Read the Bible

Paul's Defense before the Jews

¹ "^(C1)Brethren and fathers (kinsmen), hear my defense which I now offer to you."

² When they heard that he was addressing them in the ^(C1)Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet. And he continued,

³ "^(C1)I am ^(C2)a Jew, born in ^(C3)Tarsus of ^(C4)Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of ^(F1)(C5)Gamaliel ^(C6)according to the strictness of the law of our fathers, being ardent and passionate for God just as ^(C7)all of you are today.⁴ "^(C1)I persecuted and pursued the followers of this ^(F1)(C2)Way to the death, binding them with chains and putting followers of Jesus both men and women into prisons,⁵ as ^(C1)the high priest and all the ^(C2)Council of the elders (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) can testify; because from them I ^(C3)received letters to ^(C4)the brothers, and I was on my way to ^(C3)Damascus in order to bring those believers who were there to Jerusalem in chains to be punished.

⁶ "^(C1)But as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a great blaze of light suddenly flashed from heaven and shone around me.⁷ "And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'⁸ "And I replied, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am ^(C1)Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.'⁹ "Now those who were with me ^(F1)(C1)saw the light, but ^(C2)did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.¹⁰ "And I asked, '^(C1)What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord answered me, 'Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that is appointed and destined for you to do.'¹¹ "But since I ^(C1)could not see because of the glorious intensity and dazzling brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.

¹² "And one ^(C1)Ananias, a devout man according to ^(F1)the standard of the Law, and ^(C2)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,¹³ came to see me, and standing near, he said to me, '^(C1)Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And ^(C2)at that very moment I recovered my sight and looked up at him.¹⁴ "And he said, '^(C1)The God of our fathers has ^(C2)appointed you to know His will, and to progressively understand His plan with clarity and power and to ^(C3)see the ^(C4)Righteous One Jesus Christ, the Messiah and to hear a message from His own mouth.¹⁵ 'For you will be ^(C1)His witness to all men testifying of ^(C2)what you have seen and heard.¹⁶ 'Now, why do you delay? ^(C1)Get up and be baptized, and ^(C2)wash away your sins by ^(C3)calling on His name for salvation.'

¹⁷ "Then it happened when I had ^(C1)returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple enclosure, that I ^(C2)fell into a trance (vision);¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, '^(C1)Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.'¹⁹ "And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know without any doubt that in one synagogue after another ^(C1)I used to imprison and ^(C2)beat those who believed in You and Your message of salvation.²⁰ 'And ^(C1)when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby approving and consenting to his death, and guarding the coats of those who were killing him.'²¹ "And the Lord said to me, 'Go, I will send you far away ^(C1)to the Gentiles.'"

²² They listened to Paul until he made this last statement, but now they raised their voices and shouted, "^(C1)Away with such a man from the earth! ^(C2)He is not fit to live!"²³ And as they were shouting and ^(C1)throwing off their coats getting ready to stone Paul and ^(C2)tossing dust into the air expressing their anger,²⁴ the commander ordered him to be brought into ^(C1)the barracks, stating that he was to be ^(F1)(C2)interrogated with a whip in order to learn why the people were shouting against him that way.²⁵ But when they had stretched him out ^(F1)with the leather straps in preparation for the whip, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, "Is it legal for you to whip ^(C1)a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned without a trial?"²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and said to him, "What are you about to do? This man is a ^(F1)Roman!"²⁷ So the commander came and asked Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" And he said, "Yes."²⁸ The commander replied, "I ^(F1)purchased this citizenship of mine for a large sum of money so how did you acquire yours?." Paul said, "But I was actually born a citizen."²⁹ So those who were about to ^(C1)interrogate him by torture immediately let him go; and the commander ^(C2)was also afraid when he realized that Paul was a Roman and he had ^(C3)put him in chains.

³⁰ But on the next day, ^(C1)wanting to know the real reason why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he ^(C2)released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole ^(C3)Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) to assemble; and brought Paul down and presented him before them.