Atos 22

¹ Ye men, brethren and Fathers, heare my defence nowe towards you.

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

³ Paul, making a short declaration of his former life, proves both his calling and doctrine to be from God.I am verily a man [which am] a Jew, born in Tarsus, [a city] in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at theThat is, his daily hearer: the reason of this speech is this: those who teach commonly sit in the higher place, speaking to their students who sit upon benches beneath, and therefore he says «at the feet of Gamaliel».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.

⁴ And I persecuted this way vnto the death, binding and deliuering into prison both men and women.

⁵ As also ye chiefe Priest doeth beare me witnes, & al the company of the Elders: of whom also I receiued letters vnto the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring them which were there, bound vnto Hierusalem, that they might be punished.

⁶ And so it was, as I iourneyed and was come neere vnto Damascus about noone, that suddenly there shone from heauen a great light round about me.

⁷ So I fell vnto the earth, and heard a voyce, saying vnto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou mee?

⁸ Then I answered, Who art thou, Lorde? And he said to me, I am Iesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

⁹ Moreouer they that were with me, sawe in deede a light and were afraide: but they heard not the voyce of him that spake vnto me.

¹⁰ Then I sayd, What shall I doe, Lord? And the Lorde sayde vnto me, Arise, and goe into Damascus: and there it shall be tolde thee of all things, which are appointed for thee to doe.

¹¹ So when I could not see for the glory of that light, I was led by the hand of them that were with me, and came into Damascus.

¹² And one Ananias a godly man, as perteining to the Lawe, hauing good report of all the Iewes which dwelt there,

¹³ Came vnto me, and stoode, and sayd vnto me, Brother Saul, receiue thy sight: and that same houre I looked vpon him.

¹⁴ And he sayd, The God of our fathers hath appointed thee, that thou shouldest knowe his wil, and shouldest see that Iust one, and shouldest heare the voyce of his mouth.

¹⁵ For thou shalt be his witnes vnto all men, of the things which thou hast seene and heard.

¹⁶ Now therefore why tariest thou? Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sinnes, in calling on the Name of the Lord.

¹⁷ And it came to passe, that when I was come againe to Hierusalem, and prayed in the Temple, I was in a traunce,

¹⁸ And saw him saying vnto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Hierusalem: for they will not receiue thy witnes concerning me.

¹⁹ Then I sayd, Lord, they know that I prisoned, and beat in euery Synagogue them that beleeued in thee.

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 thatThis is properly spoken, for Steven was murdered by a bunch of cutthroats, not by order of justice, but by open force: for at that time the Jews could not put any man to death by law.slew him.

²¹ Then he sayd vnto me, Depart: for I will send thee farre hence vnto the Gentiles.

²² Resolute and stubborn pride will neither embrace the truth itself, neither allow others to receive it.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.

²³ And as theyThe description of a seditious tumult, and of a foolish and mad multitude.cried out, and cast off [their] clothes, and threw dust into the air,

²⁴ The wisdom of the flesh does not consider what is just, but what is profitable, and in addition takes into account the profit that can be gained, according as it presently appears.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.

²⁵ There is no reason why we may not use those lawful means which God gives us in order to repel or prevent an injury.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?

²⁶ Nowe when the Centurion heard it, hee went, and tolde the chiefe captaine, saying, Take heede what thou doest: for this man is a Romane.

²⁷ Then the chiefe captaine came, and sayd to him, Tel me, art thou a Romane? And he said, Yea.

²⁸ And the chiefe captaine answered, With a great summe obtained I this freedome. Then Paul sayd, But I was so borne.

²⁹ Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he wasNot by nation, but by the law of his city of birth.a Roman, and because he had bound him.

³⁰ On the next day, because hee would haue knowen the certaintie wherefore he was accused of the Iewes, he loosed him from his bonds, and commaunded the hie Priests and all their Councill to come together: and he brought Paul, and set him before them.