Verse
BSB
Berean Standard Bible
KJV
King James Version
“Brothers
and fathers, listen
now
to
my defense
before
you. ”
Men,
brethren,
and fathers, hear
ye
my defence
which
I
make
now
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
in the
Hebrew tongue
to
them
, they kept
the
more silence:
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 verily
a man
which
am
a
Jew, born in Tarsus ,
a
city
in
Cilicia, yet
brought
up
in this city at the feet of Gamaliel ,
and
taught
according
to the perfect
manner
of
the
law of the
fathers ,
and
was
zealous toward
God ,
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
went
to Damascus, to bring them which
were
there
bound
unto
Jerusalem ,
for
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
was come
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
saw indeed
the light, and
were
afraid;
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 ,
having
a
good
report
of
all the Jews which
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 stood ,
and
said
unto
me ,
Brother Saul, receive thy
sight. And the
same
hour
I looked
up
upon
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
chosen
thee,
that
thou
shouldest
know his will, and see that
Just
One, and shouldest
hear the
voice of
his
mouth
.
You
will
be His witness to
everyone
of what you
have
seen and heard.
For
thou
shalt
be his witness 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 the
name of
the
Lord
.
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 was
come
again
to Jerusalem ,
even
while
I
prayed
in
the temple, I was
in
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:
for
they
will not receive
thy
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 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 thy
martyr
Stephen was shed, I also
was
standing
by,
and consenting
unto
his
death,
and
kept
the raiment
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
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
then lifted up their voices ,
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 cast
off their clothes,
and threw
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
to
be brought into the castle,
and
bade
that he
should
be examined
by
scourging;
that
he
might
know
wherefore
they
cried
so
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
as they bound
him with
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
. ”
When
the centurion heard
that,
he
went and told
the chief
captain,
saying,
Take
heed
what thou
doest:
for
this man is a Roman.
The commander
went
to
Paul
and asked
, “
Tell me, are
you
a Roman citizen
? ”
“Yes,”
he answered
.
Then
the chief
captain
came,
and said
unto
him
, Tell me, art
thou
a Roman? 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
freedom
. And
Paul
said,
But I was free
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
.
Then straightway
they
departed
from
him
which
should
have
examined
him:
and the chief
captain
also
was afraid,
after
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.
On
the morrow
, because
he
would
have
known
the certainty
wherefore
he
was accused of
the Jews, he
loosed
him from
his
bands,
and commanded
the chief priests and all
their
council
to appear,
and
brought Paul down ,
and set
him before them.
Scripture text: Berean Standard Bible and King James Version. Public domain; source text distributed by BSB Publishing, LLC.; UK publication rights are administered by the Crown's patentee; public domain in most other jurisdictions..