22:1 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense [which I
make] now to you.
22:2 (And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew
language, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
22:3 I am verily a man [who 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, being zealous towards God, as ye all are
this day.
22:4 And I persecuted this way even to death, binding and
delivering into prisons both men and women.
22:5 As also the high priest doth bear me testimony, and all the
estate of the elders; from whom also I received letters to the
brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them who were there
bound to Jerusalem, to be punished.
22:6 And it came to pass, that as I was passing on my journey,
and had come nigh to Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone
from heaven a great light around me.
22:7 And I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
22:8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said to me, I am
Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
22:9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were
afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spoke to me.
22:10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to
me, Arise, and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told
thee concerning all things which are appointed for thee to do.
22:11 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.
22:12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having
a good report of all the Jews who dwelt [there],
22:13 Came to me, and stood, and said to me, Brother Saul,
receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
22:14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that
thou shouldst know his will, and see that Just One, and
shouldst hear the voice of his mouth.
22:15 For thou shalt be his witness to all men of what thou hast
seen and heard.
22:16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and
wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
22:17 And it came to pass, that when I had come again to
Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a
trance;
22:18 And saw him saying to me, Make haste, and depart quickly
from Jerusalem; for they will not receive thy testimony
concerning me.
22:19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned, and beat in
every synagogue them that believed on thee:
22:20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also
was standing by, and consenting to his death, and kept the
raiment of them that slew him.
22:21 And he said to me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence
to the Gentiles.
22:22 And they gave him audience to this word, and [then] lifted
up their voices, and said, Away with such a [man] from the
earth: for it is not fit that he should live.
22:23 And as they cried out, and cast off [their] clothes, and
threw dust into the air,
22:24 The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the
castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that
he might know for what cause they cried so against him.
22:25 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the
centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man
that is a Roman, and uncondemned?
22:26 When the centurion heard [that], he went and told the
chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest; for this man
is a Roman.
22:27 Then the chief captain came, and said to him, Tell me, art
thou a Roman? He said, Yes.
22:28 And the chief captain answered, With a great sum I
obtained this freedom. And Paul said, But I was [free] born.
22:29 Then forthwith they departed from him who were about to
examine him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he
knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
22:30 On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty
why he was accused by 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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