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Paul, a Citizen of Rome

22 And they were listening to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “(A)Away with such a fellow from the earth, for (B)he should not be allowed to live!” 23 And as they were crying out and (C)throwing off their garments and (D)tossing dust into the air, 24 the [a]commander ordered him to be brought into (E)the barracks, stating that he should be (F)examined by flogging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. 25 But when they stretched him out [b]with leather straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it [c]lawful for you to flog (G)a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” 26 And when the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported to him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27 And the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 And the commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I have been born a citizen.” 29 Therefore those who were about to (H)examine him immediately withdrew from him; and the commander also (I)was afraid when he learned that he was a Roman, and because he had (J)bound him.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 22:24 Military leader over 1,000 soldiers
  2. Acts 22:25 Or for the whip
  3. Acts 22:25 Interrogation by torture was a procedure used with slaves

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!(A) He’s not fit to live!”(B)

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

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

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