Acts 22:6–30

^6k“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. ⁷And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am ^lJesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ ^9mNow those who were with me saw the light but did not understand³ the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰And I said, ⁿ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

¹²“And ^oone Ananias, a devout man ^paccording to the law, ^qwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ^13rcame to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And ^sat that very hour I received my sight and saw him. ¹⁴And he said, ^t‘The God of our fathers ^uappointed you to know his will, ^vto see ^wthe Righteous One and ^xto hear a voice from his mouth; ¹⁵for ^yyou will be a witness for him to everyone of what ^zyou have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now why do you wait? ^aRise and be baptized and ^bwash away your sins, ^ccalling on his name.’

^17d“When I had returned to Jerusalem and ^ewas praying in the temple, I fell into ^fa trance ¹⁸and saw him saying to me, ^g‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ ¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another ^hI imprisoned and ⁱbeat those who believed in you. ²⁰And when the blood of Stephen ^jyour witness was being shed, ^kI myself was standing by and ^lapproving and ^kwatching over the garments of those who killed him.’ ²¹And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you ^mfar away to the Gentiles.’ ”

Paul and the Roman Tribune

²²Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, ⁿ“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For ^ohe should not be allowed to live.” ²³And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴the tribune ordered him to be brought into ^pthe barracks, saying that he should be ^qexamined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. ²⁵But when they had stretched him out for the whips,⁴ Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog ^ra man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” ²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” ²⁸The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” ²⁹So those who were about ^sto examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also ^twas afraid, ^ufor he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that ^vhe had bound him.

Paul Before the Council

³⁰But on the next day, ^wdesiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.