Acts 22

1Brothers and fathers, listen now as I explain myself.

2When they heard him speaking to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said:

3I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but raised in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was carefully trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as serious about serving God as any of you are today.

4I persecuted the followers of this Way, even to death. I arrested both men and women and threw them into prison,

5The high priest and the whole council can tell you this themselves. I even got letters from them to the Jewish leaders in Damascus. I went there to bring these people back to Jerusalem as prisoners, to be punished.

6About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.

7I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me: Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?

8I asked: Who are you, Lord? He replied: I am Jesus of Nazareth, the One you are persecuting.

9My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of Him who was speaking to me.

10I asked: What shall I do, Lord? The Lord said: Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told everything you have been assigned to do.

11My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the light had been so bright that it blinded me.

12A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a man who carefully obeyed the law, and all the Jews living there respected him greatly.

13He stood beside me and said: Brother Saul, receive your sight! And at that very moment I was able to see him.

14Then 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.

15You will be His witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.

16And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.

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

18I saw the Lord speaking to me. He said: Quick! Leave Jerusalem right away, because the people here will not accept what you say about me.

19I replied: Lord, these people know that I went from one synagogue to another. I put in prison and beat those who believe in You.

20And when they killed your follower Stephen, I stood there giving my approval. I even guarded the clothes of those who were killing him.

21Then the Lord said to me: Go, for I will send you far away to the non-Jewish people.

22The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted: Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!

23As they were shouting and taking off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,

24The commander ordered that Paul be taken into the fort. He directed that Paul be whipped and questioned, to find out why the people were shouting at him like this.

25As they stretched him out to whip him, Paul said to the army officer standing there: Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who has not even been found guilty?

26When the army officer heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. He asked: What are you going to do? This man is a Roman citizen.

27The commander went to Paul and asked: Tell me, are you a Roman citizen? Paul answered: Yes, I am.

28Then the commander said: I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship. Paul replied: But I was born a citizen.

29Those who were about to question him backed away at once. The commander himself became afraid when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

30The next day, the commander wanted to find out exactly why the Jews were accusing Paul. So he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the council to gather together. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.