³¹ While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³² He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.^(A)

³³ The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound^(B) with two^(C) chains.^(D) Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another,^(E) and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.^{(F) 35} When Paul reached the steps,^(G) the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶ The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”^(H)

Paul Speaks to the Crowd^(I)

³⁷ As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks,^(J) he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”

“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. ³⁸ “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the wilderness^(K) some time ago?”^(L)

³⁹ Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus^(M) in Cilicia,^(N) a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.”

⁴⁰ After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned^(O) to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic^[a]:^(P)

²³ As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks^(A) and flinging dust into the air,^{(B) 24} the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.^(C) He directed^(D) 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?”^(E)

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^(F) withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen,^(G) in chains.^(H)

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

³⁰ The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews.^(I) So the next day he released him^(J) and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin^(K) to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.