Acts 22
22
1“Brothers and fathers,” he said, “Please listen as I give my defense before you.” 2When they heard him speaking to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
3“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia,” he began. “However, I was brought up here in this city, and sat at the feet of Gamaliel. I was taught to strictly observe the law of our fathers. I was zealous for God, just like all of you here today, 4and I persecuted the people of this Way—having them put to death, and imprisoning both men and women.
5As the high priest and the council of the elders can also verify, I received from them letters of authorization addressed to the Jewish brothers in Damascus, and went there to arrest these people and bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
6At around noon, while I was on my way and approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven shone all around me. 7I fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
8‘Who are you, Lord?’ I answered.
‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting,’ he told me.
9Those who were traveling with me did see the light, but they didn't hear the voice that spoke to me.
10‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.
The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you'll be told everything that's arranged for you to do.’
11Since I couldn't see because of the brightness of the light, those who were with me led me by the hand into Damascus. 12There a man called Ananias came to see me. He was a religious man who observed the law, and was highly respected by the Jews who lived in the town. 13He stood in front of me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive back your sight.’ At that very moment I could see again, and I looked at him.
14He told me, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, to see the one who is truly good and right,#22:14. Referring to Jesus. and to listen to what he has to say to you. 15You will testify for him to everyone about what you have seen and heard. So what are you waiting for? 16Get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins as you call on his name.’
17I returned to Jerusalem, and as I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance. 18I saw a vision of the Lord telling me, ‘Hurry! You need to leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept what you are telling them about me.’
19I replied, ‘Lord, they certainly know that I went from synagogue to synagogue, beating and imprisoning those who trusted in you. 20When Stephen was killed for testifying about you I was standing there in full agreement with those who killed him, holding their coats for them.’
21The Lord told me, ‘Leave now, for I am sending you far away to the foreigners.’”
22Up until this point they had listened to what he was saying, but then they started shouting, “Get rid of this man from the earth—he doesn't deserve to live!” 23They screamed and tore off their coats and threw dust into the air. 24The commander ordered Paul brought into the fortress, and gave orders for him to be interrogated by flogging so he could find out the reason people were shouting so much against Paul. 25As they stretched him out and tied him down to flog him, Paul asked the centurion standing there, “Is it legal to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't had a trial?”
26When the centurion heard what Paul said, he went to the commander and asked him, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen.” 27The commander came, and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
Paul replied, “Yes I am.”
28“I paid a lot of money to buy Roman citizenship,” said the commander.
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29Those who were about to interrogate Paul left immediately. The commander was worried when he found out that Paul was a Roman citizen because he had placed him in chains.#22:29. It was illegal to place a Roman citizen in chains who had not first been found guilty.
30The next day, wanting to find out the reason why the Jews were accusing Paul, he had him released and taken before the chief priests and the whole council which he ordered to assemble. He had Paul brought down and placed him before them.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
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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