Acts 22
22
1#Ac 7:2#“Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now make to you.”
2#Ac 21:40When they heard that he addressed them in the Hebrew language, they became even more quiet.
Then he said, 3#Ac 9:11; 5:34; 21:20“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was trained in the strict tradition of the law of the fathers, being zealous toward God as you all are today. 4#Ac 22:19–20; 26:9–11I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and imprisoning both men and women, 5#Lk 22:66; Ac 9:1–2as even the high priest and the council of elders bear witness of me. From them I received letters to the brothers in Damascus, where I went to take even those who were there and lead them in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.
Paul Tells of His Conversion
Ac 9:1–19; 26:12–18
6“As I journeyed and came near Damascus, about noon suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’
8“I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’
“He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9#Ac 9:7; Da 10:7Those who were with me saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who was speaking to me.
10#Ac 16:30“I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’
“The Lord said to me, ‘Rise and go into Damascus. There you will be told what you have been appointed to do.’ 11Since I was blinded by the glory of that light, those who were with me led me by the hand into Damascus.
12#Ac 10:22; 6:3“Ananias, a devout man according to the law, who was well spoken of by all the Jews living there, 13came and stood by me, and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that moment I looked up at him.
14#Ac 26:16; 1Co 9:1; 15:8“Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Just One and to hear His voice, 15#Ac 23:11; 4:20for you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16#Ac 2:38; Heb 10:22; 1Co 6:11And now why do you wait? Rise, be baptized and wash away your sins, and call on the name of the Lord.’
Paul Sent to the Gentiles
17#2Co 12:1–4“When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18and saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry! Get out of Jerusalem immediately, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’
19#Mt 10:17; Ac 22:4“I said, ‘Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You in every synagogue. 20#Ac 7:58; 8:1And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I was standing by consenting to his death, guarding the clothes of those who killed him.’
21#Ac 9:15“Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”
Paul and the Roman Commander
22#Ac 25:24; 21:36They listened to him up to this word, and then they lifted up their voices and said, “Away with such a man from the earth, for he is not fit to live!”
23As they shouted and threw off their garments and threw dust into the air, 24#Ac 21:34; 23:10the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks and examined with scourging, so that he might learn what crime they were alleging against him. 25#Ac 16:37As they stretched him forward with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to flog an uncondemned Roman citizen?”
26On hearing this, the centurion reported to the commander, saying, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen.”
27The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
He said, “Yes.”
28The commander answered, “I bought my citizenship for a large sum.”
So Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
29Therefore those who were about to examine Paul immediately backed away from him. And the commander feared, knowing that he was a Roman citizen and because he had bound him.
Paul Before the Sanhedrin
30#Ac 23:28; 21:33On the next day, desiring to know exactly why he was accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble, and he brought Paul down to stand before them.
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Acts 22: MEV
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Military Bible Association
Acts 22
22
1“Brothers and fathers,” Paul began, “listen to me now. I want to give you reasons for my actions.”
2When they heard that he was speaking to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
Then Paul said, 3“I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but I grew up here in Jerusalem. I studied with Gamaliel. I was well trained by him in the law given to our people long ago. I wanted to serve God as much as any of you do today. 4I hurt the followers of the Way of Jesus. I sent many of them to their death. I arrested men and women. I threw them into prison. 5The high priest and the whole Council can be witnesses of this themselves. I even had some official letters they had written to their friends in Damascus. So I went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
6“I had almost reached Damascus. About noon a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice speak to me. ‘Saul! Saul!’ it said. ‘Why are you opposing me?’
8“ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,’ he replied. ‘I am the one you are opposing.’ 9The light was seen by my companions. But they didn’t understand the voice of the one speaking to me.
10“ ‘What should I do, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said. ‘Go into Damascus. There you will be told everything you have been given to do.’ 11The brightness of the light had blinded me. So my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
12“A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a godly Jew who obeyed the law. All the Jews living there respected him very much. 13He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that very moment I was able to see him.
14“Then he said, ‘The God of our people has chosen you. He wanted to tell you his plans for you. You have seen the Blameless One. You have heard words from his mouth. 15Now you will tell everyone about what you have seen and heard. 16So what are you waiting for? Get up and call on his name. Be baptized. Have your sins washed away.’
17“I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple. Then it seemed to me that I was dreaming. 18I saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem at once. The people here will not accept what you tell them about me.’
19“ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know what I used to do. I went from one synagogue to another and put believers in prison. I also beat them. 20Stephen was a man who told other people about you. I stood there when he was killed. I had agreed that he should die. I even guarded the coats of those who were killing him.’
21“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go. I will send you far away to people who are not Jews.’ ”
Paul the Roman Citizen
22The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, “Kill him! He isn’t fit to live!”
23They shouted and threw off their coats. They threw dust into the air. 24So the commanding officer ordered that Paul be taken into the fort. He gave orders for Paul to be whipped and questioned. He wanted to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25A commander was standing there as they stretched Paul out to be whipped. Paul said to him, “Does the law allow you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”
26When the commander heard this, he went to the commanding officer and reported it. “What are you going to do?” the commander asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”
27So the commanding officer went to Paul. “Tell me,” he asked. “Are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes, I am,” Paul answered.
28Then the officer said, “I had to pay a lot of money to become a citizen.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29Right away those who were about to question him left. Even the officer was alarmed. He realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.
Paul Is Taken to the Sanhedrin
30The commanding officer wanted to find out exactly what the Jews had against Paul. So the next day he let Paul out of prison. He ordered a meeting of the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin. Then he brought Paul and had him stand in front of them.
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