| Chapter 22
|
| 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. |
