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Paul speaks to the crowd in Jerusalem

22 Paul said to the crowd, ‘Please, listen to me, you Jewish leaders and all you other people who are Jews like me. I want to explain to you what has happened here.’

2 The crowd heard Paul speaking to them in their own Hebrew language. So they became really quiet.

Paul continued to speak. He said, 3 ‘I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus in the region of Cilicia. I lived here in Jerusalem when I was a boy. I studied God's Law for many years and Gamaliel was my teacher. [ a ] I learned very well how to obey the laws of our ancestors. I tried to obey God as carefully as all of you do today.

4 I caused great trouble to the disciples of Jesus. I even wanted to kill them. I took hold of them and I put them in prison. I did that to both men and women. 5 The most important priest and all the group of Jewish leaders can tell you that this is true. They gave me letters for the Jewish leaders in Damascus. So I travelled to Damascus to take hold of the believers in that city. I wanted to tie them up and bring them back to Jerusalem. Then the leaders here could punish them.’

Paul tells the crowd how he began to believe in Jesus

6 Paul continued to say, ‘As I was travelling, I came near to Damascus. About midday, a bright light from the sky suddenly shone round me. 7 I fell down to the ground. Then I heard a voice that said to me, “Saul, Saul, why do you fight against me?”

8 “Lord, who are you?” I asked.

He said to me, “I am Jesus from Nazareth. And you are fighting against me.” 9 The men who travelled with me saw the light. But they did not understand the voice that spoke to me.

10 I asked, “Lord, what must I do?” He said to me, “Get up now and go into Damascus. When you arrive in the city, someone will come to you. He will tell you what God wants you to do.” 11 The bright light hurt my eyes so that I could not see. So the men who were with me held my hand. They led me into Damascus.

12 In Damascus, there was a man called Ananias. He worshipped God and he obeyed our Law. All the Jews in Damascus said good things about him. 13 Ananias came to see me. He stood near to me and he said, “Brother Saul, see again!” Then immediately I could see again. I could look at him.

14 Then Ananias said to me, “The God that we worship and our ancestors worshipped has chosen you. He will tell you what he wants you to do. God has let you see his special servant, who is completely good. You have heard this servant's message to you. 15 You will tell people everywhere about the things that you have seen and heard. That is what God wants you to do. 16 So now you do not need to wait any longer. Stand up and I will baptize you. Believe in the Lord Jesus so that God will forgive you for your sins.”

17 So then I returned to Jerusalem. I went into the temple and I was praying there. I had a vision. 18 In the vision, I saw the Lord and he spoke to me. He said, “Hurry. Leave Jerusalem quickly. The people here will not believe what you say to them about me.”

19 I replied, “Lord, the people here know what I have been doing. They know that I wanted to take hold of all the people who believed in you. I went to all our Jewish meeting places to look for the believers. When I found them, I put them in prison and I hit them with sticks. 20 I myself was there when the people killed Stephen. He was your servant who told people your message. But I agreed that it was right to kill him. I even held the coats of the people while they killed him.”

21 But the Lord said to me, “Go! I will now send you a long way away. You must go to the Gentiles and tell them my message.” ’

The people in the crowd become very angry with Paul

22 The people listened carefully to Paul until he spoke about the Gentiles. Then they began to shout loudly, ‘Take him away! Kill him! It is not right that he should live any longer!’

23 While they were shouting this, they were taking off their coats. They also threw dirt from the ground up into the air. [ b ]

24 The leader of the soldiers said to his men, ‘Take this man into our building. Then hit him with whips. We must find out what he has done. He must tell us why the Jews are shouting so loudly against him.’ [ c ]

25 So the soldiers tied Paul's arms and they were ready to hit him. But Paul spoke to the soldiers' officer who stood near to him. He said, ‘I am a citizen of Rome. So it is not right for you to hit me like that. No judge has agreed that I have done anything wrong.’

26 The officer heard what Paul said. So he went to the leader of the soldiers and he said, ‘That man is a citizen of Rome! Be careful what you do to him!’

27 So the soldiers' leader went to speak to Paul. He asked him, ‘Tell me. Are you really a citizen of Rome?’

Paul answered, ‘Yes, I am.’

28 The soldiers' leader said, ‘I paid a lot of money to the government so that I could become a citizen of Rome.’

Paul replied, ‘But I was already a citizen of Rome when I was born.’

29 Immediately, the men who wanted to hit Paul with whips moved away from him. The leader of the soldiers was also very afraid. He had tied chains around Paul's arms and legs. He knew that he should not have done that to a citizen of Rome. [ d ]

30 The soldiers' leader wanted to find the reason why the Jews had said bad things against Paul. He wanted to know what was really true. So the next day, he told his soldiers to remove the chains from Paul. He sent a message to the most important priest and to all the group of Jewish leaders. He told them to meet together with him. Then he took Paul to their meeting. He made Paul stand in front of them.

Footnotes

  1. 22:3 Gamaliel was a Pharisee. He taught Jewish boys and young men about God's Law. He was a very good teacher.
  2. 22:23 The Jews did this when someone had said bad things about God. They thought that Paul had done that, so they were very angry.
  3. 22:24 The soldiers would hit a person so that he would give them a true answer. A whip was a stick with long pieces of strong material fixed at one end.
  4. 22:29 The leader of the soldiers could hold a citizen of Rome in prison. But he should not put chains on the arms and legs of the citizen.

Paul Speaks to the People

22 Paul said, “My brothers and fathers, listen to me! I will make my defense to you.”

2 When the Jews heard Paul speaking Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said,

3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. I grew up in this city. I was a student of Gamaliel, [ a ] who carefully taught me everything about the law of our fathers. I was very serious about serving God, the same as all of you here today. 4 I persecuted the people who followed the Way. Some of them were killed because of me. I arrested men and women and put them in jail.

5 “The high priest and the whole council of older Jewish leaders can tell you that this is true. One time these leaders gave me some letters. The letters were to the Jewish brothers in the city of Damascus. I was going there to arrest the followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.

Paul Tells About His Conversion

6 “But something happened to me on my way to Damascus. It was about noon when I came close to Damascus. Suddenly a bright light from heaven shined all around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

8 “I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The voice said, ‘I am Jesus from Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’ 9 The men who were with me did not understand the voice, but they saw the light.

10 “I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that I have planned for you to do.’ 11 I could not see, because the bright light had made me blind. So the men led me into Damascus.

12 “In Damascus a man named Ananias [ b ] came to me. He was a man who was devoted to God and obeyed the Law of Moses. All the Jews who lived there respected him. 13 He came to me and said, ‘Saul, my brother, look up and see again!’ Immediately I was able to see him.

14 “Ananias told me, ‘The God of our fathers chose you long ago to know his plan. He chose you to see the Righteous One and to hear words from him. 15 You will be his witness to all people. You will tell them what you have seen and heard. 16 Now, don’t wait any longer. Get up, be baptized and wash away your sins, trusting in Jesus to save you. [ c ] ’

17 “Later, I came back to Jerusalem. I was praying in the Temple area, and I saw a vision. 18 I saw Jesus, and he said to me, ‘Hurry and leave Jerusalem now! The people here will not accept the truth you tell them about me.’

19 “I said, ‘But, Lord, the people know that I was the one who put the believers in jail and beat them. I went through all the synagogues to find and arrest the people who believe in you. 20 The people also know that I was there when Stephen, your witness, was killed. I stood there and agreed that they should kill him. I even held the coats of the men who were killing him!’

21 “But Jesus said to me, ‘Leave now. I will send you far away to the non-Jewish people.’”

22 The people stopped listening when Paul said this last thing. They all shouted, “Get rid of this man! He doesn’t deserve to live.” 23 They kept on shouting, ripping off their clothes and throwing dust into the air. [ d ] 24 Then the commander told the soldiers to take Paul into the army building and beat him. He wanted to make Paul tell why the people were shouting against him like this. 25 So the soldiers were tying Paul, preparing to beat him. But he said to an army officer there, “Do you have the right to beat a Roman citizen [ e ] who has not been proven guilty?”

26 When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and told him about it. The officer said, “Do you know what you are doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”

27 The commander came to Paul and said, “Tell me, are you really a Roman citizen?”

He answered, “Yes.”

28 The commander said, “I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen.”

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

29 The men who were preparing to question Paul moved away from him immediately. The commander was afraid because he had already put Paul in chains, and he was a Roman citizen.

Paul Speaks to the Jewish Leaders

30 The next day the commander decided to learn why the Jews were accusing Paul. So he ordered the leading priests and the whole high council to meet together. He had Paul’s chains taken off and had him brought in to face the council.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 22:3 Gamaliel A very important teacher of the Pharisees, a Jewish religious group. See Acts 5:34.
  2. Acts 22:12 Ananias In Acts there are three men with this name. See Acts 5:1 and 23:2 for the other two.
  3. Acts 22:16 trusting in Jesus to save you Literally, “calling on his name,” meaning to show faith in Jesus by worshiping him or praying to him for help.
  4. Acts 22:23 ripping … air These actions were signs of very strong anger.
  5. Acts 22:25 Roman citizen Roman law said that Roman citizens must not be beaten before their trial. Also at 23:27.

22 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.

2 (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)

3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

4 And I persecuted this 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 the estate of the elders: from 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 And 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 heard 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 one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,

13 Came 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, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.

15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

17 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

18 And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

22 And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it 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 the castle, and bade that he should be examined 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 Roman, and uncondemned?

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 obtained 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 was 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 his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.

Paul’s Defense before the Jews

22 “ ( A ) [ a ] Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the [ b ] ( B ) Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,

3 “ ( C ) I am ( D ) a Jew, born in ( E ) Tarsus of ( F ) Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated [ c ] under ( G ) Gamaliel, [ d ] ( H ) strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as ( I ) you all are today. 4 ( J ) I persecuted this ( K ) Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, 5 as also ( L ) the high priest and all ( M ) the Council of the elders [ e ] can testify. From them I also ( N ) received letters to ( O ) the brothers, and started off for ( P ) Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem [ f ] as prisoners to be punished.

6 “ ( Q ) But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am ( R ) Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 And those who were with me ( S ) saw the light, but ( T ) did not [ g ] understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ‘ ( U ) What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’ 11 But since I ( V ) could not see because of the [ h ] brightness of that light, I came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.

12 “Now a certain ( W ) Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and ( X ) well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there , 13 came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘ ( Y ) Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And [ i ] ( Z ) at that very moment I looked up at him. 14 And he said, ‘ ( AA ) The God of our fathers has ( AB ) appointed you to know His will and to ( AC ) see the ( AD ) Righteous One and to hear a [ j ] message from His mouth. 15 For you will be ( AE ) a witness for Him to all people of ( AF ) what you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you delay? ( AG ) Get up and be baptized, and ( AH ) wash away your sins by ( AI ) calling on His name.’

17 “It happened when I ( AJ ) returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I ( AK ) fell into a trance, 18 and I saw Him saying to me, ‘ ( AL ) Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another ( AM ) I used to imprison and ( AN ) beat those who believed in You. 20 And ( AO ) when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ 21 And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ( AP ) to the Gentiles.’ ”

22 They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “ ( AQ ) Away with such a man from the earth, for ( AR ) he should not be allowed to live!” 23 And as they were shouting and ( AS ) throwing off their cloaks and ( AT ) tossing dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered that he be brought into ( AU ) the barracks, saying that he was to be ( AV ) interrogated by flogging so that he would find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. 25 But when they stretched him out [ k ] with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it [ l ] lawful for you to flog ( AW ) a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this , he went to the commander and told him , saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27 The commander came and said to [ m ] Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen .” 29 Therefore, those who were about to ( AX ) interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also ( AY ) was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had [ n ] ( AZ ) put him in chains.

30 Now on the next day, ( BA ) wanting to know for certain why Paul had been accused by the Jews, he ( BB ) released him and ordered the chief priests and all ( BC ) the [ o ] Council to assemble, and he brought Paul down and placed him before them.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 22:1 Lit Men, brothers
  2. Acts 22:2 I.e., Jewish Aramaic
  3. Acts 22:3 Lit at the feet of
  4. Acts 22:3 Lit according to the strictness of the ancestral law
  5. Acts 22:5 Lit testifies for me
  6. Acts 22:5 Lit having been bound
  7. Acts 22:9 Or hear (with comprehension)
  8. Acts 22:11 Lit glory
  9. Acts 22:13 Or instantly ; lit at the very hour
  10. Acts 22:14 Lit voice
  11. Acts 22:25 Or for the whip
  12. Acts 22:25 Interrogation by torture was a procedure used with slaves
  13. Acts 22:27 Lit him
  14. Acts 22:29 Lit bound him
  15. Acts 22:30 Or Sanhedrin

22 1 “Brothers and fathers, ( A ) listen now to my defense.”

2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, ( B ) they became very quiet.

Then Paul said: 3 “I am a Jew, ( C ) born in Tarsus ( D ) of Cilicia, ( E ) but brought up in this city. I studied under ( F ) Gamaliel ( G ) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. ( H ) I was just as zealous ( I ) for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted ( J ) the followers of this Way ( K ) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, ( L ) 5 as the high priest and all the Council ( M ) can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates ( N ) in Damascus, ( O ) and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

6 “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. ( P ) 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

8 “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, ( Q ) whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, ( R ) but they did not understand the voice ( S ) of him who was speaking to me.

10 “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ ( T ) 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. ( U )

12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. ( V ) He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. ( W ) 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors ( X ) has chosen you to know his will and to see ( Y ) the Righteous One ( Z ) and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness ( AA ) to all people of what you have seen ( AB ) and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized ( AC ) and wash your sins away, ( AD ) calling on his name.’ ( AE )

17 “When I returned to Jerusalem ( AF ) and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance ( AG ) 18 and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’

19 “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison ( AH ) and beat ( AI ) those who believe in you. 20 And when the blood of your martyr [ a ] Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ ( AJ )

21 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ” ( AK )

Paul the Roman Citizen

22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! ( AL ) He’s not fit to live!” ( AM )

23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks ( AN ) and flinging dust into the air, ( AO ) 24 the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. ( AP ) He directed ( AQ ) that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” ( AR )

26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you going to do?” he asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

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

“Yes, I am,” he answered.

28 Then the commander said, “I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship.”

“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

29 Those who were about to interrogate him ( AS ) withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, ( AT ) in chains. ( AU )

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

30 The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. ( AV ) So the next day he released him ( AW ) and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin ( AX ) to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 22:20 Or witness
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