¶ Men, brethren¹, and fathers, hear ye my² defence which I make now unto you.

(And when they heard that he spake in³ the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)

¶ I am verily a man which am a Jew⁴, born in Tarsus⁵, a city⁶ in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at⁷ the feet of Gamaliel⁸, and taught⁹ according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was¹⁰ zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

And I persecuted¹¹ this¹² way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

As also¹³ the high priest doth bear me witness, and all¹⁴ the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren¹⁵, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.

And it came to pass, that,¹⁶ as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus¹⁸ about¹⁹ noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul²⁰, Saul, why²¹ persecutest thou me?

And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am²² Jesus of Nazareth, whom²³ thou persecutest.

And they that were with me saw²⁴ indeed the light, and were afraid; but²⁵ they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

¶ And I said, What²⁶ shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there²⁷ it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

And when²⁸ I could not see for the glory of that light, being²⁹ led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.

And one³⁰ Ananias, a devout³¹ man according to the law, having³² a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,

Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother³³ Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.

And he said, The God³⁴ of our fathers hath³⁵ chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see³⁶ that³⁷ Just One, and shouldest hear³⁸ the voice of his mouth.

For thou shalt³⁹ be his witness unto all men of⁴⁰ what thou hast seen and heard.

And now why⁴¹ tarriest thou? arise⁴², and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling⁴³ on the name of the Lord.

And it came to pass, that, when⁴⁴ I was come again to Jerusalem, even while⁴⁵ I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

And saw⁴⁶ him saying unto me, Make⁴⁷ haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for⁴⁸ they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

And I said, Lord, they know⁴⁹ that I imprisoned and beat⁵⁰ in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

¶ And when the blood of thy martyr⁵¹ Stephen⁵² was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting⁵³ unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

And he said unto me, Depart⁵⁴: for⁵⁵ I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

¶ And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away⁵⁶ with such a fellow from the earth: for⁵⁷ it is not fit that he should live.

And as they cried out, and cast⁵⁸ off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,

The chief⁵⁹ captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should⁶⁰ be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.

And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion⁶¹ that stood by, Is it⁶² lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?

When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take⁶³ heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.

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

And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But⁶⁴ I was free born.

Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him⁶⁵: and the chief⁶⁶ captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

¶ On the morrow, because he⁶⁷ would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the⁶⁸ chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.