22 ¹ “Men, brothers, and fathers, hear my defense to you now”. ² And having heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they granted more quietness.

I Am a Jew Trained By Gamaliel, And Was Zealously Persecuting The Church

And he says, ³ “I am a Jewish man, having been born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but having been brought-up in this city; having been trained at the feet of Gamaliel^[a] in accordance with the strictness^[b] of the Law of ^[c] my ancestor^[d]; being a zealot for God just as you all are today— ⁴ who persecuted this Way to the point of death, binding and handing-over both men and women to prisons, ⁵ as indeed the high priest testifies concerning me, and the whole Council-of-elders, from whom also having received letters to the brothers, I was proceeding to Damascus to bring bound to Jerusalem even the ones being there, in order that they might be punished.

On The Way To Damascus For This Purpose, Jesus Spoke To Me And Blinded Me

⁶ “But it came about in my proceeding and drawing-near to Damascus about mid-day, that suddenly a great light from heaven flashed 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 answered, ‘Who are You, sir^[e]?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, Whom you are persecuting’. ⁹ And the ones being with me saw the light, but did not hear^[f] the voice of the One speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Having arisen, proceed into Damascus. And there it will be told you concerning everything which has been assigned^[g] to you to do’. ¹¹ But since I was not seeing because of the glory of that light, I came into Damascus being hand-led by the ones being with me.

Ananias Restored My Sight And Said God Appointed Me To Be His Witness

¹² “And a certain Ananias— a reverent man in-relation-to the Law, being attested by all the Jews dwelling there, ¹³ having come to me and having stood near— said to me, ‘Brother Saul, see again’. And I looked-up at him at the very hour. ¹⁴ And the one said, the God of our fathers appointed^[h] you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One and hear a voice from His mouth, ¹⁵ because you will be a witness for Him to all people of the things which you have seen and which you heard. ¹⁶ And now, why are you delaying? Having arisen, be baptized, and wash-away your sins, having called-upon His name’.

In a Vision At The Temple, God Said He Was Sending Me To The Gentiles

¹⁷ “And it came about at my having returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, that I came-to-be in a trance ¹⁸ and saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry, and go out from Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me’. ¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that throughout the synagogues I was imprisoning and beating the ones putting-faith upon You. ²⁰ And when the blood of Stephen Your witness was being shed, I myself also was standing-near and giving-approval and guarding the garments of the ones killing him’. ²¹ And He said to me, ‘Be going, because I will send you out far away to the Gentiles’”.

At The Mention of Gentiles, The Mob Erupts. The Romans Take Paul Away

²² And they were listening-to him up to this statement. And they raised their voice, saying, “Take away such a one from the earth, for it was^[i] not proper that he continue-living”. ²³ And while they were shouting and throwing-off their cloaks and throwing dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander ordered that he be brought into the barracks— having said that he should be interrogated with whips in order that he might learn for what reason they were calling-out against him in this manner. ²⁵ But when they stretched him out with^[j] the straps^[k], Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful^[l] for you to whip a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” ²⁶ And having heard it, the centurion, having gone to the commander, reported, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman”. ²⁷ And having gone to him, the commander said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And the one said, “Yes”. ²⁸ And the commander responded, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum [of money]”. And Paul said, “But I indeed have been born one”. ²⁹ So the ones being about to interrogate him immediately withdrew from him. And the commander also became afraid, having learned that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

The Romans Take Paul Before The Sanhedrin

³⁰ And on the next day, wanting to know the certainty as to why he was being accused by the Jews, he released^[m] him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to come together. And having brought Paul down, he stood him before them.