Acts 22
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8
9 10 11
12 13 14
15 16 17
18 19 20
21 22 23
24 25 26
27 28
1 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.
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