Acts 26:10 is Paul’s own account of his past. He admits that before he met Jesus, he actively imprisoned Christians in Jerusalem and voted for their execution when the council sentenced them. The verse is spoken by Paul as he defends himself before King Agrippa, so it is a confession made to a royal audience rather than a sermon to believers.
This I also did in Jerusalem. I both shut up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death I gave my vote against them.
Acts 26:10 (WEB)
What Acts 26:10 Means
Paul begins with the words “This I also did in Jerusalem,” which tie his admission to a place everyone in the room would recognize. He is not describing a vague sin of the past but a specific, public role he played in the city where the church was born. The verse presents his guilt plainly, without excuse or softening, and that candor is part of his argument: he is showing Agrippa that he knows the matter from the inside.
The middle of the verse describes two actions. He “shut up many of the saints in prisons,” which means he used the power given to him by the chief priests to lock people away for their faith. He also “gave my vote against them” when they were condemned to death, which shows he was not a bystander but a participant in the legal process that ended in killing. The verse does not promise anything to the reader. It simply records what happened and lets the weight of it stand.
The Context of Acts 26:10
The book of Acts was written by Luke, the companion of Paul, and it tells the story of how the message of Jesus spread from Jerusalem outward. Luke addressed his account to a reader named Theophilus, and it was written for communities that were learning how the earliest believers lived and suffered. Chapter 26 records Paul’s speech before King Agrippa in Caesarea, where Paul is defending himself against accusations made by Jewish leaders.
Just before verse 10, Paul speaks of the hope of Israel and asks why it should be thought unbelievable that God raises the dead. In verses 11 to 13 he goes on to describe how he pursued Christians into foreign cities until he was struck by a light from heaven on the road to Damascus. Read in that setting, verse 10 is the honest middle of a story that turns on grace. Paul names his worst deeds precisely so that the reader can see how completely his life was changed by meeting the risen Christ.
Key Phrases in Acts 26:10
1 Timothy 1:15
The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
(WEB)
In this letter Paul calls himself the foremost of sinners and says that Christ came into the world to save such people. It echoes the same honesty about his past and shows the grace that followed. Read alongside Acts 26:10, it helps you see that Paul’s confession was never meant to be his identity, only the starting point for what God did.
Acts 9:15
But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.
(WEB)
This verse records the Lord’s word to Ananias about Paul, describing him as a chosen vessel. It shows how the same man who once persecuted the church was called to carry the name of Jesus to others. Reading it with Acts 26:10 shows the full arc of Paul’s story, from opposition to commission.
A Short Prayer From Acts 26:10
Lord, you know the things I have done that I am not proud of, and you know the places where I have hurt others, sometimes without even seeing it. Give me the courage to tell the truth about my failures without hiding behind excuses. Keep me from using my past as a reason to despair or as a shield against your grace. Let my life be changed in the same way you changed Paul, so that what I once used against others becomes a means of blessing. Amen.
