Verse
BSB
Berean Standard Bible
WEB
World English Bible
“
Brothers and fathers, listen now
to my
defense before
you. ”
"
Brothers and fathers, listen to the
defense which
I
now
make
to
you. "
When they heard him
speak
to them in Hebrew, they became
even more silent
. Then
Paul
declared
,
When they heard that
he
spoke
to them in the
Hebrew language
, they were
even more quiet
. He
said
,
“
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 indeed
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 you all
are
this
day
.
I persecuted this Way even
to the death, detaining
both men and women and
throwing
them
into
prison,
I persecuted this Way to 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 and all
the council of
the
elders
testify ,
from
whom
also
I received
letters to the
brothers, and traveled
to Damascus
to
bring them also
who
were
there
to Jerusalem in
bonds
to be punished.
About
noon
as I was
approaching
Damascus, suddenly a bright
light from
heaven
flashed
around me.
It
happened
that,
as I made
my
journey,
and
came
close
to
Damascus, about
noon,
suddenly there
shone
from
the
sky
a great
light around me.
I fell to the ground and heard a voice say
to me, ‘
Saul, Saul, why do
you persecute
Me? ’
I fell to the ground ,
and heard a voice saying
to me, '
Saul, Saul, why are
you persecuting
me? '
‘
Who are You, Lord? ’
I
asked.
‘
I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are
persecuting,’
He
replied
.
I
answered,
'
Who are you, Lord? '
He
said
to
me,
'
I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute
. '
My
companions
saw the light, but they could
not
understand the voice of the
One
speaking
to me.
"Those
who
were
with
me
indeed
saw the light and
were
afraid
, but they didn't
understand the voice of him
who
spoke
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. ’
I said
, '
What shall
I do, Lord? '
The
Lord
said
to
me,
'Arise,
and go into Damascus. There you will be told about
all things
which
are
appointed for
you
to do. '
Because
the brilliance
of the
light had
blinded
me
, my
companions
led me
by the hand into Damascus.
When
I
couldn't
see
for
the glory
of that
light, being
led by the hand of
those
who
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
,
One
Ananias, a devout man
according
to
the law ,
well
reported
of
by all the Jews who
lived
in
Damascus
,
came and stood
beside
me .
‘
Brother Saul, ’
he
said,
‘
receive your sight .’
And
at
that moment
I could
see
him.
came to
me,
and standing
by
me said
to
me,
'
Brother Saul, receive your sight !'
In
that very
hour
I looked
up
at
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.
He said, '
The God of our fathers has appointed you 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
you will be a
witness for
him
to all
men
of what you have seen and heard.
And
now what
are
you waiting
for
? Get
up
, be baptized, and wash your sins away
, calling on His
name. ’
Now why
do
you wait
? Arise
, be baptized, and wash away
your 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
"It
happened
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 to me, '
Hurry and
get
out
of
Jerusalem quickly, because they
will not receive
testimony concerning
me from
you
. '
‘Lord,’
I answered
, ‘
they know very
well
that in
one
synagogue
after
another
I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You.
I said
, 'Lord,
they themselves
know that I imprisoned and beat in
every
synagogue
those who believed in you.
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. ’
When the blood of Stephen,
your witness ,
was shed, I also
was
standing
by,
and consenting
to
his
death,
and
guarding
the cloaks
of those who killed him. '
Then
He said to me, ‘Go!
I will send you far away
to the Gentiles. ’”
"
He said to me, 'Depart,
for
I will send you out
far from
here
to 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! ”
They
listened to him
until he said
that;
then they lifted up their voice,
and said
, "
Rid the earth of this
fellow,
for
he isn't
fit to live! "
As they were
shouting
and throwing
off their cloaks and tossing
dust into the air,
As they cried
out,
and threw
off their cloaks ,
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 commanding
officer
commanded
him
to
be brought into the barracks ,
ordering
him
to be
examined
by
scourging,
that
he
might
know
for what
crime
they
shouted
against him like
that
.
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
? ”
When
they had
tied
him up
with
thongs
, Paul asked
the centurion who
stood
by
, "
Is it lawful for you to scourge
a man
who
is
a Roman,
and
not
found
guilty
? "
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
it ,
he
went
to the commanding
officer
and
told
him,
"Watch
what you are
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
.
The commanding
officer
came
and asked him
, "
Tell me, are you a Roman? "
He said,
"Yes
. "
“
I paid
a
high
price
for
my citizenship ,”
said
the
commander
. “
But I was born a citizen,”
Paul
replied
.
The
commanding
officer
answered,
"
I bought
my citizenship for
a
great
price
. "
Paul
said,
"
But I was born a Roman
. "
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
.
Immediately
those who were about to examine
him
departed
from
him
, and the commanding
officer
also
was afraid
when he realized that he was
a Roman ,
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 next day, desiring
to know
the truth
about
why
he
was accused by the Jews, he
freed
him from
the
bonds,
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 World English Bible. Public domain; source text distributed by BSB Publishing, LLC.; Public domain; “World English Bible” is a trademark of eBible.org..