The In-Dept Study of the Bible
Apostles 22
1 “Brothers and fathers, listen to the
defense which I now make to you.”
2 When they heard that he spoke to them
in the Hebrew language, they were even
more quiet.He said,
3 “I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of
Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the
feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to
the stricttradition of the law of our fathers,
being zealous for God, even as you all are today.
4 I persecuted this Way to the death,
binding and delivering into prisons both
men and women,
5 as also the high priest and all the
council of the elders testify, from whom also I
received letters to the brothers, and
traveled to Damascus to bring them also
who were there to Jerusalem in bonds to
be punished.
6 “As I made my journey and came close
to Damascus, about noon suddenly a great
light shone around me from the sky.
7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice
saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you
persecuting me?’
8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He
said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom
you persecute.’
9 “Those who were with me indeed saw
the light and were afraid, but they didn’t
understand the voice of him who spoke to me.
10 I said, ‘What shallI do, Lord?’ TheLord
said to me, ‘Arise, and go into Damascus.
There you will be told about all things
which are appointed for you to do.’
11 When I couldn’t see for the glory of
that light, being led by the hand of those
who were with me, I came into Damascus.
12 “One Ananias, a devout man according to
the law, well reported of by all the
Jews who lived in Damascus,
13 came to me, and standing by me said
to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ In
that very hour I looked up at him.
14 He said, ‘The God of our fathers has
appointed you to know his will, and to
see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice
from his mouth.
15 For you will be a witness for him to all
men of what you have seen and heard.
16 Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized,
and wash away your sins, calling on
the name of the Lord.’
17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem
and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into
a trance
18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Hurry and
get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they
will not receive testimony concerning me
from you.’
19 I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know
that I imprisoned and beat in every
synagogue those who believed in you.
20 When the blood of Stephen, your witness,
was shed, I also was standing by,
consenting to his death, and guarding the
cloaks of those who killed him.’
21 “He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send
you out far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”
22 They listened to him until he said that;
then they lifted up their voice and said,
“Rid the earth of this fellow, for he
isn’t fit to live!”
23 As they cried out, threw off their
cloaks, and threw dust into the air,
24 the commanding officer commanded
him to be brought into the barracks,
ordering him to be examined by scourging,
that he might know for what crime they
shouted against him like that.
25 When they had tied him up with
straps, Paul asked the centurion who stood
by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man
who is a Roman, and not found guilty?”
26 When the centurion heard it, he went
to the commanding officer and told him,
“Watch what you are about to do, for this
man is a Roman!”
27 The commanding officer came and
asked him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?”
He said, “Yes.”
28 The commanding officer answered, “I
bought my citizenship for a great price.”
Paul said, “But I was born a Roman.”
29 Immediately those who were about to
examine him departed from him, and the
commanding officer also was afraid when
he realized that he was a Roman, because
he had bound him.
30 But on the next day, desiring to know
the truth about why he was accused by
the Jews, he freed him from the bonds and
commanded the chief priests and all the
councilto come together, and brought Paul
down and set him before them.