| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | International Standard Version |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1"Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense that I am now making before you." |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet, and he continued: |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but raised in this city and educated at the feet of Gamaliel in the strict ways of our ancestral Law. I am as zealous for God as all of you are today. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4I persecuted this Way, even executing people, and kept tying up both men and women and putting them in prison, |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. I also received letters from them to the brothers in Damascus, and I was going there to tie up those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem to be punished. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6"But while I was on my way and approaching Damascus about noon, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?' |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8"I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' "He told me, 'I'm Jesus from Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.' |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9The men who were with me saw the light but didn't understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10"Then I asked, 'What am I to do, Lord?' "The Lord told me, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything you are destined to do.' |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11Since I could not see because of the brightness of the light, the men who were with me took me by the hand and led me into Damascus. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12"A certain Ananias, who was a devout man with respect to the Law and who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there, |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13came to me. He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' At that moment I could see him. |
| 14[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 14"Then he said, 'The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear his own voice, |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15because you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16So now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.' |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17"Then I returned to Jerusalem. While I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18and saw the Lord saying to me, 'Hurry up and get out of Jerusalem at once, because the people won't accept your testimony about me.' |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19"I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I kept imprisoning and beating those who believe in you. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20Even when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing there, approving it and guarding the coats of those who were killing him.' |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21"Then he told me, 'Go, because I'll send you far away to the gentiles.'" |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22Up to this point they listened to him, but then they began to shout, "Away with such a fellow from the earth! He's not fit to go on living!" |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23While they were yelling, tossing their coats around, and throwing dirt into the air, |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24the tribune ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks and told the soldiers to beat and question him in order to find out why the people were yelling at him like this. |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25But when they had tied him up with the straps, Paul asked the centurion who was standing there, "Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn't been condemned?" |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and told him, "What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!" |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27So the tribune went and asked Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said. |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28Then the tribune replied, "I paid a lot of money for this citizenship of mine." Paul said, "But I was born a citizen." |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29Immediately those who were about to examine him stepped back, and the tribune was afraid when he found out that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had tied him up. |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30The next day, since the tribune wanted to find out exactly what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, he released him and ordered the high priests and the entire Council to meet. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
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