Verse
BSB
Berean Standard Bible
ASV
American Standard Version
“Brothers
and fathers, listen
now to
my
defense
before
you. ”
Brethren
and fathers, hear
ye
the
defence
which
I
now make
unto
you.
When they heard him
speak
to
them in Hebrew, they became
even
more silent.
Then
Paul
declared
,
And
when they heard that
he
spake
unto
them in the
Hebrew language
, they were
the
more quiet:
and
he
saith
,
“
I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised
in this city .
I
was
educated
at the feet of Gamaliel in
strict
conformity
to the law of our fathers .
I
am
just
as
zealous for God as any
of
you
here
today.
I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought
up
in this city ,
at the feet of Gamaliel ,
instructed
according
to the strict
manner
of
the
law of our fathers ,
being
zealous for God ,
even
as ye
all
are
this
day:
I persecuted this Way even
to
the death, detaining
both men and women and
throwing
them
into
prison,
and
I persecuted this Way unto
the death, binding
and
delivering
into
prisons
both men and women .
as the high priest and the whole
Council
can
testify
about
me.
I even
obtained
letters from
them
to
their
brothers
in
Damascus
, and I
was
on
my
way
to apprehend
these
people
and
bring them to
Jerusalem to be punished.
As also
the high priest doth
bear
me
witness,
and all
the estate
of
the
elders:
from
whom
also
I received
letters unto
the
brethren
, and journeyed
to Damascus
to
bring them also
that
were
there
unto
Jerusalem in
bonds
to be punished.
About
noon
as I was
approaching
Damascus, suddenly a
bright
light
from heaven flashed
around
me.
And
it
came
to
pass,
that,
as I made
my
journey,
and
drew
nigh
unto
Damascus, about
noon,
suddenly there
shone
from heaven a
great
light
round
about
me.
I fell to
the ground and heard a voice say
to
me, ‘
Saul, Saul, why do
you
persecute
Me? ’
And
I fell unto
the ground ,
and heard a voice saying
unto
me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou
me?
‘
Who are
You
, Lord? ’
I
asked.
‘
I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you
are
persecuting,’
He
replied
.
And
I
answered,
Who art
thou
, Lord? And
he
said
unto
me,
I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou
persecutest
.
My
companions
saw
the light, but they could
not understand
the voice of the
One
speaking
to me.
And
they
that
were
with
me
beheld
indeed
the light, but they heard
not the voice of him
that
spake
to me.
Then
I asked
, ‘
What should
I do, Lord? ’
‘Get
up
and go into Damascus ,’
He
told
me.
‘
There you
will
be told all that
you
have
been
appointed to do. ’
And
I said
, What shall
I do, Lord? And the
Lord
said
unto
me,
Arise,
and
go into Damascus ;
and
there it
shall
be told thee
of
all things
which
are
appointed for
thee
to do.
Because
the brilliance
of the
light had
blinded
me
, my
companions
led me
by the hand into Damascus.
And
when
I
could
not
see
for
the glory
of that
light, being
led by the hand of
them
that
were
with
me
I
came
into Damascus.
There
a
man
named
Ananias, a devout observer
of
the law who
was
highly
regarded
by all the Jews living
there,
And
one
Ananias, a devout man
according
to
the law ,
well
reported
of
by all the Jews that
dwelt
there,
came and stood
beside
me .
‘
Brother Saul, ’
he
said,
‘
receive your
sight. ’
And at
that moment
I could
see
him.
came unto
me,
and standing
by
me said
unto
me,
Brother Saul, receive thy
sight. And in
that very
hour
I looked
up
on
him.
Then
he said, ‘
The God of our fathers has
appointed you
to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear His
voice.
And
he said, The God of our fathers hath
appointed thee
to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a
voice from
his
mouth
.
You
will
be His
witness to
everyone
of what you
have
seen and heard.
For
thou
shalt
be a
witness for
him
unto
all
men
of what thou
hast
seen and heard.
And now what
are
you
waiting
for
? Get
up
, be baptized, and wash your
sins
away, calling on His name. ’
And now why
tarriest
thou
? arise
, and
be baptized, and wash away thy
sins
, calling on his name.
Later
, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was
praying
at
the temple, I fell into a trance
And
it
came
to
pass
, that,
when I had returned to Jerusalem ,
and while
I
prayed
in
the temple, I fell into a trance ,
and saw the
Lord
saying to
me, ‘Hurry!
Leave
Jerusalem
quickly
, because the
people
here
will not accept
your
testimony about
Me. ’
and saw him
saying unto
me, Make
haste
, and
get
thee
quickly
out
of
Jerusalem;
because they
will not receive
of
thee
testimony concerning
me.
‘Lord,’
I answered
, ‘
they know very
well
that in
one
synagogue
after
another
I imprisoned and beat those
who
believed
in You.
And
I said
, Lord,
they themselves
know that I imprisoned and beat in every
synagogue
them
that
believed
on
thee:
And when the blood of Your
witness
Stephen was shed, I stood
there
giving
my
approval
and watching
over
the garments of those
who
killed
him. ’
and when the blood of Stephen thy
witness
was shed, I also
was
standing
by,
and consenting,
and
keeping
the garments of them
that
slew
him.
Then
He said to
me, ‘Go!
I will send you
far away
to
the Gentiles. ’”
And
he said unto
me, Depart:
for
I will send thee
forth
far hence
unto
the Gentiles.
The
crowd
listened
to
Paul
until
he
made
this statement.
Then
they lifted up their voices
and shouted
, “Rid
the earth of
him!
He
is not fit to
live !”
And
they
gave
him
audience
unto
this word;
and
they lifted up their voice,
and said
, Away
with
such
a
fellow
from
the earth :
for
it
is not fit that
he
should
live .
As they were
shouting
and throwing
off their cloaks
and tossing
dust into the air,
And
as they cried
out,
and threw
off their garments,
and cast
dust into the air,
the commander
ordered
that
Paul
be brought into the barracks.
He
directed
that Paul
be flogged
and
interrogated
to
determine
the
reason
for this
outcry
against him.
the chief
captain
commanded
him
be brought into the castle,
bidding
that he
should
be examined
by
scourging,
that
he
might
know
for what
cause
they
so
shouted
against him.
But
as
they stretched
him
out
to
strap
him down
, Paul said to
the centurion standing
there
, “
Is it lawful for you to flog
a Roman
citizen
without
a trial
? ”
And
when
they had
tied
him up
with
the
thongs
, Paul said unto
the centurion that
stood
by
, Is it lawful for you to scourge
a man
that
is
a Roman,
and
uncondemned
?
On
hearing
this,
the centurion went
and
reported
it to the commander.
“
What are
you
going
to do? ”
he
said.
“
This man is a Roman citizen
. ”
And
when
the centurion heard
it ,
he
went
to the chief
captain
and
told
him,
saying,
What art
thou
about
to do? for
this man is a Roman.
The commander
went
to
Paul
and asked
, “
Tell me, are
you
a Roman citizen
? ”
“Yes,”
he answered
.
And
the chief
captain
came
and said
unto
him
, Tell me, art
thou
a Roman? And
he said,
Yea
.
“I
paid
a high
price
for
my
citizenship ,”
said
the
commander
. “
But I was
born
a citizen,”
Paul
replied
.
And
the
chief
captain
answered,
With
a great
sum
obtained
I
this
citizenship. And
Paul
said,
But I am
`
a Roman'
born
.
Then those
who
were about to interrogate
Paul
stepped
back,
and the commander
himself
was alarmed
when he realized
that he had
put
a Roman citizen
in
chains
.
They
then that
were about to examine
him
straightway
departed
from
him:
and the chief
captain
also
was afraid
when he knew
that he was
a Roman ,
and
because
he
had
bound
him
.
The
next
day
the commander
, wanting
to learn
the real
reason
Paul
was accused by
the Jews, released
him and ordered
the chief priests and the whole
Sanhedrin
to assemble.
Then
he
brought Paul down and had
him stand
before them.
But
on
the morrow
, desiring
to know
the certainty
wherefore
he
was accused of
the Jews, he
loosed
him ,
and commanded
the chief priests and all
the council
to come
together,
and
brought Paul down and set
him before them.
Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible and American Standard Version. Public domain; source text distributed by BSB Publishing, LLC.; Public domain..