Acts 22

¹Acts 22:1. “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”²Acts 22:2. When they heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then Paul declared,³Acts 22:3. “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.⁴Acts 22:4. I persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison,⁵Acts 22:5. as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶Acts 22:6. About noon as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.⁷Acts 22:7. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’⁸Acts 22:8. ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied.⁹Acts 22:9. My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me.¹⁰Acts 22:10. Then I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ He told me. ‘There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’¹¹Acts 22:11. Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.¹²Acts 22:12. There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,¹³Acts 22:13. came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him.¹⁴Acts 22:14. Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear His voice.¹⁵Acts 22:15. You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard.¹⁶Acts 22:16. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’¹⁷Acts 22:17. Later, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance¹⁸Acts 22:18. and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your testimony about Me.’¹⁹Acts 22:19. ‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You.²⁰Acts 22:20. And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’²¹Acts 22:21. Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

²²Acts 22:22. The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”²³Acts 22:23. As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,²⁴Acts 22:24. the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.²⁵Acts 22:25. But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”²⁶Acts 22:26. On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”²⁷Acts 22:27. The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he answered.²⁸Acts 22:28. “I paid a high price for my citizenship,” said the commander. “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.²⁹Acts 22:29. At once those who were about to interrogate Paul stepped back, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.

³⁰Acts 22:30. The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.