Acts
Chapter 22
1 Friends and fathers, listen to my defense that I am presenting to you now.
2 When they heard he was speaking Hebrew to them, they became even quieter, and he said,
3 I am truly a man who is a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, but raised in this city, taught by Gamaliel in the full way of our ancestors’ law, and very devoted to God, just like all of you today.
4 I persecuted followers of this way to death, arresting and jailing both men and women.
5 The high priest and all the leaders can confirm this. They gave me letters for the believers, and I went to Damascus to arrest those there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 As I was traveling and getting close to Damascus around midday, suddenly a bright light from the sky shone all around me.
7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
8 I asked, “Who are you, God?” And he told me, “I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.”
9 Those with me saw the light and were scared, but they didn’t hear the voice that spoke to me.
10 I asked, “What should I do, God?” And God told me, “Get up and go to Damascus, and there you will be told about everything you are meant to do.”
11 When the bright light made me blind, those with me guided me by hand into Damascus.
12 A man named Ananias, who was religious and respected the law, was well spoken of by all the Jewish people living there.
13 He came to me, stood by me, and said, “Brother Saul, you can see now!” Right away, I could see him.
14 He said, “The God of our ancestors has picked you to know His will, see the Righteous One, and hear what He says.”
15 You will tell everyone what you have seen and heard as his witness.
16 Why are you waiting? Get up, be baptized, and clean away your sins by calling on God’s name.
17 When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance.
18 I saw him telling me, “Hurry and leave Jerusalem quickly because they won’t accept your testimony about me.”
19 I said, God, they know I locked up and hit those in every synagogue who believed in you.
20 When Stephen, who was killed for his faith, bled, I was there too, agreeing to his death and watching over the clothes of those who killed him.
21 He said to me, “Go away, because I will send you far off to the non-Jewish people.”
22 They listened to him until he said this, then they shouted, “Get rid of him! He should not be allowed to live.”
23 As they shouted, they took off their clothes and threw dust into the air.
24 The commander ordered that he be taken into the fort and told them to find out why people were shouting against him by whipping him.
25 As they tied Paul with straps, he asked the officer standing nearby, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who has not been found guilty?”
26 When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and said, “Be careful what you do, because this man is a Roman.”
27 The commanding officer approached and asked him, “Are you a Roman citizen?” He answered, “Yes.”
28 The commander said, “I paid a lot to become free.” Paul replied, “But I was born free.”
29 As soon as they realized he was a Roman citizen, those who were about to interrogate him backed off. The commander was also scared because he had tied him up.
30 The next day, wanting to understand exactly why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his shackles, ordered the high priests and their whole council to meet, took Paul down, and placed him in front of them.