Acts 22
22“aMen, brothers, and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”
2And when they heard that he was addressing them in the aHebrew language, they became even quieter; and he *said,
3“aI am ba Jew, born in cTarsus of dCilicia, but having been brought up in this city, having been instructed at the feet of eGamaliel according to the fstrictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today, 4aI persecuted this bWay to the death, binding and delivering both men and women into prisons, 5as also athe high priest and all bthe Council of the elders 1can testify. From them I also creceived letters to dthe brothers, and started off for eDamascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem 2as prisoners to be punished.
6“aBut it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 7and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8“And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am aJesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9“And those who were with me abeheld the light, to be sure, but bdid not 1understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10“And I said, ‘aWhat should I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been determined for you to do.’ 11“But since I acould not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus.
12“Now a certain aAnanias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and bwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13came to me, and standing near, said to me, ‘aBrother Saul, regain your sight!’ And 1,bat that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. 14“And he said, ‘aThe God of our fathers has bappointed you to know His will and to csee the dRighteous One and to hear a 1voice from His mouth. 15‘For you will be aa witness for Him to all men of bwhat you have seen and heard. 16‘Now why do you delay? aRise up and be baptized, and bwash away your sins, ccalling on His name.’
17“Now it happened when I areturned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I bfell into a trance, 18and I saw Him saying to me, ‘aHurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness about Me.’ 19“And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another aI used to imprison and bbeat those who believed in You. 20‘And awhen the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and guarding the garments of those who were slaying him.’ 21“And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ato the Gentiles.’”
Paul, a Citizen of Rome
22And they were listening to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “aAway with such a fellow from the earth, for bhe should not be allowed to live!” 23And as they were crying out and athrowing off their garments and btossing dust into the air, 24the 1commander ordered him to be brought into athe barracks, stating that he should be bexamined by flogging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. 25But when they stretched him out 1with leather straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it 2lawful for you to flog aa man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” 26And when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported to him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27And the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28And the commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I have been born a citizen.” 29Therefore those who were about to aexamine him immediately withdrew from him; and the commander also bwas afraid when he learned that he was a Roman, and because he had cbound him.