2 When the people heard him addressing them in Aramaic,+ they became even quieter. Then he continued:

3 “I am a Jewish man, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city as a student of Gamaliel, carefully trained in every detail of the Torah passed on by our ancestors, being for God very zealous, just as ᵖyou yourselves all are today. 4 I persecuted to the point of death the followers of this Way, arresting and throwing into prison both men and women, 5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can themselves testify about me. Having received from them, for the brothers in Damascus, letters of authorization, I was on my way there with the intention of bringing the Way-followers even in that city back as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. 6 Yet as I was traveling and drawing near to Damascus at about noon, from heaven a very bright light suddenly began to shine around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul! Why are ˢyou persecuting me?’

8 “ ‘Who are ˢyou, Lord?’ I asked in reply.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom ˢyou are persecuting,’ he said to me.9 As for the men who were with me, although they saw the light, they didn’t understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

10 “ ‘What am I to do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ the Lord said to me. ‘There ˢyou will be told about all the things that are appointed for ˢyou to do.’

11 “Because I had been blinded by the glorious radiance of that light, it was with the help of my companions leading me by the hand that I arrived in Damascus. 12 Now a man named Ananias, a devout observer of Torah, highly respected by all the Jews living there, 13 came and stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, regain ˢyour sight.’ And I looked up and was able to see him at that very moment. 14 Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors appointed ˢyou in advance to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear him speaking with his own voice. 15 For ˢyou will be a witness on his behalf to all kinds of people concerning what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are ˢyou waiting for? Get up, be baptized and have ˢyour sins washed away as you call on his name.’

17 “When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple courts, I fell into a trance and 18 saw the Lord saying to me: ‘Quick! Hurry up and leave Jerusalem, because they will not accept ˢyour testimony on my behalf.’

19 “ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘they themselves know very well that I was behind the imprisonments and beatings, from one synagogue to the next, of those who believe in ˢyou. 20 And when the blood of ˢyour witness Stephen was being shed, I myself was standing there, too, in full agreement, watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’

21 “ ‘Go,’ he said to me. ‘I am going to send ˢyou out far away, you see, to the Gentiles.’ ”

22 The crowd continued listening to Paul until he said this. Then they began to shout, “Rid the earth of this fellow! Such a man isn’t fit to live!” 23 As they were yelling and showing their horror by throwing off their cloaks and tossing into the air handfuls of dust, 24 the commanding officer gave an order for Paul to be brought into the soldiers’ quarters and interrogated by flogging, to find out exactly why it was that the crowd was shouting against him like this. 25 When the soldiers had stretched him out for the whips, however, Paul said to the officer who was standing there, “Is it legal for ᵖyou to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even had a trial?”

26 When the officer heard this, he went to the commanding officer and said to him, “What are ˢyou about to do? This man is a Roman citizen!” 27 At that, the commanding officer went and asked Paul, “Tell me, are ˢyou a Roman citizen?”

“Yes,” Paul replied.

28 “I acquired my citizenship with a hefty sum of money,” the commanding officer said in response.

“I, however, am a citizen by birth,” said Paul.

29 At that, those who were about to subject Paul to interrogation immediately drew back from him. The commanding officer was afraid, too, when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had given the order for him to be put in chains.

30 The next day, wanting to find out exactly why Paul was being denounced by his Jewish accusers, the commanding officer had him released and ordered the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin to convene. And after bringing Paul down, he had him stand before them.