“I Appeal to Caesar”

¹Three days after Festus arrived in the province, he traveled from Caesarea up to Jerusalem. ²There the chief priests and Jewish leaders presented their case against Paul and urged Festus ³to do them a favor by having Paul transferred to Jerusalem. They were planning an ambush to kill him along the road. ⁴Festus replied that Paul was being held in Caesarea and that he himself would be returning there soon. ⁵"Let your leaders come down with me," he said, "and if this man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there." ⁶After spending more than ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The following day he took his seat at the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought in. ⁷When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him and brought many serious charges against him, which they could not prove. ⁸Paul defended himself, saying, "I have not committed any offense against the law of the Jews, against the temple, or against Caesar." ⁹But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial on these charges before me there?" ¹⁰Paul responded, "I am standing before Caesar's tribunal, which is where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you know very well. ¹¹If I am guilty or have done anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if none of their accusations are true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar." ¹²After Festus conferred with his council, he answered, "You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you will go."