1 "Men, brothers and fathers, hear the defense I now make before you."
2 And when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more silence. And he said:
3 "I am indeed a man who is a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the exactness of the law of the fathers, being zealous toward God, as you all are this day.
4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,
5 as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the council of the elders; from them I also received letters to the brothers, and was on my way to Damascus to bring those who were there in chains to Jerusalem, to be punished.
6 And as I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon suddenly there shone from heaven a great light around me.
7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'
8 And I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you persecute.'
9 And those who were with me saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of the one who spoke to me.
10 And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Arise and go into Damascus, and there it will be told you of all things that are appointed for you to do.'
11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus.
12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews who lived there,
13 came to me, and stood and said to me, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight.' And the same hour I looked up at him.
14 And he said, 'The God of our fathers has chosen you beforehand to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear the voice of his mouth;
15 for you will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
16 And now why do you delay? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'
17 And when I had come again to Jerusalem, while I was praying in the temple, I was in a trance
18 and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and get quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive your testimony concerning me.'
19 And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed on you;
20 and when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consenting to his death, and keeping the garments of those who killed him.'
21 And he said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far off to the Gentiles.'"
22 They listened to him up to this word, and then they lifted up their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live!"
23 And as they cried out and threw off their garments and threw dust into the air,
24 the commander commanded him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined by scourging, so that he might know for what cause they cried out so against him.
25 And as they stretched him out with the thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?"
26 When the centurion heard that, he went to the commander and reported it, saying, "Take care what you are about to do, for this man is a Roman."
27 And the commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" And he said, "Yes."
28 And the commander answered, "With a great sum I obtained this citizenship." And Paul said, "But I was born a citizen."
29 Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
30 The next day, wanting to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds and commanded the chief priests and all their council to come, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.