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Chapter 22 |
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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.
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| 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.
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| 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, |
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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. |
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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. |
