Acts of Emissaries of Yeshua (Act) 22

1“Brothers and fathers! Listen to me as I make my defense before you now!” 2When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they settled down more; so he continued: 3“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city and trained at the feet of Gamli’el in every detail of the Torah of our forefathers. I was a zealot for God, as all of you are today. 4I persecuted to death the followers of this Way, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison. 5The cohen hagadol and the whole Sanhedrin can also testify to this. Indeed, after receiving letters from them to their colleagues in Dammesek, I was on my way there in order to arrest the ones in that city too and bring them back to Yerushalayim for punishment.

6“As I was traveling and approaching Dammesek, around noon, suddenly a brilliant light from heaven flashed all around me! 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Sha’ul! Sha’ul! Why do you keep persecuting me?’ 8I answered, ‘Sir, who are you?’ ‘I am Yeshua from Natzeret,’ he said to me, ‘and you are persecuting me!’ 9Those who were with me did see the light, but they didn’t hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10I said ‘What should I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up, and go into Dammesek, and there you will be told about everything that has been laid out for you to do.’ 11I had been blinded by the brightness of the light, so my companions led me by the hand into Dammesek.

12“A man named Hananyah, an observant follower of the Torah who was highly regarded by the entire Jewish community there, 13came to me, stood by me and said, ‘Brother Sha’ul, see again!’ And at that very moment, I recovered my sight and saw him. 14He said, ‘The God of our fathers determined in advance that you should know his will, see the Tzaddik and hear his voice; 15because you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. 16So now, what are you waiting for? Get up, immerse yourself and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.’

17“After I had returned to Yerushalayim, it happened that as I was praying in the Temple, I went into a trance, 18and I saw Yeshua. ‘Hurry!’ he said to me, ‘Get out of Yerushalayim immediately, because they will not accept what you have to say about me.’ 19I said, ‘Lord, they know themselves that in every synagogue I used to imprison and flog those who trusted in you; 20also that when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing there too, in full agreement; I was even looking after the clothes of the ones who were killing him!’ 21But he said, ‘Get going! For I am going to send you far away — to the Goyim!’”

22They had been listening to him up to this point; but now they shouted at the top of their lungs, “Rid the earth of such a man! He’s not fit to live!” 23They were screaming, waving their clothes and throwing dust into the air; 24so the commander ordered him brought into the barracks and directed that he be interrogated and whipped, in order to find out why they were yelling at him like this.

25But as they were stretching him out with thongs to be flogged, Sha’ul said to the captain standing by, “Is it legal for you to whip a man who is a Roman citizen and hasn’t even had a trial?” 26When the captain heard that, he went and reported it to the commander, “Do you realize what you’re doing? This man is a Roman citizen!” 27The commander came and said to Sha’ul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he said. 28The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a sizeable sum of money.” “But I was born to it,” Sha’ul said. 29At once the men who had been about to interrogate him drew back from him; and the commander was afraid too, because he realized that he had put this man who was a Roman citizen in chains.

30However, the next day, since he wanted to know the specific charge the Judeans were bringing against him, he released him and ordered the head cohanim and the whole Sanhedrin to meet. Then he brought Sha’ul down and put him in front of them.

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Acts of Emissaries of Yeshua (Act) 22: CJB

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Acts 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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