1.
Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.
2.
(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
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.
4.
And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
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.
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.
7.
And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
8.
And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
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.
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.
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.
12.
And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt 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.
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.
15.
For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast 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.
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. “It came to pass unto me returning into Jerusalem, and I praying in the temple, that I was in an ecstacy:
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 I saw him, saying, Hasten and depart quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.” This second appearing of Jesus unto Paul took place in Jerusalem after he had returned out of Arabia by way of Damascus and came up to the metropolis, introduced to the apostles and vindicated by Barnabas. Here he states that the same glorified Savior who had shone on him as he journeyed to Damascus appeared to him in the temple while praying “in an ecstacy,” i. e., a rapture, in which his whole being was flooded with heavenly glory.
19.
And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on 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 that slew him.
21.
And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
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.
23.
And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw 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.
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. “And when they were extending him forth to the scourgers,” i. e., the soldiers were shoving him forward to receive this awful and murderous flagellation, designed to coerce the desired confession, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it lawful to cowhide a man, i. e., a Roman and uncondemned?”
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. And the centurion hearing and coming to the kiliarch, announced to him saying, “What are you about to do, for this man is a Roman?”
27.
Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.
27. And the kiliarch, coming said to him, “Tell me, art thou a Roman?”
And he said, “Yea.”
28.
And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.
28. And the kiliarch responded, “I obtained the same freedom for a great sum.” But Paul said: “But, indeed, I have been born.” We see here that Lysias unhesitatingly took Paul’s word for his Roman citizenship. We need not wonder at this, because it was a penalty of death for any person falsely to claim Roman citizenship, the fallacy in any case being easily detected and the party exposed to certain death. Paul’s father before him enjoyed this citizenship, how receiving it we know not. Consequently Paul was born a participant of this freedom, the grandest boon in the world during the Roman Empire, Lysias himself having only procured it with a great sum of money. So the kiliarch takes Paul’s word, demanding no proof, the case being entirely too risky for him to proceed, as he certainly would have lost his office and probably his head, as it was contrary to law to cowhide a Roman citizen. Not only did Lysias forbid them to whip him, but he became much alarmed on learning that he was a Roman citizen, and because he had him in custody, as it was a very delicate and responsible matter to prosecute a Roman citizen, even though guilty of crime. Lysias is anxious to do the right thing; consequently the following day he proceeds to present Paul before the high priest and all the Sanhedrim, and demand of them specifications and charges.
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.
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.