5 They have known me for a long time. So if they wanted to, they could give witness that I lived by the rules of the Pharisees. Those rules are harder to obey than the rules of any other group in the Jewish faith.
6 "Today I am on trial because of the hope I have. I believe in what God promised our people long ago.
7 It is the promise that our 12 tribes are hoping to see come true. Because of this hope they serve God with a true and honest heart day and night. King Agrippa, it is also because of this hope that the Jews are bringing charges against me.
8 Why should any of you think it is impossible for God to raise the dead?
9 "I myself believed that I should do everything I could to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 That's just what I was doing in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests, I put many of God's people in prison. I agreed that they should die.
11 I often went from one synagogue to another to have them punished. I tried to force them to speak evil things against Jesus. I hated them so much that I even went to cities in other lands to hurt them.