22:1 "Brethren and fathers," he said, "listen to my defence which I now make before you."

22:2 And on hearing him address them in Hebrew, they kept all the more quiet; and he said,

22:3 "I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I was carefully trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers, and, like all of you to-day, was zealous for God.

22:4 I persecuted to death this new faith, continually binding both men and women and throwing them into prison;

22:5 as the High Priest also and all the Elders can bear me witness. It was, too, from them that I received letters to the brethren in Damascus, and I was already on my way to Damascus, intending to bring those also who had fled there, in chains to Jerusalem, to be punished.

22:6 "But on my way, when I was now not far from Damascus, about noon a sudden blaze of light from Heaven shone round me.

22:7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, "`Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'

22:8 "`Who art thou, Lord?' I asked. "`I am Jesus, the Nazarene,' He replied, `whom you are persecuting.'

22:9 "Now the men who were with me, though they saw the light, did not hear the words of Him who spoke to me.

22:10 And I asked, "`What am I to do, Lord?' "And the Lord said to me, "`Rise, and go into Damascus. There you shall be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.'

22:11 "And as I could not see because the light had been so dazzling, those who were with me had to lead me by the arm, and so I came to Damascus.

22:12 "And a certain Ananias, a pious man who obeyed the Law and bore a good character with all the Jews of the city,

22:13 came to me and standing at my side said, "`Brother Saul, recover your sight.' "I instantly regained my sight and looked up at him.

22:14 Then he said, `The God of our forefathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the righteous One and hear Him speak.

22:15 For you shall be a witness for Him, to all men, of what you have seen and heard.

22:16 And now why delay? Rise, get yourself baptized, and wash off your sins, calling upon His name.'

22:17 "After my return to Jerusalem, and while praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance.

22:18 I saw Jesus, and He said to me, "`Make haste and leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.'

22:19 "`Lord,' I replied, `they themselves well know how active I was in imprisoning, and in flogging in synagogue after synagogue those who believe in Thee;

22:20 and when they were shedding the blood of Stephen, Thy witness, I was standing by, fully approving of it, and I held the clothes of those who were killing him.'

22:21 "`Go,' He replied; `I will send you as an Apostle to nations far away.'"

22:22 Until they heard this last statement the people listened to Paul, but now with a roar of disapproval they cried out, "Away with such a fellow from the earth! He ought not to be allowed to live."

22:23 And when they continued their furious shouts, throwing their clothes into the air and flinging dust about,

22:24 the Tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and be examined by flogging, in order to ascertain the reason why they thus cried out against him.

22:25 But, when they had tied him up with the straps, Paul said to the Captain who stood by, "Does the Law permit you to flog a Roman citizen--and one too who is uncondemned?"

22:26 On hearing this question, the Captain went to report the matter to the Tribune. "What are you intending to do?" he said. "This man is a Roman citizen."

22:27 So the Tribune came to Paul and asked him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said.

22:28 "I paid a large sum for my citizenship," said the Tribune. "But I was born free," said Paul.

22:29 So the men who had been on the point of putting him under torture immediately left him. And the Tribune, too, was frightened when he learnt that Paul was a Roman citizen, for he had had him bound.