Acts 22

¹“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”

²[When] they heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then [Paul] declared,

³“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was {just as} zealous for God as any of you are today.

⁴[I] persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison,

⁵as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to [their] brothers in Damascus, [and] I was on my way to apprehend [these people] and bring [them] to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶About noon [as] I was approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.

⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me,‘ Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?

⁸‘ Who are You, Lord?’ I asked.‘ I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting, He replied.

⁹My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the [One] speaking to me.

¹⁰Then I asked,‘ What should I do, Lord?’‘ Get up [and] go into Damascus, [He] told me.‘ There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.

¹¹Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.

¹²[There] a man [named] Ananias, a devout observer of the law [who was] highly regarded by all the Jews living there,

¹³came and stood beside me.‘ Brother Saul,’ he said,‘ receive your sight.’ And at that [moment] I could see him.

¹⁴Then he said,‘ The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear [His] voice.

¹⁵You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins {away}, calling on His name.’

¹⁷Later, [when] I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance

¹⁸and saw [the Lord] saying to me,‘ Hurry! Leave Jerusalem quickly, because [the people here] will not accept your testimony about Me.

¹⁹‘ Lord,’ I answered,‘ they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You.

²⁰And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’

²¹Then He said to me,‘ Go! I will send you far away to [the] Gentiles.

²²[The crowd] listened to [Paul] until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices [and] shouted, “Rid the earth of [him]! He is not fit to live!”

²³[As] they were shouting and throwing off [their] cloaks and tossing dust into the air,

²⁴the commander ordered that [Paul] be brought into the barracks. He directed that [Paul] be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.

²⁵But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”

²⁶[On] hearing [this], the centurion went [and] reported [it] to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷The commander went to [Paul] and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”“Yes,” he answered.

²⁸“I paid a high price [for my] citizenship,” said the commander. “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

²⁹At once those who were about to interrogate [Paul] stepped back, and the commander [himself] was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen {in chains}.

³⁰The next day [the commander], wanting to learn the real reason [Paul] was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul {down} and had him stand before them.