1 “Brothers
and
fathers,
listen now
to my
defense.”
2 When
they heard
him speak
to them in
Aramaic,
they
became
very
quiet.
Then Paul said:
3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,
5 as the
high
priest and
all the
Council
can
themselves
testify. I
even
obtained
letters
from them
to their
associates
in
Damascus,
and went
there to
bring
these
people as
prisoners
to
Jerusalem
to be
punished.
6 “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.
7 I fell
to the
ground and
heard a
voice say
to me,
‘Saul!
Saul! Why
do you
persecute
me?’
8 “‘Who
are you,
Lord?’ I
asked.
“ ‘I am
Jesus of
Nazareth,
whom you
are
persecuting,’
he
replied.
9 My
companions
saw the
light, but
they did
not
understand
the voice
of him who
was
speaking
to me.
10 “‘What
shall I
do, Lord?’
I asked.
“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’
11 My
companions
led me by
the hand
into
Damascus,
because
the
brilliance
of the
light had
blinded
me.
12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.
13 He
stood
beside me
and said,
‘Brother
Saul,
receive
your
sight!’
And at
that very
moment I
was able
to see
him.
14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.
15 You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.
16 And now
what are
you
waiting
for? Get
up, be
baptized
and wash
your sins
away,
calling on
his name.’
17 “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance
18 and saw
the Lord
speaking
to me.
‘Quick!’
he said.
‘Leave
Jerusalem
immediately,
because
the people
here will
not accept
your
testimony
about me.’
19 “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.
20 And
when the
blood of
your
martyr
Stephen
was shed,
I stood
there
giving my
approval
and
guarding
the
clothes of
those who
were
killing
him.’
21 “Then
the Lord
said to
me, ‘Go; I
will send
you far
away to
the
Gentiles.’
”
Paul the
Roman
Citizen
22 The
crowd
listened
to Paul
until he
said this.
Then they
raised
their
voices and
shouted,
“Rid the
earth of
him! He’s
not fit to
live!”
23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,
24 the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this.
25 As they
stretched
him out to
flog him,
Paul said
to the
centurion
standing
there, “Is
it legal
for you to
flog a
Roman
citizen
who hasn’t
even been
found
guilty?”
26 When
the
centurion
heard
this, he
went to
the
commander
and
reported
it. “What
are you
going to
do?” he
asked.
“This man
is a Roman
citizen.”
27 The
commander
went to
Paul and
asked,
“Tell me,
are you a
Roman
citizen?”
“Yes, I
am,” he
answered.
28 Then
the
commander
said, “I
had to pay
a lot of
money for
my
citizenship.”
“But I was
born a
citizen,”
Paul
replied.
29 Those
who were
about to
interrogate
him
withdrew
immediately.
The
commander
himself
was
alarmed
when he
realized
that he
had put
Paul, a
Roman
citizen,
in chains.
Paul
Before the
Sanhedrin
30 The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.