Acts 22

¹Brothers and fathers , hear the defense that I now make before you .

²And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language , they became even more quiet . And he said :

³I am a Jew , born in Tarsus in Cilicia , but brought up in this city , educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers , being zealous for God as all of you are this day .

⁴I persecuted this Way to the death , binding and delivering to prison both men and women ,

⁵as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness . From them I received letters to the brothers , and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished .

⁶As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus , about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me .

⁷And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me , Saul , Saul , why are you persecuting me ?

⁸And I answered , Who are you, Lord ? And he said to me , I am Jesus of Nazareth , whom you are persecuting .

⁹Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me .

¹⁰And I said , What shall I do , Lord ? And the Lord said to me , Rise , and go into Damascus , and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do .

¹¹And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light , I was led by the hand by those who were with me , and came into Damascus .

¹²And one Ananias , a devout man according to the law , well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

¹³came to me , and standing by me said to me , Brother Saul , receive your sight . And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him .

¹⁴And he said , The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will , to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth ;

¹⁵for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard .

¹⁶And now why do you wait ? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins , calling on his name .

¹⁷When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple , I fell into a trance

¹⁸and saw him saying to me , Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly , because they will not accept your testimony about me .

¹⁹And I said , Lord , they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you .

²⁰And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed , I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him .

²¹And he said to me , Go , for I will send you far away to the Gentiles .

²²Up to this word they listened to him . Then they raised their voices and said , Away with such a fellow from the earth ! For he should not be allowed to live .

²³And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air ,

²⁴the tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks , saying that he should be examined by flogging , to find out why they were shouting against him like this .

²⁵But when they had stretched him out for the whips , Paul said to the centurion who was standing by , Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned ?

²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him , What are you about to do ? For this man is a Roman citizen.

²⁷So the tribune came and said to him , Tell me , are you a Roman citizen? And he said , Yes .

²⁸The tribune answered , I bought this citizenship for a large sum . Paul said , But I am a citizen by birth .

²⁹So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately , and the tribune also was afraid , for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him .

³⁰But on the next day , desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews , he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet , and he brought Paul down and set him before them .