1 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You may speak in your defense.”So Paul, gesturing with his hand, started his defense:
2 “I am fortunate, King Agrippa, that you are the one hearing my defense today against all these accusations made by the Jewish leaders,
3 for I know you are an expert on all Jewish customs and controversies. Now please listen to me patiently!
4 “As the Jewish leaders are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood among my own people and in Jerusalem.
5 If they would admit it, they know that I have been a member of the Pharisees, the strictest sect of our religion.
6 Now I am on trial because of my hope in the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors.