Acts 22:6–30

⁶“Now ^mit happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. ⁷And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’

⁹“And ⁿthose who were with me indeed saw the light ¹and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me. ¹⁰So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹²“Then ^oa certain Ananias, a devout man according to the law, ^phaving a good testimony with all the ^qJews who dwelt there, ¹³came to me; and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that same hour I looked up at him. ¹⁴Then he said, ^r‘The God of our fathers ^shas chosen you that you should ^tknow His will, and ^usee the Just One, ^vand hear the voice of His mouth. ^15wFor you will be His witness to all men of ^xwhat you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, ^yand wash away your sins, ^zcalling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷“Now ^ait happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance ¹⁸and ^bsaw Him saying to me, ^c‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ ¹⁹So I said, ‘Lord, ^dthey know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and ^ebeat those who believe on You. ^20fAnd when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by ^gconsenting ²to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ ²¹Then He said to me, ‘Depart, ^hfor I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”

Paul’s Roman Citizenship

²²And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, ⁱ“Away with such a fellow from the earth, for ^jhe is not fit to live!” ²³Then, as they cried out and ³tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air, ²⁴the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him. ²⁵And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, ^k“Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?”

²⁶When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.”

²⁷Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?”

He said, “Yes.”

²⁸The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.”

And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”

²⁹Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

The Sanhedrin Divided

³⁰The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them.