Acts 22:14-30

14And he said, ‘1The God of our fathers has 2appointed you to know His will and to 3see the 4Righteous One and to hear a 5message from His mouth. 15For you will be 6a witness for Him to all people of 7what you have seen and heard. 16Now why do you delay? 8Get up and be baptized, and 9wash away your sins by 10calling on His name.’

17“It happened when I 11returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I 12fell into a trance, 18and I saw Him saying to me, ‘13Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ 19And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another 14I used to imprison and 15beat those who believed in You. 20And 16when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ 21And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away 17to the Gentiles.’”

22They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “18Away with such a man from the earth, for 19he should not be allowed to live!” 23And as they were shouting and 20throwing off their cloaks and 21tossing dust into the air, 24the commander ordered that he be brought into 22the barracks, saying that he was to be 23interrogated by flogging so that he would find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. 25But when they stretched him out 24with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it 25lawful for you to flog 26a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” 26When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27The commander came and said to 27Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” 29Therefore, those who were about to 28interrogate him immediately backed away from him; and the commander also 29was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had 3031put him in chains.

30Now on the next day, 32wanting to know for certain why Paul had been accused by the Jews, he 33released him and ordered the chief priests and all 34the 35Council to assemble, and he brought Paul down and placed him before them.