Acts, 22

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

1. "Brothers and fathers, listen to what I have to say to you in my defense."

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

2. When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became more quiet. So he went on.

3. I 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, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in this city where I was educated in the school of Gamaliel, according to the strict observance of our Law. And I was dedicated to God's service as are all of you today.

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

4. As for this way, I persecuted it to the point of death and arrested its followers, both men and women, throwing them into prison.

5. As 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 and the whole Council of elders can bear witness to this. From them I received letters for the Jewish brothers in Damascus and I set out to arrest the Christians I would find there and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.

6. And 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. But as I was traveling along, nearing Damascus, at about noon a great light from the sky suddenly flashed about me.

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

7. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me: 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?'

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

8. I answered: 'Who are you, Lord?' And he said to me: 'I am Jesus the Nazarean whom you persecute.'

9. And 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 who were with me saw the light and were afraid, but they did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

10. And 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 asked: 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord replied: 'Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told all that you are destined to do.'

11. And 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. Yet the brightness of that light had blinded me and so I was led by the hand into Damascus by my companions.

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

12. There a certain Ananias came to me. He was a devout observer of the Law and well spoken of by all the Jews who were living there.

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

13. As he stood by me, he said: 'Brother Saul, recover your sight.' At that moment I could see and I looked at him.

14. And 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 then said, 'The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Just One and to hear the words from his mouth.

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

15. From now on you shall be his witness before all the pagan peoples and tell them all that you have seen and heard.

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

16. And now, why delay? Get up and be baptized and have your sins washed away by calling upon his Name.'

17. And 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. On my return to Jerusalem I was praying in the Temple, when I fell into a trance

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

18. and saw him. He spoke to me: 'Get ready to leave Jerusalem without delay, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'

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

19. I answered: 'Lord, they know well that I imprisoned those who believed in you and had them beaten in every synagogue,

20. And 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. and while the blood of your witness Stephen was being poured out, I stood by and approved it and even guarded the cloaks of his murderers.'

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

21. Then he said to me: 'Go, for I am sending you far away to the pagan nations.'"

22. And 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.

22. Up to this point the crowd listened to Paul, but on hearing the last words, they began to shout, "Kill him! He does not deserve to live!"

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

23. They were screaming and waving their cloaks and throwing dust into the air.

24. The 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.

24. So the commander ordered Paul to be brought inside the fortress and questioned after flogging, to find out why they made such an outcry against him.

25. And 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?

25. But when the soldiers had strapped him down, Paul said to the officer standing there, "Is it legal to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?"

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

26. On hearing this the officer went to the commander and said, "What are you doing? That man is a Roman citizen."

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

27. So the commander came and asked him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," answered Paul.

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

28. The commander then said, "It cost me a large sum of money to become a Roman citizen." Paul answered, "I am one by birth."

29. Then 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.

29. Then those who were about to question him backed away, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.

30. On 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.

30. The next day the commander wanted to know for certain the charges the Jews were making against Paul. So he released him from prison and called together the High Priest and the whole Council; and they brought Paul down and made him stand before them.