Acts 22

Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.

1Paul said, "Brothers and fathers, please listen. I want to explain myself to you."

2(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)

2The crowd heard him speak Hebrew, their own language. So they grew even quieter. Then Paul said:

3I 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.

3"I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia. But I grew up here in this city. My teacher was Gamaliel. He taught me to obey God's law just the way our people always did. I cared about God very much, the same as all of you do today."

4And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

4"I hurt the people who followed this new way, even until some of them died. I tied up men and women and put them in prison."

Note"This way" was an early name for the people who followed Jesus. Paul uses it for the group he once hunted down.

5As 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.

5"The high priest, the top leader at the temple, knows this is true. So do all the older leaders. They gave me letters to carry to Damascus. I went there to tie up the believers. I planned to bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished."

6And 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.

6"I was on my way, and I was almost at Damascus. It was about noon. Suddenly a bright light from the sky flashed all around me."

7And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

7"I fell down on the ground. I heard a voice say, 'Saul, Saul, why are you hurting me?'"

8And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

8"I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' He said, 'I am Jesus from Nazareth. I am the one you are hurting.'"

9And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

9"The men with me saw the light, and they were afraid. But they did not understand the voice that spoke to me."

NoteThe King James says the men "heard not the voice." They did hear a sound, but they could not understand the words. Only Paul understood them.

10And 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.

10"I said, 'What should I do, Lord?' The Lord said, 'Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told everything you are meant to do.'"

11And 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.

11"The light was so bright that I could not see. The men with me took my hand and led me into Damascus."

12And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,

12"A man named Ananias lived there. He obeyed God's law carefully. All the Jews in that city spoke well of him."

13Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.

13"He came and stood beside me. He said, 'Brother Saul, see again.' Right then I looked up and saw him."

14And 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.

14"He said, 'The God our people have always followed has chosen you. He wants you to know what he wants done. He wants you to see the Righteous One, the one who always does right, and hear him speak.'"

15For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

15"'You will tell everyone what you have seen and heard.'"

16And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

16"'So why are you waiting? Get up. Be baptized, dipped in water, and have your sins washed away. Call on the name of the Lord.'"

17And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

17"Later I came back to Jerusalem. I was praying at the temple, God's house. Then God showed me something, like a dream while I was awake."

18And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

18"I saw the Lord, and he said to me, 'Hurry. Leave Jerusalem right now. The people here will not believe what you say about me.'"

19And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

19"I said, 'Lord, they know what I did. I went to one meeting house after another. I put your followers in prison and beat them.'"

20And 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.

20"'Stephen was killed for telling people about you. I stood right there and agreed that he should die. I even watched the coats of the men who killed him.'"

21And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

21"The Lord said to me, 'Go. I am sending you far away, to people who are not Jews.'"

22And 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.

22The crowd listened until he said that. Then they shouted, "Get him off the earth! He should not be alive!"

23And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,

23They kept shouting. They threw off their coats and tossed dust into the air.

24The 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.

24The Roman commander told his men to bring Paul into the fort. He said to whip Paul and ask him questions. He wanted to know why the crowd was so angry at him.

NoteThe "castle" was the Roman soldiers' fort right next to the temple. "Scourging" meant beating someone with a whip to make him talk.

25And 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?

25They tied Paul down with leather straps. Paul spoke to the officer standing there. He asked, "Are you allowed to whip a Roman citizen who has not had a trial?"

26When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.

26The officer heard this and went to the commander. He said, "Be careful what you do. This man is a Roman citizen."

27Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.

27The commander came to Paul and asked, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" Paul said, "Yes, I am."

28And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.

28The commander said, "I paid a lot of money to become one." Paul said, "But I was born one."

NoteThe King James word "freedom" here means being a Roman citizen. Citizens had rights that other people did not, like the right to a trial.

29Then 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.

29The men who were going to question him stepped back right away. The commander was afraid too. He had put chains on a Roman citizen.

30On 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.

30The next day the commander still wanted the real reason the Jews were accusing Paul. So he took off Paul's chains. He told the chief priests and the whole council to meet. Then he brought Paul down and stood him in front of them.