- 1
- Brethren and fathers, hear my defence which I now make to you.
- 2
- And hearing that he addressed them in the Hebrew tongue, they kept the more quiet;
and he says,
- 3
- *I* am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to [the] exactness of the law of [our] fathers, being zealous for God, as *ye* are all this day;
- 4
- who have persecuted this way unto death, binding and delivering up to prisons both men and women;
- 5
- as also the high priest bears me witness, and all the elderhood: from whom also, having received letters to the brethren, I went to Damascus to bring those also who were there, bound, to Jerusalem, to be punished.
- 6
- And it came to pass, as I was journeying and drawing near to Damascus, that, about mid-day, there suddenly shone out of heaven a great light round about me.
- 7
- And I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
- 8
- And *I* answered, Who art thou, Lord?
And he said to me, *I* am Jesus the Nazaraean, whom *thou* persecutest.
- 9
- But they that were with me beheld the light, [and were filled with fear], but heard not the voice of him that was speaking to me.
- 10
- And I said, What shall I do, Lord?
And the Lord said to me, Rise up, and go to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which it is appointed thee to do.
- 11
- And as I could not see, through the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came to Damascus.
- 12
- And a certain Ananias, a pious man according to the law, borne witness to by all the Jews who dwelt [there],
- 13
- coming to me and standing by me, said to me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight.
And *I*, in the same hour, received my sight and saw him.
- 14
- And he said, The God of our fathers has chosen thee beforehand to know his will, and to see the just one, and to hear a voice out of his mouth;
- 15
- for thou shalt be a witness for him to all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
- 16
- And now why lingerest thou?
Arise and get baptised, and have thy sins washed away, calling on his name.
- 17
- And it came to pass when I had returned to Jerusalem, and as I was praying in the temple, that I became in ecstasy,
- 18
- and saw him saying to me, Make haste and go quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
- 19
- And *I* said, Lord, they themselves know that *I* was imprisoning and beating in every synagogue those that believe on thee;
- 20
- and when the blood of thy witness Stephen was shed, I also myself was standing by and consenting, and kept the clothes of them who killed him.
- 21
- And he said to me, Go, for *I* will send thee to the nations afar off.
- 22
- And they heard him until this word, and lifted up their voice, saying, Away with such a one as that from the earth, for it was not fit he should live.
- 23
- And as they were crying, and throwing away their clothes, and casting dust into the air,
- 24
- the chiliarch commanded him to be brought into the fortress, saying that he should be examined by scourging, that he might ascertain for what cause they cried thus against him.
- 25
- But as they stretched him forward 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
- And the centurion, having heard it, went and reported it to the chiliarch, saying, What art thou going to do?
for this man is a Roman.
- 27
- And the chiliarch coming up said to him, Tell me, Art *thou* a Roman?
And he said, Yes.
- 28
- And the chiliarch answered, *I*, for a great sum, bought this citizenship.
And Paul said, But *I* was also [free] born.
- 29
- Immediately therefore those who were going to examine him left him, and the chiliarch also was afraid when he ascertained that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
- 30
- And on the morrow, desirous to know the certainty [of the matter] why he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him, and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and having brought Paul down set him before them.
|