44_ACT_22_01 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence [which I make] now unto you.
44_ACT_22_02 [And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,]
44_ACT_22_03 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.
44_ACT_22_04 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
44_ACT_22_05 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.
44_ACT_22_06 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.
44_ACT_22_07 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
44_ACT_22_08 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
44_ACT_22_09 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.
44_ACT_22_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.
44_ACT_22_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.
44_ACT_22_12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt [there],
44_ACT_22_13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
44_ACT_22_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.
44_ACT_22_15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
44_ACT_22_16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
44_ACT_22_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;
44_ACT_22_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.
44_ACT_22_19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:
44_ACT_22_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.
44_ACT_22_21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
44_ACT_22_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.
44_ACT_22_23 And as they cried out, and cast off [their] clothes, and threw dust into the air,
44_ACT_22_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.
44_ACT_22_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?
44_ACT_22_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.
44_ACT_22_27 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.
44_ACT_22_28 And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was [free] born.
44_ACT_22_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.
44_ACT_22_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.