I answered them ¹  that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone ²  before the accused had met his accusers face to face ³  and had been given ⁴  an opportunity to make a defense against the accusation. ⁵ 

biblegateway Act 25:16

"I answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges.

I answered them that it's not the Romans' custom to give any man up before the accused confronts the accusers face to face and has an opportunity to give a defense concerning the charge.

To _them_ I replied that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up any man before the one who had been accused met [his] accusers face to [face] and received an opportunity for a defense concerning the accusation.

biblegateway Act 25:16

"I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over any man before he has faced his accusers and has had an opportunity to defend himself against their charges.

I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him.

bibleoremus Act 25:16

I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before the accused had met the accusers face to face and had been given an opportunity to make a defense against the charge.

I replied that it was not Roman practice to hand a man over before he had been confronted with his accusers and given an opportunity of answering the charge.

biblegateway Act 25:16

"To them I answered, ‘It is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the accusers face to face, and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him.’

To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.

biblegateway Act 25:16

I answered them ¹  that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone ²  before the accused had met his accusers face to face ³  and had been given ⁴  an opportunity to make a defense against the accusation. ⁵ 

¹ tn Grk “to whom I answered.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been replaced with a personal pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence started in the translation at the beginning of v. 16.

¹ sn “I answered them.” In the answer that follows, Festus is portrayed in a more positive light, being sensitive to justice and Roman law.

² tn Grk “any man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos).

³ tn Or “has met his accusers in person.”

⁴ tn Grk “and receives.”

⁵ tn Or “indictment” (a legal technical term). BDAG 273-74 s.v. ἔγκλημα 1 states, “legal t.t.…ἀπολογία περὶ τοῦ ἐ. defense against the accusation Ac 25:16.” L&N 56.6 defines ἔγκλημα (enklhma) as “(a technical, legal term) a formal indictment or accusation brought against someone – ‘indictment, accusation, case.’ …‘and might receive an opportunity for a defense against the indictment’ Ac 25:16.”