Read the Bible

¹ Brethren, and fathers, hearken to my defence before you.² And when they perceived that he addressed them in Hebrew, they were the more quiet: and he said to them:

³ I am a man who am a Jew; and I was born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but was brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, and instructed perfectly in the law of our fathers; and I was zealous for God, as ye also all are.⁴ And I persecuted this way, even to death; for I bound, and delivered up to prison, [fn] men and women. ⁵ As the high priest is my witness, and likewise all the Elders; from whom I received letters, that I might go to the brethren in Damascus, and bring those who were there prisoners to Jerusalem, to receive capital punishment.⁶ And as I travelled and began to approach Damascus, at noonday, from amidst tranquillity, a great light from heaven burst upon me.⁷ And I fell to the earth: and I heard a voice, which said to me: Saul, Saul ! why persecutest thou me?⁸ And I answered and said: Who art thou, my Lord? And he said to me: I am Jesus the Nazarean, whom thou persecutest.⁹ And the men who were with me, saw the light, but heard not the voice that talked with me.¹⁰ And I said: My Lord, what must I do? And our Lord said to me: Arise, go to Damascus; and there will be told thee, all that it is commanded thee to do.¹¹ And as I could see nothing, because of the glory of that light, those with me took me by the hand, and I entered Damascus.¹² And a certain man, Ananias, who was upright according to the law, as all the Jews there testified concerning him, came to me.¹³ And he said to me: My brother Saul ! open thine eyes. And instantly my eyes were opened; and I looked upon him.¹⁴ And he said to me: The God of our fathers hath ordained thee to know his will, and to behold the Just One, and to hear the voice of his mouth.¹⁵ And thou shalt be a witness for him before all men, concerning all that thou hast seen and heard.¹⁶ And now, why delayest thou? Arise, be baptized, and be cleansed from thy sins, while thou invokest his name.¹⁷ And I returned and came hither to Jerusalem. And I prayed in the temple.¹⁸ And I saw him in a vision, when he said to me: Make haste, and get thee out of Jerusalem; for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.¹⁹ And I said: My Lord, they well know that I have delivered up to prison, and have scourged in all synagogues, those who believed in thee.²⁰ And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing with them, and performed the pleasure of his slayers, and took charge of the garments of those that stoned him.²¹ But he said to me: Depart; for I send thee afar, to preach to the Gentiles.

²² And when they had heard Paul as far as this sentence, they raised their voice, and cried out: Away with such a man from the earth ! for he ought not to live !²³ And as they vociferated, and cast off their garments, and threw dust into the air,²⁴ the Chiliarch gave orders, to carry him into the castle: and he commanded, that he should be examined with stripes; that he might know, for what cause they cried out against him.²⁵ And as they were stretching him with ropes, Paul said to the centurion who stood over him: Is it lawful for you to scourge a man, who is a Roman, and not yet found guilty?²⁶ And when the centurion heard [fn] , he went to the Chiliarch, and said to him: What doest thou? For this man is a Roman. ²⁷ And the Chiliarch came to him, and said to him: Tell me; Art thou a Roman? And he said to him: Yes.²⁸ The Chiliarch replied and said to him: With much money I acquired Roman citizenship. Paul said to him: And I was born in it.²⁹ And immediately they who were intending to scourge him, fled from him: and the Chiliarch was afraid, when he learned that he was a Roman, because he had stretched him [fn] . ³⁰ And the next day, he wished to know truly what the accusation was, which the Jews brought against him: and he unbound him, and commanded the chief priests, and the whole company of their head-men, to assemble; and he took Paul, and brought him down, and placed him among them.