Chapter 22

   'Brethren and fathers,' he said, 'listen to my defence which I now make before you.'  

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   And on hearing him address them in Hebrew, they kept all the more quiet; and he said,  

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   'I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I was carefully trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers, and, like all of you to-day, was zealous for God.  

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   I persecuted to death this new faith, continually binding both men and women and throwing them into prison;  

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   as the High Priest also and all the Elders can bear me witness. It was, too, from them that I received letters to the brethren in Damascus, and I was already on my way to Damascus, intending to bring those also who had fled there, in chains to Jerusalem, to be punished.  

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   'But on my way, when I was now not far from Damascus, about noon a sudden blaze of light from Heaven shone round me.  

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   I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ''Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?'  

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   ''Who art thou, Lord?' I asked. ''I am Jesus, the Nazarene,' He replied, 'whom you are persecuting.'  

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   'Now the men who were with me, though they saw the light, did not hear the words of Him who spoke to me.  

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   And I asked, ''What am I to do, Lord?' 'And the Lord said to me, ''Rise, and go into Damascus. There you shall be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.'  

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   'And as I could not see because the light had been so dazzling, those who were with me had to lead me by the arm, and so I came to Damascus.  

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   'And a certain Ananias, a pious man who obeyed the Law and bore a good character with all the Jews of the city,  

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   came to me and standing at my side said, ''Brother Saul, recover your sight.' 'I instantly regained my sight and looked up at him.  

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   Then he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the righteous One and hear Him speak.  

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   For you shall be a witness for Him, to all men, of what you have seen and heard.  

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   And now why delay? Rise, get yourself baptized, and wash off your sins, calling upon His name.'  

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   'After my return to Jerusalem, and while praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance.  

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   I saw Jesus, and He said to me, ''Make haste and leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.'  

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   ''Lord,' I replied, 'they themselves well know how active I was in imprisoning, and in flogging in synagogue after synagogue those who believe in Thee;  

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   and when they were shedding the blood of Stephen, Thy witness, I was standing by, fully approving of it, and I held the clothes of those who were killing him.'  

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   ''Go,' He replied; 'I will send you as an Apostle to nations far away.''  

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   Until they heard this last statement the people listened to Paul, but now with a roar of disapproval they cried out, 'Away with such a fellow from the earth! He ought not to be allowed to live.'  

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   And when they continued their furious shouts, throwing their clothes into the air and flinging dust about,  

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   the Tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and be examined by flogging, in order to ascertain the reason why they thus cried out against him.  

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   But, when they had tied him up with the straps, Paul said to the Captain who stood by, 'Does the Law permit you to flog a Roman citizen--and one too who is uncondemned?'  

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   On hearing this question, the Captain went to report the matter to the Tribune. 'What are you intending to do?' he said. 'This man is a Roman citizen.'  

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   So the Tribune came to Paul and asked him, 'Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?' 'Yes,' he said.  

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   'I paid a large sum for my citizenship,' said the Tribune. 'But I was born free,' said Paul.  

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   So the men who had been on the point of putting him under torture immediately left him. And the Tribune, too, was frightened when he learnt that Paul was a Roman citizen, for he had had him bound.  

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   The next day, wishing to know exactly what charge was being brought against him by the Jews, the Tribune ordered his chains to be removed; and, having sent word to the High Priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble, he brought Paul down and made him stand before them.  

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