων εἰς τὸ ἔθνος μου παρεγενόμην καὶ προσφοράς

¹⁷After several years, then, I returned to Jerusalem to bring alms to my people and to present offerings.

¹⁸ἐν αἷς εὗρόν με ἡγνισμένον ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ οὐ μετὰ ὄχλου οὐδὲ μετὰ θορύβου τινὲς δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀσίας Ἰουδαῖοι

¹⁸At the time they found me in the temple, I was ceremonially clean and was not inciting a crowd or an uproar. But there are some Jews from the province of Asia^a

¹⁹οὓς ἔδει ἐπὶ σοῦ παρεῖναι καὶ κατηγορεῖν εἴ τι ἔχοιεν πρὸς ἐμέ

¹⁹who ought to appear before you and bring charges, if they have anything against me.

²⁰ἢ αὐτοὶ οὗτοι εἰπάτωσαν τί εὗρον ἀδίκημα στάντος μου ἐπὶ τοῦ συνεδρίου

²⁰Otherwise, let these men state for themselves any crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin,^a

²¹ἢ περὶ μιᾶς ταύτης φωνῆς ἧς ἐκέκραξα ἐν αὐτοῖς ἑστὼς ὅτι Περὶ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν ἐγὼ κρίνομαι σήμερον ἐφ’ ὑμῶν

²¹unless it was this one thing I called out as I stood in their presence: ‘It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.’”

The Verdict Postponed

²²Ἀνεβάλετο δὲ αὐτοὺς ὁ Φῆλιξ ἀκριβέστερον εἰδὼς τὰ περὶ τῆς Ὁδοῦ εἴπας Ὅταν Λυσίας ὁ χιλίαρχος καταβῇ διαγνώσομαι τὰ καθ’ ὑμᾶς

²²Then Felix, who was well informed about the Way, adjourned the hearing and said, “When Lysias the commander comes, I will decide your case.”

²³διαταξάμενος τῷ ἑκατοντάρχῃ τηρεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ἔχειν τε ἄνεσιν καὶ μηδένα κωλύειν τῶν ἰδίων αὐτοῦ ὑπηρετεῖν αὐτῷ

²³He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard, but to allow him some freedom and permit his friends to minister to his needs.

²⁴Μετὰ δὲ ἡμέρας τινὰς παραγενόμενος ὁ Φῆλιξ σὺν Δρουσίλλῃ τῇ ἰδίᾳ γυναικὶ οὔσῃ Ἰουδαίᾳ μετεπέμψατο τὸν Παῦλον καὶ ἤκουσεν αὐτοῦ περὶ τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν πίστεως

²⁴After several days, Felix returned with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

²⁵διαλεγομένου δὲ αὐτοῦ περὶ δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἐγκρατείας καὶ τοῦ κρίματος τοῦ μέλλοντος ἔμφοβος γενόμενος ὁ Φῆλιξ ἀπεκρίθη Τὸ νῦν ἔχον πορεύου καιρὸν δὲ μεταλαβὼν μετακαλέσομαί σε

²⁵As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”

²⁶ἅμα καὶ ἐλπίζων ὅτι χρήματα δοθήσεται αὐτῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ Παύλου διὸ καὶ πυκνότερον αὐτὸν μεταπεμπόμενος ὡμίλει αὐτῷ

²⁶At the same time, he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe. So he sent for Paul frequently and talked with him.

²⁷Διετίας δὲ πληρωθείσης ἔλαβεν διάδοχον ὁ Φῆλιξ Πόρκιον Φῆστον θέλων τε χάριτα καταθέσθαι τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὁ Φῆλιξ κατέλιπε τὸν Παῦλον δεδεμένον

²⁷After two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.