Acts 22-23

Acts 22

¹Brethren and fathers, hear my defence which I now make to you.

²And 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;

⁴who have persecuted this way unto death, binding and delivering up to prisons both men and women;

⁵as 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.

⁶And 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.

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

⁸And *I* answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said to me, *I* am Jesus the Nazaraean, whom *thou* persecutest.

⁹But 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.

¹⁰And 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.

¹¹And 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.

¹²And a certain Ananias, a pious man according to the law, borne witness to by all the Jews who dwelt there,

¹³coming 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.

¹⁴And 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;

¹⁵for thou shalt be a witness for him to all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

¹⁶And now why lingerest thou? Arise and get baptised, and have thy sins washed away, calling on his name.

¹⁷And it came to pass when I had returned to Jerusalem, and as I was praying in the temple, that I became in ecstasy,

¹⁸and saw him saying to me, Make haste and go quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

¹⁹And *I* said, Lord, they themselves know that *I* was imprisoning and beating in every synagogue those that believe on thee;

²⁰and 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.

²¹And he said to me, Go, for *I* will send thee to the nations afar off.

²²And 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.

²³And as they were crying, and throwing away their clothes, and casting dust into the air,

²⁴the 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.

²⁵But 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?

²⁶And 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.

²⁷And the chiliarch coming up said to him, Tell me, Art *thou* a Roman? And he said, Yes.

²⁸And the chiliarch answered, *I*, for a great sum, bought this citizenship. And Paul said, But *I* was also free born.

²⁹Immediately 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.

³⁰And 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.

Acts 23

¹And Paul, fixing his eyes on the council, said, Brethren, I have walked in all good conscience with God unto this day.

²But the high priest Ananias ordered those standing by him to smite his mouth.

³Then Paul said to him, God will smite thee, whited wall. And *thou*, dost thou sit judging me according to the law, and breaking the law commandest me to be smitten?

⁴And those that stood by said, Dost thou rail against the high priest of God?

⁵And Paul said, I was not conscious, brethren, that he was high priest; for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evilly of the ruler of thy people.

⁶But Paul, knowing that the one part of them were of the Sadducees and the other of the Pharisees, cried out in the council, Brethren, *I* am a Pharisee, son of Pharisees: *I* am judged concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead.

⁷And when he had spoken this, there was a tumult of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the multitude was divided.

⁸For Sadducees say there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but Pharisees confess both of them.

⁹And there was a great clamour, and the scribes of the Pharisees' part rising up contended, saying, We find nothing evil in this man; and if a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel ...

¹⁰And a great tumult having arisen, the chiliarch, fearing lest Paul should have been torn in pieces by them, commanded the troop to come down and take him by force from the midst of them, and to bring him into the fortress.

¹¹But the following night the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good courage; for as thou hast testified the things concerning me at Jerusalem, so thou must bear witness at Rome also.

¹²And when it was day, the Jews, having banded together, put themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they should kill Paul.

¹³And they were more than forty who had joined together in this oath;

¹⁴and they went to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have cursed ourselves with a curse to taste nothing until we kill Paul.

¹⁵Now therefore do ye with the council make a representation to the chiliarch so that he may bring him down to you, as about to determine more precisely what concerns him, and we, before he draws near, are ready to kill him.

¹⁶But Paul's sister's son, having heard of the lying in wait, came and entered into the fortress and reported it to Paul.

¹⁷And Paul, having called one of the centurions, said, Take this youth to the chiliarch, for he has something to report to him.

¹⁸He therefore, having taken him with him, led him to the chiliarch, and says, The prisoner Paul called me to him and asked me to lead this youth to thee, who has something to say to thee.

¹⁹And the chiliarch having taken him by the hand, and having gone apart in private, inquired, What is it that thou hast to report to me?

²⁰And he said, The Jews have agreed together to make a request to thee, that thou mayest bring Paul down to-morrow into the council, as about to inquire something more precise concerning him.

²¹Do not thou then be persuaded by them, for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, who have put themselves under a curse neither to eat nor drink till they kill him; and now they are ready waiting the promise from thee.

²²The chiliarch then dismissed the youth, commanding him, Utter to no one that thou hast represented these things to me.

²³And having called to him certain two of the centurions, he said, Prepare two hundred soldiers that they may go as far as Caesarea, and seventy horsemen, and two hundred light-armed footmen, for the third hour of the night.

²⁴And he ordered them to provide beasts, that they might set Paul on them and carry him safe through to Felix the governor,

²⁵having written a letter, couched in this form:

²⁶Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor Felix, greeting.

²⁷This man, having been taken by the Jews, and being about to be killed by them, I came up with the military and took out of their hands, having learned that he was a Roman.

²⁸And desiring to know the charge on which they accused him, I brought him down to their council;

²⁹whom I found to be accused of questions of their law, but to have no charge laid against him making him worthy of death or of bonds.

³⁰But having received information of a plot about to be put in execution against the man by the Jews, I have immediately sent him to thee, commanding also his accusers to say before thee the things that are against him. Farewell.

³¹The soldiers therefore, according to what was ordered them, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris,

³²and on the morrow, having left the horsemen to go with him, returned to the fortress.

³³And these, having entered into Caesarea, and given up the letter to the governor, presented Paul also to him.

³⁴And having read it, and asked of what eparchy he was, and learned that he was of Cilicia,

³⁵he said, I will hear thee fully when thine accusers also are arrived. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's praetorium.