Acts

¹“Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make to you.”

²When the people heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they were even more quiet.

Paul continued, ³”I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel. I was instructed according to the strict tradition of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are this day. ⁴I persecuted this Way to death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, as ⁵the high priest and the entire council of the presbyters can testify. I even received letters for their brethren in Damascus and traveled there to bring these people in chains to Jerusalem to be punished. ⁶It happened that, suddenly, as I was on my journey and approaching Damascus, at about noon, a great light shone from the sky¹⁵¹⁶ around me. ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute.’

⁹Indeed, those who were with me saw the light and were afraid¹⁵¹⁷, but they did not understand the voice of him who spoke to me. ¹⁰I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Arise, and go into Damascus. There, you will be told what you should do.’ ¹¹Since I could not see because of the glory of that light, I was led by the hand of those who were with me and arrived in Damascus. ¹²Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews, and who lived in Damascus, came to me. ¹³Standing by me, he said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that very moment, I was able to see him! ¹⁴He said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth. ¹⁵For you will be a witness for him to all people, testifying to what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the Name of the Lord.’

¹⁷It happened that, when I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance. ¹⁸I saw the Lord¹⁵¹⁸ saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not receive¹⁵¹⁹ your testimony concerning me.’ ¹⁹I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. ²⁰When the blood of your martyr¹⁵²⁰ Stephen was shed, I too was standing by, consenting to his death and guarding the coats of those who killed him.’

²¹Then he said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’”

²²They listened to him until he said that; then they lifted up their voice, and shouted, “Rid the earth of this fellow, for he is not fit to live!”

Paul is arrested—His Roman citizenship

²³As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and dust into the air, ²⁴the commanding officer ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He [then] gave instruction that Paul should be interrogated under scourging, so that he might find out for what crime the people shouted against him in such a way. ²⁵When they had tied him up with straps, Paul asked the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman [citizen] and uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the commanding officer and told him, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman [citizen]!”

²⁷Then the commanding officer came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?”

Paul replied, “Yes.”

²⁸The commanding officer answered, “I bought my citizenship for a great price!”

“But I was born a Roman,” Paul replied.

²⁹Immediately those who were about to interrogate him left him, and even the commanding officer was afraid when he realized that he had bound Paul, a Roman [citizen], in chains. ³⁰But on the next day, desiring to know the truth about why Paul¹⁵²¹ was accused by the Jews, the officer¹⁵²² freed him from the bonds and commanded the chief priests and all their Sanhedrin to appear. He then brought Paul down and set him before them.

Paul before the Sanhedrin

1516. Or “heaven”
1517. CT omits “and were afraid”
1518. Greek “him”
1519. Or “accept”
1520. Or “witness”
1521. Greek “he”
1522. Greek “he”