Paul Speaks from the Steps

³⁷Just as Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the commander, "May I say something to you?" The commander replied, "You speak Greek? ³⁸Aren't you that Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a revolt and led four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?" ³⁹Paul said, "I am a Jew from Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. I beg you, permit me to speak to the people." ⁴⁰When the commander gave him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. When there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying, Chapter 22¹"Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense I'm about to present to you." ²When they heard that he was speaking to them in the Hebrew language, they became even quieter. Then he said, ³"I am indeed a Jewish man, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, but raised in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, trained according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, and I was zealous toward God, just as all of you are today. ⁴I persecuted this Way to the point of death, binding and delivering both men and women into prisons. ⁵The high priest and the entire council of elders can testify to this. I also received letters from them to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there to bring those who were there back to Jerusalem in chains to be punished. ⁶As I was on my journey and approaching Damascus around noon, suddenly a great light from heaven flashed all around me. ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' ⁸I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' ⁹Those who were with me saw the light and were afraid, but they did not understand the voice of the one speaking to me. ¹⁰I asked, 'What should I do, Lord?' The Lord said to me, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that has been appointed for you to do.' ¹¹Since I could not see because of the glory of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and I came into Damascus. ¹²A man named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews living there, ¹³came to me, stood beside me, and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I looked up and could see him. ¹⁴Then he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵For you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶And now, why are you waiting? Get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.' ¹⁷After I returned to Jerusalem, while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance ¹⁸and saw him saying to me, 'Hurry! Get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.' ¹⁹I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that I went from synagogue to synagogue imprisoning and beating those who believe in you. ²⁰And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, consenting to his death, and guarding the garments of those who killed him. ²¹Then he said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'" ²²The crowd listened to him up to this point. Then they raised their voices and shouted, "Away with such a man from the earth! He is not fit to live!" ²³As they were shouting, throwing off their cloaks, and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle and ordered that he should be examined by scourging, so that he might know why they cried out so against him. ²⁵As they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion standing by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?" ²⁶When the centurion heard this, he went and told the commanding officer, "Be careful what you do, for this man is a Roman." ²⁷The commanding officer came and asked him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" He said, "Yes." ²⁸The commanding officer replied, "I obtained this citizenship for a large sum of money." Paul said, "But I was born a citizen." ²⁹Immediately those who were about to examine him stepped back from him. The commanding officer also was afraid when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.