Acts 22
22
1Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you.
2(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
3 #
Acts 5.34-39. I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cili´cia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gama´li-el, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. 4#Acts 8.3; 26.9-11. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.
Paul Tells of His Conversion
(Acts 9.1-19; 26.12-18)
6And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 9And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid;#22.9 and were afraid not found in best early manuscripts. but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. 10And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. 11And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
12And one Anani´as, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, 13came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. 15For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. 16And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
Paul's Call to the Gentiles
17And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; 18and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. 19And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: 20#Acts 7.58. and when the blood of thy martyr#22.20 martyr or witness. Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. 21And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
Paul in the Custody of the Chief Captain
22And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. 23And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, 24the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. 25And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? 26When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest; for this man is a Roman. 27Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. 28And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free-born. 29Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
Paul before the Council
30On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Acts of the Apostles 22
22
Paul’s defense before his accusers
1“Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” 2When they heard him address them in Aramaic, they became even more quiet. 3Paul continued, “I’m a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but raised in this city. Under Gamaliel’s instruction, I was trained in the strict interpretation of our ancestral Law. I am passionately loyal to God, just like you who are gathered here today. 4I harassed those who followed this Way to their death, arresting and delivering both men and women into prison. 5The high priest and the whole Jerusalem Council can testify about me. I received letters from them, addressed to our associates in Damascus, then went there to bring those who were arrested to Jerusalem so they could be punished.
6“During that journey, about noon, as I approached Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven encircled me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice asking me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me?’ 8I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are harassing,’ he replied. 9My traveling companions saw the light, but they didn’t hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. 10I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up,’ the Lord replied, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told everything you have been appointed to do.’ 11I couldn’t see because of the brightness of that light, so my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
12“There was a certain man named Ananias. According to the standards of the Law, he was a pious man who enjoyed the respect of all the Jews living there. 13He came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ he said. Instantly, I regained my sight and I could see him. 14He said, ‘The God of our ancestors has selected you to know his will, to see the righteous one, and to hear his voice. 15You will be his witness to everyone concerning what you have seen and heard. 16What are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins as you call on his name.’
17“When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I had a visionary experience. 18I saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Hurry!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem at once because they won’t accept your testimony about me.’ 19I responded, ‘Lord, these people know I used to go from one synagogue to the next, beating those who believe in you and throwing them into prison. 20When Stephen your witness was being killed, I stood there giving my approval, even watching the clothes that belonged to those who were killing him.’ 21Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, “Away with this man! He’s not fit to live!” 23As they were screaming, throwing off their garments, and flinging dust into the air, 24the commander directed that Paul be taken into the military headquarters. He ordered that Paul be questioned under the whip so that he could find out why they were shouting at him like this.
25As they were stretching him out and tying him down with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Can you legally whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t been found guilty in court?”
26When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. He asked, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen!”
27The commander went to Paul and demanded, “Tell me! Are you a Roman citizen?”
He said, “Yes.”
28The commander replied, “It cost me a lot of money to buy my citizenship.”
Paul said, “I’m a citizen by birth.” 29At once those who were about to examine him stepped away. The commander was alarmed when he realized he had bound a Roman citizen.
Paul appears before the Jewish council
30The commander still wanted to know the truth about why Paul was being accused by the Jews. Therefore, the next day he ordered the chief priests and the entire Jerusalem Council to assemble. Then he took Paul out of prison and had him stand before them.
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