Acts 22–23

^aMen, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. ²(And when they heard that he spake in ^bthe Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) ³I am verily a man which am ^ca Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city ^dat the feet of ^eGamaliel, and taught according to ^fthe perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and ^gwas zealous towards God, ^has ye all are this day. ⁴And ⁱI persecuted ^kthis way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. ⁵As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all ^lthe estate of the elders: ^mfrom whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there, bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. ⁶ⁿAnd it came to pass that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. ⁷And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? ⁸And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. ⁹And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they ^oheard not the voice of him that spake to me. ¹⁰And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. ¹¹And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. ¹²And ^pone Ananias, a ^qdevout man according to the law, ^rhaving a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, ^13scame unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. ¹⁴And he said, ^tThe God of our fathers hath ^uchosen thee, that thou shouldest ^wknow his will, and ^xsee that ^yJust One, and shouldest ^zhear the voice of his mouth. ¹⁵For thou shalt be his ^awitness ^bunto all men of what ^cthou hast seen and heard. ¹⁶And now why tarriest thou? arise, and ^dbe baptized, and ^ewash away thy sins, ^fcalling on the name of the Lord. ¹⁷And it came to pass that, ^gwhen I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in ^ha trance; ¹⁸and ⁱsaw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: ^kfor they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. ¹⁹And I said, Lord, they know that ^lI imprisoned and ^mbeat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: ²⁰and when the blood of thy ⁿmartyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and ^oconsenting unto his death, and ^pkept the raiment of them that slew him. ²¹And he said unto me, Depart: ^qfor I will send thee ^rfar hence unto the Gentiles.

²²And they gave him audience unto this word, and then ^slift up their voices, and said, ^tAway with such a fellow from the earth: for ^uit is not fit that he should live. ²³And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, ²⁴the chief captain commanded him to be brought into ^xthe castle, and bade that he should be ^yexamined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. ²⁵And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a ^zRoman, and ^zuncondemned? ²⁶When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. ²⁷Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. ²⁸And the chief captain answered, With a great sum ^aobtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. ²⁹Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also ^bwas afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

³⁰On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from ^chis bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their ^dcouncil to appear, and brought Paul ^edown, and set him before them.

XXIII.And Paul, ^aearnestly beholding ^bthe council, said, Men and brethren, I have ^clived ^din all good conscience before God until this day. ²And the high priest ^ddAnanias commanded them that stood by him to ^esmite him on the mouth. ³Then said Paul unto him, God shall smite thee, thou ^fwhited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten ^gcontrary to the law? ⁴And ^hthey that stood by said, Revilest thou God’s high priest? ⁵Then said Paul, ⁱI wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, ^jThou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people. ⁶But when Paul perceived that the one part were ^kSadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in ^bthe council, Men and brethren, ^lI am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: ^mof the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. ⁷And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the ^kSadducees: and the multitude was divided. ⁸For the ^kSadducees ⁿsay that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. ⁹And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees’ part arose, and strove, saying, ^oWe find no evil in this man: but ^pif a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, ^qlet us not fight against God. ¹⁰And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded ^qqthe soldiers to ^rgo down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into ^sthe castle.

¹¹And ^tthe night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for ^uas thou hast ^vtestified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also ^wat Rome. ¹²And when it was day, ^xcertain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. ¹³And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. ¹⁴And they came to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a ^ygreat curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul. ¹⁵Now therefore ye with ^bthe council signify to the chief captain that he ^zbring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would inquire something more ^aperfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him. ¹⁶And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ^blying in wait, he went and entered into ^cthe castle, and told Paul. ¹⁷Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him. ¹⁸So he took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee. ¹⁹Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me? ²⁰And he said, ^dThe Jews have agreed to desire thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul to morrow into ^ethe council, ^das though they would inquire somewhat of him more ^aperfectly. ²¹But do not thou yield unto them: for there ^flie in wait for him of them moe than forty men, which have bound themselves ^gwith an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee. ²²So the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, ^hSee thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me. ²³And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to ⁱCesarea, and horsemen threescore and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; ²⁴and provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix ^jthe governor. ²⁵And he wrote a letter ^kafter this manner:

²⁶Claudius Lysias unto the ^lmost excellent ^jgovernor Felix ^msendeth greeting. ²⁷ⁿThis man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with ^oan army, and rescued him, ^phaving understood that he was a Roman. ²⁸And when I would have known the cause wherefore they ^qaccused him, I ^rbrought him forth into their ^ecouncil: ²⁹whom I perceived to be ^qaccused ^sof questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge ^tworthy of death or of bonds. ³⁰And ^uwhen it was told me how that the Jews ^vlaid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and ^wgave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. ^xFarewell.

³¹Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³²On the morrow they left ^ythe horsemen to go with him, and returned to ^cthe castle: ³³who, when they came to ⁱCesarea, and delivered the epistle to ^jthe governor, presented Paul also before him. ³⁴And when ^jthe governor had read the letter, he asked of what ^zprovince he was: ^aand when he understood that he was of ^aCilicia; ^35bI will hear thee, said he, ^cwhen thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in ^dHerod’s ^ejudgment hall.

XXIV.