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brothers, and fathers, listen now to my defence before you.”
2 When they heard that he was speaking to them in the Hebrew language, they became very quiet.
Then Paul said: 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. It was at the feet of Gamaliel that I was thoroughly trained, according to the strict floor of our fathers. Being zealous for God, just as all of you are today, 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. I even received letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 “As I was still travelling and almost at Damascus, about noon a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 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 are persecuting’.
9 “My companions also saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of the One who was speaking to me.
10 “Then I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’
“And the Lord told me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus, and there you will be told about everything you have been assigned to do’. 11 Since I could no longer see because of the blinding brilliance of that light, those who were with me led me by the hand to Damascus.
12 “A man named Ananias came to see me there. He was a devout man according to the law, and he had a good reputation with all the Jews living there. 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight’! And at that very hour I regained my sight and was able to look at him.
14 “Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One and hear the sound of His voice. 15 For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now, why do you delay? Get up and be baptised, and your sins washed away, calling on His name’.
17 “After I returned to Jerusalem, I fell into a trance while I was praying at the temple, 18 and saw Him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me’.
19 “So I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You. 20 When the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I was also standing by and approving, and I guarded the clothes of those who killed him’.
21 “Then He said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles’.”
22 They listened to him up to this point, and then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of such a fellow! He is not fit to live!”
23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered that Paul was to be taken to the barracks. He directed that Paul was to be interrogated by scourging to find out why the mob was shouting against him like this. 25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing near, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?”
26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported this. He said, “What are you going to do? This man is a Roman citizen.”
27 The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes,” he answered.
28 Then the commander said, “I had to pay a large amount of money to obtain my citizenship.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29 Then those who were about to examine Paul by scourging withdrew from him straight away. The commander himself was also afraid after he found out that Paul was a Roman citizen, because he had bound him.
30 The next day the commander released Paul, because he wanted to find out why the Jews were accusing Paul, and he ordered the chief priests and the Sanhedrin to convene. Then he brought Paul to the meeting and had him stand before them.