²²The people listened to Paul until he said this; but then they started shouting at the top of their voices, “Away with him! Kill him! He’s not fit to live!” ²³They were screaming, waving their clothes, and throwing dust up in the air. ²⁴The Roman commander ordered his men to take Paul into the fort, and he told them to whip him in order to find out why the Jews were screaming like this against him. ²⁵But when they had tied him up to be whipped, Paul said to the officer standing there, “Is it lawful for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been tried for any crime?”

²⁶When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked him, “What are you doing? That man is a Roman citizen!”

²⁷So the commander went to Paul and asked him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes,” answered Paul.

²⁸The commander said, “I became one by paying a large amount of money.” “But I am one by birth,” Paul answered.

²⁹At once the men who were going to question Paul drew back from him; and the commander was frightened when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had put him in chains.

Read in Logos