Festus himself presented Paul to the assembly with the words: "King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer. But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him. Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O King Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write. For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him."

Festus forestillede selv Paulus for forsamlingen med disse ord: "Kong Agrippa og alle I andre, som er her til stede sammen med os! Dér ser I den mand, om hvem hele jødernes mængde både i Jerusalem og her har henvendt sig til mig med råb om, at han ikke længere burde leve. Men jeg indså, at han intet havde gjort, som fortjente døden og da han selv indankede sin sag for majestæten, kendte jeg for ret, at han skulle sendes derover. Dog har jeg ikke noget sikkert at skrive om ham til herren. Derfor har jeg ladet ham føre frem for jer og især for dig, kong Agrippa! for at jeg kan have noget at skrive, når forundersøgelsen har fundet sted. Thi det synes mig urimeligt at oversende en fange uden samtidig at angive beskyldningerne imod ham."