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22
1 “My friends and leaders of our nation, listen as I explain what happened!”
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22
  Chapter recording
List of all recordings of KJV
1 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.
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2 When the crowd heard Paul speak to them in Aramaic, they became even quieter. Then Paul said:
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2 (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
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3 I am a Jew, born and raised in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia. I was a student of Gamaliel and was taught to follow every single law of our ancestors. In fact, I was just as eager to obey God as any of you are today. 
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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.
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4 I made trouble for everyone who followed the Lord's Way,  h 22.4 followed the Lord's Way: See the note at 9.2. and I even had some of them killed. I had others arrested and put in jail. I didn't care if they were men or women.
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4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
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5 The high priest and all the council members can tell you that this is true. They even gave me letters to the Jewish leaders in Damascus, so that I could arrest people there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
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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.
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6 One day about noon I was getting close to Damascus, when a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.
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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.
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7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice asking, “Saul, Saul, why are you so cruel to me?”
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7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
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8 “Who are you?” I answered.
The Lord replied, “I am Jesus from Nazareth! I am the one you are so cruel to.”
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8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
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9 The men who were traveling with me saw the light, but did not hear the voice.
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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.
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10 I asked, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
Then he told me, “Get up and go to Damascus. When you get there, you will be told what to do.”
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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.
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11 The light had been so bright that I couldn't see. And the other men had to lead me by the hand to Damascus.
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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.
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12 In that city there was a man named Ananias, who faithfully obeyed the Law of Moses and was well liked by all the Jewish people living there.
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12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
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13 He came to me and said, “Saul, my friend, you can now see again!”
At once I could see.
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13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
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14 Then Ananias told me, “The God that our ancestors worshiped has chosen you to know what he wants done. He has chosen you to see the One Who Obeys God i 22.14 One Who Obeys God: See the note at 7.52. and to hear his voice.
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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.
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15 You must tell everyone what you have seen and heard.
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15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
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16 What are you waiting for? Get up! Be baptized, and wash away your sins by praying to the Lord.”
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16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
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17 After this I returned to Jerusalem and went to the temple to pray. There I had a vision
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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;
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18 of the Lord who said to me, “Hurry and leave Jerusalem! The people won't listen to what you say about me.”
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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.
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19 I replied, “Lord, they know that in many of our meeting places I arrested and beat people who had faith in you.
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19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:
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20 Stephen was killed because he spoke for you, and I stood there and cheered them on. I even guarded the clothes of the men who murdered him.”
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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.
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21 But the Lord told me to go, and he promised to send me far away to the Gentiles.
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21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
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22 The crowd listened until Paul said this. Then they started shouting, “Get rid of this man! He doesn't deserve to live.”
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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.
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23 They kept shouting. They waved their clothes around and threw dust into the air.
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23 And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,
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Paul and the Roman Army Commander
24 The Roman commander ordered Paul to be taken into the fortress and beaten with a whip. He did this to find out why the people were screaming at Paul.
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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.
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25 While the soldiers were tying Paul up to be beaten, he asked the officer standing there, “Is it legal to beat a Roman citizen before he has been tried in court?”
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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?
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26 When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and said, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”
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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.
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27 The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes,” Paul answered.
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27 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.
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28 The commander then said, “I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen.” j 22.28 Roman citizen: See the note at 16.37.
But Paul replied, “I was born a Roman citizen.”
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28 And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.
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29 The men who were about to beat and question Paul quickly backed off. And the commander himself was frightened when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.
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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. examined him: or, tortured him
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Paul Is Tried by the Council
30 The next day the commander wanted to know the real reason why the Jewish leaders had brought charges against Paul. So he had Paul's chains removed, and he ordered the chief priests and the whole council to meet. Then he had Paul led in and made him stand in front of them.
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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.
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© 1999 American Bible Society |
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