| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New International Version |
| 1[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 1"Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense." |
| 2[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 2When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: |
| 3[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 3"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. |
| 4[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 4I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, |
| 5[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 5as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. |
| 6[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 6"About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. |
| 7[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' |
| 8[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 8"'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. "'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. |
| 9[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 9My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. |
| 10[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 10"'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked. " 'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.' |
| 11[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 11My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. |
| 12[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 12"A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. |
| 13[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 13He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to 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 and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. |
| 15[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 15You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. |
| 16[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 16And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.' |
| 17[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 17"When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance |
| 18[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 18and saw the Lord speaking to me. 'Quick!' he said. 'Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.' |
| 19[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 19"'Lord,' I replied, 'these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you. |
| 20[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 20And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' |
| 21[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 21"Then the Lord said to me, 'Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'" |
| 22[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 22The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!" |
| 23[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 23As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, |
| 24[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 24the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. |
| 25[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 25As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?" |
| 26[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 26When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. "What are you going to do?" he asked. "This man is a Roman citizen." |
| 27[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 27The commander went to Paul and asked, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes, I am," he answered. |
| 28[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 28Then the commander said, "I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship." "But I was born a citizen," Paul replied. |
| 29[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 29Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. |
| 30[an error occurred while processing this directive] | 30The commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. |
| [an error occurred while processing this directive] | New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. |
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