Christian Standard Bible

King James Bible

1"Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you."

1Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.

2When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.

2(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)

3He continued, "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors. I was zealous for God, just as all of you are today.

3I 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.

4I persecuted this Way to the death, arresting and putting both men and women in jail,

4And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

5as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to arrest those who were there and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.

5As 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.

6"As I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.

6And 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.

7I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'

7And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

8"I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' "He said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.'

8And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

9Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

9And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

10"I said, 'What should I do, Lord?' "The Lord told me, 'Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.'

10And 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.

11"Since I couldn't see because of the brightness of the light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus.

11And 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.

12Someone named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, who had a good reputation with all the Jews living there,

12And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,

13came and stood by me and said, 'Brother Saul, regain your sight.' And in that very hour I looked up and saw him.

13Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.

14And he said, 'The God of our ancestors has appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the words from his mouth,

14And 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.

15since you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard.

15For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

16And now, why are you delaying? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'

16And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

17"After I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance

17And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

18and saw him telling me, 'Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'

18And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

19"But I said, 'Lord, they know that in synagogue after synagogue I had those who believed in you imprisoned and beaten.

19And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

20And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I stood there giving approval and guarding the clothes of those who killed him.'

20And 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.

21"He said to me, 'Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.' "

21And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

22They listened to him up to this point. Then they raised their voices, shouting, "Wipe this man off the face of the earth! He should not be allowed to live!"

22And 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.

23As they were yelling and flinging aside their garments and throwing dust into the air,

23And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,

24the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, directing that he be interrogated with the scourge to discover the reason they were shouting against him like this.

24The 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.

25As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, "Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?"

25And 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?

26When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, "What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen."

26When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.

27The commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," he said.

27Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.

28The commander replied, "I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money." "But I was born a citizen," Paul said.

28And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.

29So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.

29Then 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.

30The next day, since he wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and instructed the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to convene. He brought Paul down and placed him before them.

30On 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.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.