Paul Speaks to the People

22 ¹Paul said, "My brothers and my fathers, listen to me! I will make my defense to you." ²The Jews heard Paul speaking the Jewish language.* So they became very quiet. Paul said, ³"I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus in the country of Cilicia. I grew up in this city (Jerusalem). I was a student of Gamaliel.* He carefully taught me everything about the law of our fathers.* I was very serious about serving God, the same as all of you here today. ⁴I persecuted* the people that followed the Way [of Jesus]. Some of them were killed because of me. I arrested men and women. I put them in jail. ⁵The high priest* and the whole council of older Jewish leaders can tell you that this is true! One time these leaders gave me some letters. The letters were to the Jewish brothers in the city of Damascus. I was going there to arrest the followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.

Paul Tells About His Conversion

⁶"But something happened to me on my way to Damascus. It was about noon when I came close to Damascus. Suddenly a bright light from the sky shined all around me. ⁷I fell to the ground. I heard a voice saying to me: 'Saul, Saul, why are you doing these bad things to me?' ⁸I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' The voice said, 'I am Jesus from Nazareth. I am the One you are persecuting.' ⁹The men who were with me did not understand the voice. But they saw the light. ¹⁰I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' The Lord (Jesus) answered, 'Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told all the things I have planned for you to do.' ¹¹I could not see, because the bright light had made me blind. So the men led me into Damascus. ¹²"In Damascus a man named Ananias* came to me. Ananias was a man that truly worshiped God; he obeyed the law [of Moses]. All the Jews who lived there respected him. ¹³Ananias came to me and said, 'Saul, my brother, you can see again!' Immediately I was able to see him. ¹⁴Ananias told me, 'The God of our fathers* chose you long ago. God chose you to know his plan. He chose you to see the Righteous One (Jesus) and to hear words from him. ¹⁵You will be his witness to all people. You will tell men about the things you have seen and heard. ¹⁶Now, don't wait any longer. Get up, be baptized* and wash your sins away. Do this, trusting in him (Jesus) [to save you].' ¹⁷"Later, I came back to Jerusalem. I was praying in the temple* yard, and I saw a vision.* ¹⁸I saw Jesus, and Jesus said to me: 'Hurry! Leave Jerusalem now! The people here will not accept the truth about me.' ¹⁹I said, 'But Lord, the people know that I was the one who put the believers in jail and beat them. I went through all the synagogues* to find and arrest the people who believe in you. ²⁰The people also know that I was there when Stephen, your witness, was killed. I stood there and agreed that they should kill Stephen. I even held the coats of the men who were killing him!' ²¹But Jesus said to me, 'Leave now. I will send you far away to the non-Jewish people.'" ²²The people stopped listening when Paul said this last thing [about going to the non-Jewish people]. They all shouted, "Kill him! Get him out of the world! A man like this should not be allowed to live!" ²³They yelled and threw off their coats.* They threw dust into the air.* ²⁴Then the commander told the soldiers to take Paul into the army building. He told the soldiers to beat Paul. He wanted to make Paul tell why the people were shouting against him like this. ²⁵So the soldiers were tying Paul, preparing to beat him. But Paul said to an army officer* there, "Do you have the right to beat a Roman citizen* who has not been proven guilty?" ²⁶When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and told him about it. The officer said, "Do you know what you are doing? This man (Paul) is a Roman citizen!" ²⁷The commander came to Paul and said, "Tell me, are you really a Roman citizen?" Paul answered, "Yes." ²⁸The commander said, "I paid much money to become a Roman citizen." But Paul said, "I was born a citizen." ²⁹The men who were preparing to question Paul moved away from him immediately. The commander was afraid because he had already tied Paul, and Paul was a Roman citizen.*

Paul Speaks to the Jewish Leaders

³⁰The next day the commander decided to learn why the Jews were speaking against Paul. So he commanded the leading priests and the Jewish council to meet together. The commander took Paul's chains off. Then he brought Paul out and stood Paul before their meeting.

Jewish language Probably Aramaic, a language like Hebrew that was spoken by the Jews in the first century. Gamaliel A very important teacher of the Pharisees, a Jewish religious group (See Acts 5:34). father(s) Important ancestors of the Jews; the leaders of the twelve Jewish family groups. persecuted To persecute is to hurt or do bad things to. high priest The most important Jewish priest and leader. Ananias In Acts there are three men with this name. See Acts 5:1 and 23:2 for the other two. baptized A Greek word meaning to be immersed, dipped, or buried briefly under water. temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. vision(s) Something like dreams used by God to speak to people. synagogue(s) Synagogues were places where Jews gathered for prayer, study of the Scriptures, and other public meetings. threw off their coats This showed that the Jews were very angry at Paul. threw dust into the air A sign of very strong anger. army officer A centurion, a Roman army officer who had authority over 100 soldiers. Roman citizen Roman law said that Roman citizens must not be beaten before their trial.