21
"Then the Lord said to me, 'Go. I will send you far away to people who are not Jews.' "
Paul the Roman Citizen
22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, "Kill him! He isn't fit to live!"
23
They shouted and threw off their coats. They threw dust into the air.
24
So the commanding officer ordered Paul to be taken into the fort. He gave orders for Paul to be whipped and questioned. He wanted to find out why the people were shouting at him like this.
25
A commander was standing there as they stretched Paul out to be whipped. Paul said to him, "Does the law allow you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?"
26
When the commander heard this, he went to the commanding officer and reported it. "What are you going to do?" the commander asked. "This man is a Roman citizen."
27
So the commanding officer went to Paul. "Tell me," he asked. "Are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes, I am," Paul answered.
28
Then the officer said, "I had to pay a lot of money to become a citizen." "But I was born a citizen," Paul replied.
29
Right away those who were about to question him left. Even the officer was alarmed. He realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.
Paul Is Taken to the Sanhedrin
30 The commanding officer wanted to find out exactly what the Jews had against Paul. So the next day he let Paul out of prison. He ordered a meeting of the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin. Then he brought Paul and had him stand in front of them.