22 “^(A)Men, brothers, and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

² And when they heard that he was addressing them in the ^(B)Hebrew language, they became even quieter; and he *said,

³ “^(C)I am ^(D)a Jew, born in ^(E)Tarsus of ^(F)Cilicia, but having been brought up in this city, having been instructed at the feet of ^(G)Gamaliel according to the ^(H)strictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as ^(I)you all are today, ^4 (J)I persecuted this ^(K)Way to the death, binding and delivering both men and women into prisons, ⁵ as also ^(L)the high priest and all ^(M)the Council of the elders ^[a]can testify. From them I also ^(N)received letters to ^(O)the brothers, and started off for ^(P)Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem ^[b]as prisoners to be punished.

⁶ “^(Q)But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, ⁷ and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am ^(R)Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹ And those who were with me ^(S)beheld the light, to be sure, but ^(T)did not ^[c]understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ‘^(U)What should I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been determined for you to do.’ ¹¹ But since I ^(V)could not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹² “Now a certain ^(W)Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and ^(X)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³ came to me, and standing near, said to me, ‘^(Y)Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ And ^[d](Z)at that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. ¹⁴ And he said, ‘^(AA)The God of our fathers has ^(AB)appointed you to know His will and to ^(AC)see the ^(AD)Righteous One and to hear a ^[e]voice from His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be ^(AE)a witness for Him to all men of ^(AF)what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ Now why do you delay? ^(AG)Rise up and be baptized, and ^(AH)wash away your sins, ^(AI)calling on His name.’

¹⁷ “Now it happened when I ^(AJ)returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I ^(AK)fell into a trance, ¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, ‘^(AL)Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness about Me.’ ¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another ^(AM)I used to imprison and ^(AN)beat those who believed in You. ²⁰ And ^(AO)when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and guarding the garments of those who were slaying him.’ ²¹ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ^(AP)to the Gentiles.’”

Paul, a Citizen of Rome

²² And they were listening to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “^(AQ)Away with such a fellow from the earth, for ^(AR)he should not be allowed to live!” ²³ And as they were crying out and ^(AS)throwing off their garments and ^(AT)tossing dust into the air, ²⁴ the ^[f]commander ordered him to be brought into ^(AU)the barracks, stating that he should be ^(AV)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 ^[g]with leather straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it ^[h]lawful for you to flog ^(AW)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 ^(AX)examine him immediately withdrew from him; and the commander also ^(AY)was afraid when he learned that he was a Roman, and because he had ^(AZ)bound him.

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

³⁰ But on the next day, ^(BA)wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he ^(BB)released him and ordered the chief priests and all ^(BC)the Sanhedrin to come together, and brought Paul down and set him before them.