Acts 22

1 'Men, brethren, and fathers, hear my defence now unto you;' —

“Brothers and Father, listen to the defence which I am about to make.”

2 and they having heard that in the Hebrew dialect he was speaking to them, gave the more silence, and he saith, —

When they heard that he was speaking to them in Hebrew, they were still more quiet; and Paul went on:

3 'I, indeed, am a man, a Jew, having been born in Tarsus of Cilicia, and brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, having been taught according to the exactitude of a law of the fathers, being zealous of God, as all ye are to-day.

“I am a Jew, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, but I was brought up in this city under the teaching of Gamaliel, and educated in accordance with the strict system of our ancestral Law. I was as zealous in God’s service as any of you who are here to-day.

4 'And this way I persecuted unto death, binding and delivering up to prisons both men and women,

In my persecution of this Cause I did not stop even at the taking of life. I put in chains, and imprisoned, men and women alike —

5 as also the chief priest doth testify to me, and all the eldership; from whom also having received letters unto the brethren, to Damascus, I was going on, to bring also those there bound to Jerusalem that they might be punished,

And to that the High Priest himself and all the Council can testify. For I had letters of introduction from them to our fellow Jews at Damascus, and I was on my way to that place, to bring those whom I might find there prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment.

6 and it came to pass, in my going on and coming nigh to Damascus, about noon, suddenly out of the heaven there shone a great light round about me,

While I was still on my way, just as I was getting close to Damascus, about mid-day, suddenly there flashed from the heavens a great light all round me.

7 I fell also to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why me dost thou persecute?

I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

8 'And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? and he said unto me, I am Jesus the Nazarene whom thou dost persecute —

‘Who are you, Lord?’ I replied. Then the voice said ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.’

9 and they who are with me the light did see, and became afraid, and the voice they heard not of him who is speaking to me —

The men with me saw the light, but did not hear the speaker’s voice.

10 and I said, What shall I do, Lord? and the Lord said unto me, Having risen, go on to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee concerning all things that have been appointed for thee to do.

Then I said ‘What am I to do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ The Lord said to me, ‘and there you shall be told all that you have been appointed to do.’

11 'And when I did not see from the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who are with me, I came to Damascus,

In consequence of that dazzling light I could not see, but my companions held me by the hand, till I reached Damascus.

12 and a certain one, Ananias, a pious man according to the law, being testified to by all the Jews dwelling [there],

There a man named Ananias, a strict observer of our Law, well spoken of by all the Jewish inhabitants, came to see me.

13 having come unto me and stood by [me], said to me, Saul, brother, look up; and I the same hour did look up to him;

Standing close to me, he said ‘Saul, my Brother, recover your sight.’ And then and there I recovered my sight and looked up at him.

14 and he said, The God of our fathers did choose thee beforehand to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice out of his mouth,

Then he said ‘The God of our ancestors has appointed you to learn his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear words from his lips;

15 because thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard;

for you shall be a witness for him to all the world of what you have just seen and heard.

16 and now, why tarriest thou? having risen, baptize thyself, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord.

And now why wait any longer: Be baptized at once, wash away your sins, and invoke his Name.

17 'And it came to pass when I returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, I came into a trance,

After my return to Jerusalem, while I was praying one day in the Temple, I fell into a trance,

18 and I saw him saying to me, Haste and go forth in haste out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me;

and saw Jesus saying to me ‘Make haste and leave Jerusalem at once, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

19 and I said, Lord, they — they know that I was imprisoning and was scourging in every synagogue those believing on thee;

‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘these people know that I used to imprison and scourge, in Synagogue after Synagogue, those who believed in you;

20 and when the blood of thy witness Stephen was being poured forth, I also was standing by and assenting to his death, and keeping the garments of those putting him to death;

and, when the blood of your martyr, Stephen, was being shed, I was myself standing by, approving of his death, and took charge of the clothes of those who were murdering him.

21 and he said unto me, Go, because to nations far off I will send thee.'

But Jesus said to me ‘Go; for I will send you to the Gentiles far away’.”

22 And they were hearing him unto this word, and they lifted up their voice, saying, 'Away from the earth with such an one; for it is not fit for him to live.'

Up to this point the people had been listening to Paul, but at these words they called out: “Kill him! A fellow like this ought not to have been allowed to live!”

23 And they crying out and casting up their garments, and throwing dust into the air,

As they were shouting, tearing off their clothes, and throwing dust in the air,

24 the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, saying, 'By scourges let him be examined;' that he might know for what cause they were crying so against him.

the Commanding Officer ordered Paul to be taken into the Fort, and directed that he should be examined under the lash, that he might find out the reason for their outcry against him.

25 And as he was stretching him with the thongs, Paul said unto the centurion who was standing by, 'A man, a Roman, uncondemned — is it lawful to you to scourge;'

But just as they had tied him up to be scourged, Paul said to the Captain standing near: “Is it legal for you to scourge a Roman citizen, unconvicted?”

26 and the centurion having heard, having gone near to the chief captain, told, saying, 'Take heed what thou art about to do, for this man is a Roman;'

On hearing this, the Captain went and reported it to the Commanding Officer. “Do you know what you are doing?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

27 and the chief captain having come near, said to him, 'Tell me, art thou a Roman?' and he said, 'Yes;'

So the Commanding Officer went up to Paul and said: “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” replied Paul.

28 and the chief captain answered, 'I, with a great sum, did obtain this citizenship;' but Paul said, 'But I have been even born [so].'

“I had to pay a heavy price for my position as citizen,” said the Officer. “I am one by birth,” rejoined Paul.

29 Immediately, therefore, they departed from him who are about to examine him, and the chief captain also was afraid, having learned that he is a Roman, and because he had bound him,

The men who were to have examined Paul immediately drew back, and the Officer, finding that Paul was a Roman citizen, was alarmed at having put him in chains.

30 and on the morrow, intending to know the certainty wherefore he is accused by the Jews, he did loose him from the bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their sanhedrim to come, and having brought down Paul, he set [him] before them.

On the next day the Commanding Officer, wishing to find out the real reason why Paul was denounced by the Jews, had his chains taken off, and directed the Chief Priests and the whole of the High Council to assemble, and then took Paul down and brought him before them.