Ma`asei (Acts) 22
22
1“Men, brothers, and fathers, hear my defence before you now.”
2And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language,#See Acts 21:40; Acts 26:14 they kept greater silence. And he said:
3“I am indeed a Yehuḏi, having been born in Tarsos of Kilikia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamli’ĕl, having been instructed according to the exactness of the Torah of our fathers, being ardent for Elohim, as you all are today,
4who persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering up into prisons both men and women,
5as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the eldership, from whom I also received letters to the brothers, and went to Dammeseq to bring in chains even those who were there to Yerushalayim to be punished.
6And it came to be, as I was journeying and coming near Dammeseq, about noon, suddenly a great light shone around me out of the heaven,”
7and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Sha’ul, Sha’ul, why do you persecute Me?’
8“And I answered, ‘Who are You, Master?’ And He said to me, ‘I am יהושע of Natsareth, whom you persecute.’
9“And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear His voice speaking to me.
10“And I said, ‘What shall I do, Master?’ And the Master said to me, ‘Rise up, go into Dammeseq, and there you shall be told all that you have been appointed to do.’
11“And as I could not see because of the esteem of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Dammeseq.
12And a certain Ḥananyah,#See Acts 9:10; Acts 9:17 a dedicated man according to the Torah, being well spoken of by all the Yehuḏim dwelling there,
13came to me, and stood by and said to me, ‘Brother Sha’ul, look up.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him.
14“And he said, ‘The Elohim of our fathers# Exo. 3:15 has appointed you to know His desire, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear the voice from His mouth.
15Because you shall be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
16And now, why do you delay? Rise up, be immersed, and wash away your sins, calling on the Name of יהוה.’
17And it came to be, when I returned to Yerushalayim, and while I was praying in the Set-apart Place, I came to be in a trance,”
18and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Yerushalayim, speedily, because they shall not accept your witness concerning Me.’
19“And I said, ‘Master, they know that in every congregation I was imprisoning and beating those who believe on You.
20And when the blood of Your witness Stephanos was shed, I also was standing by giving my approval to his death, and keeping the garments of those who were killing him.’
21“And He said to me, ‘Go, because I shall send you far from here to the nations.’ ”
22And they were listening to him until this word, and then they lifted up their voice, saying, “Away with such a one from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live!”
23As they were shouting and tearing their garments, and throwing dust into the air,
24the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined by flogging, in order to find out why they were shouting so against him.
25And as they were stretching him out with straps, Sha’ul said to the captain who was standing by, “Is it permitted for you to whip a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?”
26And when the captain heard, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “Watch what you are about to do, for this man is a Roman.”
27And having come, the commander said to him, “Say to me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.”
28And the commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” And Sha’ul said, “But I was even born so.”
29Then at once those who were about to examine him withdrew from him. And the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
30And on the next day, intending to know for certain why he was accused by the Yehuḏim, he released him, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to come, and brought Sha’ul down and set him before them.
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Ma`asei (Acts) 22: TS2009
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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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