Read the Bible

¹ "Listen to me all y'all cowboys and old-timers," Paul said. "Let me tell y'all what really happened." ² When they heard Paul talking in their language, it got real quiet.

³ Paul waited a moment and then spoke. "I'm a Jew, just like you. Born in Tarsus and went to school here in Jerusalem. Y'all all know Gamaliel. He was my teacher. He taught me all the Jewish ways and codes. I followed all of these to a T. No one was better at it than me. ⁴ I even hunted down Jesus's followers and either killed 'em or locked 'em up. It didn't matter if they were men or women, I hounded them day and night. ⁵ The head preacher and all the church bigwigs can attest to these truths. I even had letters from them to the head honchos in Damascus authorizing me to bring the Cowboys of the Way back to Jerusalem dead or alive.

⁶ "As we were getting close to Damascus, the time was around noon if I recollect, a ray of light came down from heaven and hit me square in the chest. ⁷ I fell off my horse and heard a voice say, 'Saul, why are you hell-bent on destroying what was heaven-sent?'

⁸ "'Who are you, Boss?' I asked shakily.

"'I'm Jesus from Nazareth. I'm the one you're hunting down and trying to kill.' ⁹ The people with me saw the light, but didn't hear the voice talking to me.

¹⁰ "I asked, 'What do you want from me, Lord?'

"The Lord said to me, 'Get up off the ground and head into Damascus. Then you will be given further orders.'

¹¹ "Now y'all have to understand, that light had completely blinded me. I couldn't have seen the sun if I was four inches from it. My companions had to lead me into Damascus like a donkey. ¹² A cowboy named Ananias lived there and came out to meet us. He was a godly man and was devoted to the Code.¹³ He was a popular fellow there. When he came up to me, he said, 'Open your eyes and see for the first time.' And right then, my vision returned.

¹⁴ "Then Ananias said, 'God himself has handpicked you for an important mission. He let you see and hear from the Top Hand himself. ¹⁵ You are going to tell everyone what you've seen and heard. This is your mission. ¹⁶ So quit lollygagging around and get to it. It's time to be baptized and get your sins washed away by the Top Hand.'

¹⁷ "I did all that and then returned to Jerusalem. One day I was praying in the Big Church and fell into some sort of trance. ¹⁸ Jesus, the Top Hand, was standing in front of me and said, 'Get out of here now. Folks in Jerusalem aren't going to believe what you say about me.'

¹⁹ "'But, Boss,' I said, 'I'm the best cowboy for the job. All these people know I hunted your followers like coyotes. ²⁰ And when your cowboy Steve was killed, I held the jackets of the assassins and cheered them on. When they see my turn around, won't they see the truth?'

²¹ "But Jesus said, 'Saddle up and go. Your job isn't to ride pens at the headquarters. You're headed out to gather mavericks in the rough country.'"

²² Everyone was listening intently up until Paul said he was to go gather mavericks. All hell broke loose, and everyone started yelling for his death. ²³ Everyone was screaming, taking off their coats, and slinging dirt in the air.

Paul Tells about His Citizenship

²⁴ The commander grabbed Paul and took him inside where the soldiers were commanded to lash Paul until he confessed his crimes. The commander figured Paul must be guilty of something for all those folks to act like that. ²⁵ They had just tied Paul down when he said, "Do you think it's a good idea to whip a Roman citizen without a trial?"

²⁶ This rattled the centurion and he went and asked the commander, "Did you know this guy is a Roman citizen?"

²⁷ The commander told them to hold up and went over to Paul and asked, "Are you a Roman citizen?"

"Yes, sir," Paul said matter-of-factly.

²⁸ "I am, too," the commander said. "My citizenship cost me everything I had. How much did it cost you?"

Paul said, "Nothing. I was born a Roman citizen."

²⁹ Everyone backed away from Paul. None of the soldiers wanted to be blamed for whipping a Roman citizen without a trial. The commander's face went white because he'd come close to making a fatal mistake.

Paul Stands in Front of the Bigwigs

³⁰ The next day, the commander wanted to get to the bottom of all this. He ordered the Jewish High Council to have a meeting and he took Paul to stand up in front of them.