Acts, Chapter 22
{22:1} "Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make
to you."
{22:2} When they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language,
they were even more quiet. He said, {22:3} "I am indeed a Yehudi, born
in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of
Gamli'el, instructed according to the strict manner of the law of our
fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are this day. {22:4} I
persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons
both men and women. {22:5} As also the [1>]Kohen Gadol[<1] and all the
council of the Zakenim testify, from whom also I received letters to
the brothers, and journeyed to Dammesek to bring them also who were
there to Yerushalayim in bonds to be punished. {22:6} It happened
that, as I made my journey, and came close to Dammesek, about noon,
suddenly there shone from the sky a great light around me. {22:7} I
fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, 'Sha'ul, Sha'ul,
why do you persecute me?' {22:8} I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' He
said to me, 'I am Yeshua of Natzeret, whom you persecute.' {22:9}
Those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they
didn't understand the voice of him who spoke to me. {22:10} I said,
'What will I do, Lord?' The Lord said to me, 'Arise, and go into
Dammesek. There you will be told about all things which are appointed
for you to do.' {22:11} When I couldn't see for the glory of that
light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into
Dammesek. {22:12} One Hananyah, a devout man according to the law,
well reported of by all the Yehudim who lived there, {22:13} came to
me, and standing by me said to me, 'Brother Sha'ul, receive your
sight!' In that very hour I looked up at him. {22:14} He said, 'The
God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the
Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth. {22:15} For you
will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard.
{22:16} Now why do you wait? Arise, be immersed, and wash away your
sins, calling on the name of the Lord.' {22:17} It happened that, when
I had returned to Yerushalayim, and while I prayed in the temple, I
fell into a trance, {22:18} and saw him saying to me, 'Hurry and get
out of Yerushalayim quickly, because they will not receive testimony
concerning me from you.' {22:19} I said, 'Lord, they themselves know
that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed in
you. {22:20} When the blood of Stephen, your witness, was shed, I also
was standing by, and consenting to his death, and guarding the cloaks
of those who killed him.' {22:21} He said to me, 'Depart, for I will
send you forth far from here to the Goyim.'"
{22:22} They listened to him until he said that, then they lifted up
their voice, and said, "Rid the [2>]eretz[<2] of this fellow, for he
isn't fit to live!"
{22:23} As they cried out, and threw off their cloaks, and threw
dust into the air, {22:24} the commanding officer commanded him to be
brought into the barracks, ordering him to be examined by scourging,
that he might know for what crime they shouted against him like that.
{22:25} When they had tied him up with thongs, Sha'ul asked the
centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is
a Roman, and not found guilty?"
{22:26} When the centurion heard it, he went to the commanding
officer and told him, "Watch what you are about to do, for this man is
a Roman!"
{22:27} The commanding officer came and asked him, "Tell me, are you
a Roman?"
He said, "Yes."
{22:28} The commanding officer answered, "I bought my citizenship
for a great price."
Sha'ul said, "But I was born a Roman."
{22:29} Immediately those who were about to examine him departed
from him, and the commanding officer also was afraid when he realized
that he was a Roman, because he had bound him. {22:30} But on the next
day, desiring to know the truth about why he was accused by the
Yehudim, he freed him from the bonds, and commanded the chief
[3>]Kohanim[<3] and all the council to come together, and brought
Sha'ul down and set him before them.
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Footnotes:
[1] {22:5} high priest
[2] {22:22} earth
[3] {22:30} priests
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