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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Acts 22: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
Acts 22
22
1“Brothers and fathers, listen as I now present my case to you.”
2When the mob heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then Paul continued, 3“I’m a Jew. I was born and raised in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia and received my education from Gamaliel here in Jerusalem. My education was in the strict laws handed down by our ancestors. I was as devoted to God as all of you are today. 4I persecuted people who followed the way ⌞of Christ⌟: I tied up men and women and put them into prison until they were executed. 5The chief priest and the entire council of our leaders can prove that I did this. In fact, they even gave me letters to take to the Jewish community in the city of Damascus. I was going there to tie up believers and bring them back to Jerusalem to punish them.
6“But as I was on my way and approaching the city of Damascus about noon, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice asking me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?’
8“I answered, ‘Who are you, sir?’
“The person told me, ‘I’m Jesus from Nazareth, the one you’re persecuting.’
9“The men who were with me saw the light but didn’t understand what the person who was speaking to me said.
10“Then I asked, ‘What do you want me to do, Lord?’
“The Lord told me, ‘Get up! Go into the city of Damascus, and you’ll be told everything I’ve arranged for you to do.’
11“I was blind because the light had been so bright. So the men who were with me led me into the city of Damascus.
12“A man named Ananias lived in Damascus. He was a devout person who followed Moses’ Teachings. All the Jews living in Damascus spoke highly of him. 13He came to me, stood beside me, and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that moment my sight came back and I could see Ananias.
14“Ananias said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the one who has God’s approval, and to hear him speak to you. 15You will be his witness and will tell everyone what you have seen and heard. 16What are you waiting for now? Get up! Be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.’
17“After that, I returned to Jerusalem. While I was praying in the temple courtyard, I fell into a trance 18and saw the Lord. He told me, ‘Hurry! Get out of Jerusalem immediately. The people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’
19“I said, ‘Lord, people here know that I went from synagogue to synagogue to imprison and whip those who believe in you. 20When Stephen, who witnessed about you, was being killed, I was standing there. I approved of his death and guarded the coats of those who were murdering him.’
21“But the Lord told me, ‘Go! I’ll send you on a mission. You’ll go far away to people who aren’t Jewish.’ ”
22Up to that point the mob listened. Then they began to shout, “Kill him! The world doesn’t need a man like this. He shouldn’t have been allowed to live this long!”
23The mob was yelling, taking off their coats, and throwing dirt into the air. 24So the officer ordered the soldiers to take Paul into the barracks and told them to question Paul as they whipped him. The officer wanted to find out why the people were yelling at Paul like this. 25But when the soldiers had Paul stretch out ⌞to tie him to the whipping post⌟ with the straps, Paul asked the sergeant who was standing there, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t had a trial?”
26When the sergeant heard this, he reported it to his commanding officer. The sergeant asked him, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen.”
27The officer went to Paul and asked him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
Paul answered, “Yes.”
28The officer replied, “I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen.”
Paul replied, “But I was born a Roman citizen.”
29Immediately, the soldiers who were going to question Paul stepped away from him. The officer was afraid when he found out that he had tied up a Roman citizen.
Paul in Front of the Jewish Council
30The officer wanted to find out exactly what accusation the Jews had against Paul. So the officer released Paul the next day and ordered the chief priests and the entire Jewish council to meet. Then the officer brought Paul and had him stand in front of them.
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