21
And he said to me,
'Go, for I will send you 1far away to the Gentiles.'"
Paul and the Roman Tribune
22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said,
2"Away with such a fellow from the earth! For
3he should not be allowed to live."
23
And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air,
24
the tribune ordered him to be brought into
4the barracks, saying that he should be
5examined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this.
25
But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, "Is it lawful for you to flog
6a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?"
26
When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, "What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen."
27
So the tribune came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" And he said, "Yes."
28
The tribune answered, "I bought this citizenship for a large sum." Paul said, "But I am a citizen by birth."
29
So those who were about
7to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also
8was afraid,
9for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that
10he had bound him.
Paul Before the Council
30 But on the next day,
11desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.