¹⁷ After we arrived in Jerusalem, ^(A)the brothers and sisters received us gladly. ¹⁸ And the following day Paul went in with us to ^[a](B)James, and all ^(C)the elders were present. ¹⁹ After he had greeted them, he ^(D)began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ^(E)ministry. ²⁰ And when they heard about them, they began ^(F)glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many ^[b]thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all ^(G)zealous for the Law; ²¹ and they have been told about you, that you are ^(H)teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to abandon Moses, telling them ^(I)not to circumcise their children nor to ^[c]walk according to ^(J)the customs. ²² So what is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³ Therefore, do ^[d]as we tell you: we have four men who ^(K)have a ^[e]vow upon themselves; ²⁴ take them along and ^(L)purify yourself together with them, and ^[f]pay their expenses so that they may ^(M)shave their ^[g]heads; and then everyone will know that there is nothing to what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also conform, keeping the Law. ²⁵ But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we sent a letter, ^(N)having decided that they should abstain from ^[h]meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and what is ^[i]strangled, and from sexual immorality.” ²⁶ Then Paul ^[j]took along the men, and the next day, after ^(O)purifying himself together with them, he ^(P)went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

Paul Seized in the Temple

²⁷ When ^(Q)the seven days were almost over, ^(R)the Jews from ^[k](S)Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him, ²⁸ crying out, “Men of Israel, help! ^(T)This is the man who instructs everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has ^(U)defiled this holy place!” ²⁹ For they had previously seen ^(V)Trophimus the ^(W)Ephesian in the city with him, and they thought that Paul had brought him into the temple. ³⁰ Then the whole city was provoked and ^[l]the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they ^(X)dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. ³¹ While they were intent on killing him, a report came up to the commander of the ^(Y)Roman ^[m]cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ³² He immediately ^(Z)took along some soldiers and centurions and ran down to ^[n]the crowd; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered that he be ^(AA)bound with ^(AB)two chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ But among the crowd, ^(AC)some were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the ^[o]facts because of the uproar, he ordered that ^[p]Paul be brought into ^(AD)the barracks. ³⁵ When Paul got to ^(AE)the stairs, it came about that he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the ^[q]mob; ³⁶ for the multitude of people kept following them, shouting, “^(AF)Away with him!”

³⁷ As Paul was about to be brought into ^(A)the barracks, he *said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸ Then you are not ^(B)the Egyptian who some ^[a]time ago stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^(C)into the wilderness?” ³⁹ But Paul said, “^(D)I am a Jew of Tarsus in ^(E)Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰ When he had given him permission, Paul, standing on ^(F)the stairs, ^(G)motioned to the people with his hand; and when there ^[b]was a great silence, he spoke to them in the ^[c](H)Hebrew dialect, saying,

Paul’s Defense before the Jews

22 “^(I)[d]Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

² And when they heard that he was addressing them in the ^[e](J)Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,

³ “^(K)I am ^(L)a Jew, born in ^(M)Tarsus of ^(N)Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ^[f]under ^(O)Gamaliel, ^[g](P)strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as ^(Q)you all are today. ^4 (R)I persecuted this ^(S)Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, ⁵ as also ^(T)the high priest and all ^(U)the Council of the elders ^[h]can testify. From them I also ^(V)received letters to ^(W)the brothers, and started off for ^(X)Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem ^[i]as prisoners to be punished.

⁶ “^(Y)But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, 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 ^(Z)Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹ And those who were with me ^(AA)saw the light, but ^(AB)did not ^[j]understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ‘^(AC)What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ But since I ^(AD)could not see because of the ^[k]brightness of that light, I came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.

¹² “Now a certain ^(AE)Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and ^(AF)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³ came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘^(AG)Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And ^[l](AH)at that very moment I looked up at him. ¹⁴ And he said, ‘^(AI)The God of our fathers has ^(AJ)appointed you to know His will and to ^(AK)see the ^(AL)Righteous One and to hear a ^[m]message from His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be ^(AM)a witness for Him to all people of ^(AN)what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ Now why do you delay? ^(AO)Get up and be baptized, and ^(AP)wash away your sins by ^(AQ)calling on His name.’

¹⁷ “It happened when I ^(AR)returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I ^(AS)fell into a trance, ¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, ‘^(AT)Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ ¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another ^(AU)I used to imprison and ^(AV)beat those who believed in You. ²⁰ And ^(AW)when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ ²¹ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ^(AX)to the Gentiles.’”

²² They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “^(AY)Away with such a man from the earth, for ^(AZ)he should not be allowed to live!”