22:1   " Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you."

22:2   And when they heard that he addressed them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he said,

22:3   " I have Jewish heritage, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, having zeal for God just as you do today.

22:4   " I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,

22:5  as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who lived there to Jerusalem as prisoners to suffer punishment.

22:6   " But it came to pass that as I moved on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,

22:7   and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?'

22:8   "And I answered, 'Whom do I talk to, Lord?' And He said to me, ' You know me as Jesus the Nazarene, whom you persecute.'

22:9   "And those who travelled with me saw the light, surely, but did not understand the voice of the One who spoke to me.

22:10   "And I said, ' What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you someone will tell you of what I have appointed you to do.'

22:11   "But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, someone led me by the hand by those who accompanied me and came into Damascus.

22:12  "A certain Ananias, a man who people considered devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there,

22:13   came to me, and standing near said to me, ' Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very time I looked up at him.

22:14   "And he said, ' The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.

22:15   'For you will witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

22:16   'Now why do you delay? Get up and receive baptism, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.'

22:17  "It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and prayed in the temple, that I fell into a trance,

22:18   and I saw Him saying to me, ' Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.'

22:19   "And I said, 'Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You.

22:20   'And when the blood of Your witness Stephen had become shed, I also stood by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who slayed him.'

22:21   "And He said to me, 'Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'"

22:22   They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, " Away with such a fellow from the earth, for we should not allow him to live!"

22:23   And as they cried out and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,

22:24   the commander ordered the soldiers to bring him into the barracks, stating that he should receive scourging so that he might find out the reason why they had shouted against him that way.

22:25   But when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, " Do you feel it lawful for you to scourge a man who has Roman citizenship and uncondemned?"

22:26   When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, "What makes you think you can do what you do? For this man has Roman citizenship."

22:27   The commander came and said to him, "Tell me, do you have Roman citizenship?" And he said, "Yes."

22:28   The commander answered, "I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money." And Paul said, "But I actually received this citizenship through birth."

22:29  Therefore those who readied themselves to examine him immediately let go of him; and the commander also felt fear when he found out that he Roman citizenship, and because he had put him in chains.

22:30  But on the next day, wishing to know for certain why he had received accusation by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.