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
Paul’s Defense Before the Jerusalem Jews.#Paul’s first defense speech is presented to the Jerusalem crowds. Luke here presents Paul as a devout Jew (Acts 22:3) and zealous persecutor of the Christian community (Acts 22:4–5), and then recounts the conversion of Paul for the second time in Acts (see note on Acts 9:1–19). 1“My brothers and fathers, listen to what I am about to say to you in my defense.” 2When they heard him addressing them in Hebrew they became all the more quiet. And he continued, 3“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated strictly in our ancestral law and was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.#5:34; 26:4–5; 2 Cor 11:22; Gal 1:13–14; Phil 3:5–6. 4I persecuted this Way to death, binding both men and women and delivering them to prison.#8:3; 9:1–2; 22:19; 26:9–11; Phil 3:6. 5Even the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify on my behalf. For from them I even received letters to the brothers and set out for Damascus to bring back to Jerusalem in chains for punishment those there as well.
6“On that journey as I drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me.#9:3; 26:13; 1 Cor 15:8. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’#9:4; 26:14. 8I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazorean whom you are persecuting.’#9:5; 26:15; Mt 25:40. 9My companions saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.#9:7; 26:13–14. 10I asked, ‘What shall I do, sir?’ The Lord answered me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything appointed for you to do.’#9:6; 26:16. 11Since I could see nothing because of the brightness of that light, I was led by hand by my companions and entered Damascus.#9:8.
12#9:10–19. “A certain Ananias, a devout observer of the law, and highly spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13came to me and stood there and said, ‘Saul, my brother, regain your sight.’ And at that very moment I regained my sight and saw him. 14Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors designated you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of his voice; 15for you will be his witness#His witness: like the Galilean followers during the historical ministry of Jesus, Paul too, through his experience of the risen Christ, is to be a witness to the resurrection (compare Acts 1:8; 10:39–41; Lk 24:48). before all to what you have seen and heard. 16Now, why delay? Get up and have yourself baptized and your sins washed away, calling upon his name.’
17“After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry, leave Jerusalem at once, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19But I replied, ‘Lord, they themselves know that from synagogue to synagogue I used to imprison and beat those who believed in you.#8:3; 9:1–2; 22:4–5; 26:9–11. 20And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I myself stood by giving my approval and keeping guard over the cloaks of his murderers.’#7:58; 8:1. 21Then he said to me,#9:15; Gal 2:7–9. ‘Go, I shall send you far away to the Gentiles.’”#Paul endeavors to explain that his position on the law has not been identical with that of his audience because it has been his prophetic mission to preach to the Gentiles to whom the law was not addressed and who had no faith in it as a way of salvation.
Paul Imprisoned. 22#21:36; Lk 23:18; Jn 19:15. They listened to him until he said this, but then they raised their voices and shouted, “Take such a one as this away from the earth. It is not right that he should live.”#Paul’s suggestion that his prophetic mission to the Gentiles did not involve his imposing the law on them provokes the same opposition as occurred in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:45). 23And as they were yelling and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24the cohort commander ordered him to be brought into the compound and gave instruction that he be interrogated under the lash to determine the reason why they were making such an outcry against him. 25#16:37. But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion on duty, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and has not been tried?”#Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and has not been tried?: see note on Acts 16:37. 26When the centurion heard this, he went to the cohort commander and reported it, saying, “What are you going to do? This man is a Roman citizen.” 27Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he answered. 28The commander replied, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” Paul said, “But I was born one.” 29At once those who were going to interrogate him backed away from him, and the commander became alarmed when he realized that he was a Roman citizen and that he had had him bound.
Paul Before the Sanhedrin. 30The next day, wishing to determine the truth about why he was being accused by the Jews, he freed him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene. Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them.
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