22 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,) 3 I 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 toward God, has ye all are this day. 4 And iI persecuted kthis way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5 As 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. 6 nAnd 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. 7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they oheard not the voice of him that spake to me. 10 And 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. 11 And 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. 12 And pone Ananias, a qdevout man according to the law, rhaving a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, 13 sCame unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14 And 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. 15 For thou shalt be his awitness bunto all men of what cthou hast seen and heard. 16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and dbe baptized, and ewash away thy sins, fcalling on the name of the Lord. 17 And it came to pass, that, gwhen I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in ha trance; 18 And isaw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: kfor they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. 19 And I said, Lord, they know that lI imprisoned and mbeat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: 20 And 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. 21 And he said unto me, Depart: qfor I will send thee rfar hence unto the Gentiles. 22 And they gave him audience unto this word, and then slifted up their voices, and said, tAway with such a fellow from the earth: for uit is not fit that he should live. 23 And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, 24 The 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. 25 And 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? 26 When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. 27 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. 28 And the chief captain answered, With a great sum aobtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. 29 Then 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. 30 On 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.