Paul’s Defense to the Crowd 1Men, brethren, & fathers, heare ye mine aunswer whiche I make vnto you. 2(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrue tongue to the, they kept ye more scilence. And he saith:) 3I am verily a man which am a Iewe, borne in Tarsus in Cilicia, and yet brought vp in this citie at ye feete of Gamaliel, and infourmed accordyng to the perfect maner of the lawe of ye fathers, and was zelous towarde God, as ye all are this same day. 4And I persecuted this way vnto the death, byndyng & delyueryng into prison both men and women, 5As also the chiefe priest doth beare me witnesse, and all the estate of the elders: of whom also I receaued letters vnto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bryng them whiche were there, bounde vnto Hierusalem for to be punisshed. 6And it came to passe, that as I made my iourney, & was come nye vnto Damascus, about noone, sodeinly there shone from heauen a great light rounde about me. 7And I fell vnto the earth, and hearde a voyce saying vnto me: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me: 8And I aunswered: Who art thou Lorde? And he sayde vnto me: I am Iesus of Nazareth whom thou persecutest. 9And they that were with me, sawe veryly a lyght, and were afrayde: but they hearde not the voyce of hym that spake with me. 10And I saide: What shall I do Lord? And the Lorde sayde vnto me: Aryse, and go into Damascus, & there it shalbe tolde thee of all thynges whiche are appoynted for thee to do. 11And when I sawe nothyng for the bryghtnesse of the lyght, I was ledde by the hande of the that were with me, and came into Damascus.
12And one Ananias, a deuout man as perteynyng to the lawe, hauyng a good report of all the Iewes whiche there dwelt,
13Came vnto me, and stoode, and sayde vnto me: Brother Saul, receaue thy syght. And the same houre I
17And it came to passe, that whe I was come agayne to Hierusalem, and prayed in the temple, I was in a traunce,
18And sawe him, saying vnto me: Make haste and get thee quickly out of Hierusalem: for they wyl not receaue thy witnesse concernyng me.
19And I sayde: Lord, they knowe that I prisoned and beat in euery synagogue them that beleued on thee.
20And when the blood of thy wytnesse Steuen was shedde, I also stoode by, and consented vnto his death, and kept the rayment of them that slue hym.
21And he sayde vnto me: depart, for I wyll sende thee farre hence vnto the gentiles. Paul the Roman Citizen 22And they gaue him audience vnto this worde, and then lift vp their voyces and sayde: away with suche a felowe from the earth, for it is no reason yt he shoulde lyue.
23And as they cryed, and caste of their clothes, and threwe dust into the ayre,
24The chiefe captaine comaunded hym to be brought into the castle, & bade that he shoulde be scourged, and examined, that he myght knowe wherefore they cryed so on hym.
25And as they boude him with thonges, Paul saide vnto ye Centurion that stoode by: Is it lawfull for you to scourge a man that is a Romane, and vncondempned?
26When the Centurion hearde that, he went and tolde the vpper captaine, saying: Take heede what thou doest, for this man is a Romane.
27Then the vpper captaine came, & saide vnto him: Tel me, art thou a Romane? He sayde, yea.
28And the chiefe captaine aunswered: With a great summe obteyned I this freedome. And Paul saide: I was free borne.
29Then strayghtway departed fro him they which should haue examined him. And the hie captaine also was afrayde, after he knew that he was a Romane, and because he had bounde hym.
30On the morowe, because he woulde haue knowen the certaintie wherefore he was accused of the Iewes, he loosed hym from his bandes, and commaunded the hye priestes & all the counsell to come together, & brought Paul foorth, and set hym before them. |
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