Acts 21:37-22:21

Revised Geneva Translation

³⁷ And as Paul was being been led into the castle, he said to the chief captain, “May I speak to you?” Who said, “Can you speak Greek?

³⁸ “Are you not the Egyptian who previously led a revolt, and led four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹ Then Paul said, “Doubtless, I am a Jew, and a citizen of Tarsus, (a famous city of Cilicia). And I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰ And when he had let him, Paul stood on the stairs and beckoned with the hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,

22 “You men, brothers and fathers, hear now my defense towards you!”

² And when they heard him speak in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept even more silent. And he said,

³ “I am indeed a man born Jewish in Tarsus in Cilicia but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel and instructed according to the perfect manner of the Law of the Fathers. And I was zealous toward God, as you all are this day.

⁴ “And I persecuted the Way to the death, binding and delivering both men and women into prison,

⁵ “to which the chief priest and all the company of the elders also testify. From them I also received letters to the brothers and went to Damascus to bind those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem, so that they might be punished.

⁶ “And so it was as I journeyed and had come near to Damascus (about noon) that suddenly a great light from Heaven shone all around me.

⁷ “So I fell to the earth and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?

⁸ “Then I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, Whom you persecute.’

⁹ “Moreover, those who were with me indeed saw a light and were afraid. But they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.

¹⁰ “Then I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord’? And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, and go into Damascus. And there you shall be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’

¹¹ “So, after I could not see because of the glory of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.

¹² “And one Ananias (a godly man as pertaining to the Law, having good report of all the Jews who dwelt there)

¹³ “came to me and stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And that same hour I looked at him.

¹⁴ “And he said, ‘The God of our Fathers has appointed you, that you should know His will, and should see the Just One, and should hear the voice of His mouth.

¹⁵ ‘For you shall be His witness to all mankind of the things which you have seen and heard.

¹⁶ ‘Now therefore why do you wait? Arise, and be baptized. And wash away your sins by calling on the Name of the Lord.’

¹⁷ “And it so happened that when I had again come to Jerusalem, and prayed in the Temple, I was in a trance.

¹⁸ “And I saw Him, saying to me, ‘Hurry. And get out of Jerusalem quickly. For they will not receive your witness concerning Me.’

¹⁹ “Then I said, ‘Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You in every Synagogue.

²⁰ ‘And when the blood of Your martyr, Stephen, was shed, I also stood by and consented to his death, and guarded the clothes of those who killed him.’

²¹ “Then He said to me, “Go. For I will send you far from here, to the Gentiles.’”