Acts 22
Paul’s Defense to the Crowd
(Acts 9:1–19; Acts 26:1–23)
¹ “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”
² When they heard him speak to them in Hebrew,1 they became even more silent. Then Paul declared,
³ “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
⁴ I persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison,
⁵ as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
⁶ About noon as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.
⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’
⁸ ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied.
⁹ My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me.
¹⁰ Then I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ He told me. ‘There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’
¹¹ Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
¹² There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,
¹³ came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him.
¹⁴ Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear His voice.
¹⁵ You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard.
¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’
¹⁷ Later, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance
¹⁸ and saw the Lord 2 saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your testimony about Me.’
¹⁹ ‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You.
²⁰ And when the blood of Your witness 3 Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’
²¹ Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
Paul the Roman Citizen
²² The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”
²³ As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,
²⁴ the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.
²⁵ But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”
²⁶ On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”
²⁷ The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he answered.
²⁸ “I paid a high price for my citizenship,” said the commander. “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
²⁹ At once those who were about to interrogate Paul stepped back, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.
³⁰ The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin 4 to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.