Parallel Bible results for "acts 22"

Acts 22

The Bible in Basic English BBE

1 My brothers and fathers, give ear to the story of my life which I now put before you.

2 And, hearing him talking in the Hebrew language, they became the more quiet, and he said,

3 I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia by birth, but I had my education in this town at the feet of Gamaliel, being trained in the keeping of every detail of the law of our fathers; given up to the cause of God with all my heart, as you are today.

4 And I made attacks on this Way, even to death, taking men and women and putting them in prison.

5 Of which the high priest will be a witness, and all the rulers, from whom I had letters to the brothers; and I went into Damascus, to take those who were there as prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment.

6 And it came about that while I was on my journey, coming near to Damascus, about the middle of the day, suddenly I saw a great light from heaven shining round me.

7 And when I went down on the earth, a voice came to my ears saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly?

8 And I, answering, said, Who are you; Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are attacking.

9 And those who were with me saw the light, but the voice of him who was talking to me came not to their ears.

10 And I said, What have I to do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Get up, and go into Damascus; and it will be made clear to you what you have to do.

11 And because I was unable to see because of the glory of that light, those who were with me took me by the hand, and so I came to Damascus.

12 And one Ananias, a God-fearing man, who kept the law, and of whom all the Jews in that place had a high opinion,

13 Came to my side and said, Brother Saul, let your eyes be open. And in that very hour I was able to see him.

14 And he said, You have been marked out by the God of our fathers to have knowledge of his purpose, and to see the Upright One and to give ear to the words of his mouth.

15 For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and of what has come to your ears.

16 And now, why are you waiting? get up, and have baptism, for the washing away of your sins, giving worship to his name.

17 And it came about that when I had come back to Jerusalem, while I was at prayer in the Temple, my senses became more than naturally clear,

18 And I saw him saying to me, Go out of Jerusalem straight away because they will not give hearing to your witness about me.

19 And I said, Lord, they themselves have knowledge that I went through the Synagogues putting in prison and whipping all those who had faith in you:

20 And when Stephen your witness was put to death, I was there, giving approval, and looking after the clothing of those who put him to death.

21 And he said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.

22 And they gave him a hearing as far as this word; then with loud voices they said, Away with this man from the earth; it is not right for him to be living.

23 And while they were crying out, and pulling off their clothing, and sending dust into the air,

24 The chief captain gave orders for him to be taken into the army building, saying that he would put him to the test by whipping, so that he might have knowledge of the reason why they were crying out so violently against him.

25 And when they had put leather bands round him, Paul said to the captain who was present, Is it the law for you to give blows to a man who is a Roman and has not been judged?

26 And hearing this, the man went to the chief captain and gave him an account of it, saying, What are you about to do? for this man is a Roman.

27 And the chief captain came to him and said, Give me an answer, are you a Roman? And he said, Yes.

28 And the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And Paul said, But I had them by birth.

29 Then those who were about to put him to the test went away: and the chief captain was in fear, seeing that he was a Roman, and that he had put chains on him.

30 But on the day after, desiring to have certain knowledge of what the Jews had to say against him, he made him free, and gave orders for the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to come together, and he took Paul and put him before them.

Good News Translation GNT

1 "My fellow Jews, listen to me as I make my defense before you!"

2 When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even quieter; and Paul went on:

3 "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in Jerusalem as a student of Gamaliel. I received strict instruction in the Law of our ancestors and was just as dedicated to God as are all of you who are here today.

4 I persecuted to the death the people who followed this Way. I arrested men and women and threw them into prison.

5 The High Priest and the whole Council can prove that I am telling the truth. I received from them letters written to fellow Jews in Damascus, so I went there to arrest these people and bring them back in chains to Jerusalem to be punished.

6 "As I was traveling and coming near Damascus, about midday a bright light from the sky flashed suddenly around me.

7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, "Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?'

8 "Who are you, Lord?' I asked. "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute,' he said to me.

9 The men with me saw the light, but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.

10 I asked, "What shall I do, Lord?' and the Lord said to me, "Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that God has determined for you to do.'

11 I was blind because of the bright light, and so my companions took me by the hand and led me into Damascus.

12 "In that city was a man named Ananias, a religious man who obeyed our Law and was highly respected by all the Jews living there.

13 He came to me, stood by me, and said, "Brother Saul, see again!' At that very moment I saw again and looked at him.

14 He said, "The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see his righteous Servant, and to hear him speaking with his own voice.

15 For you will be a witness for him to tell everyone what you have seen and heard.

16 And now, why wait any longer? Get up and be baptized and have your sins washed away by praying to him.'

17 "I went back to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the Temple, I had a vision,

18 in which I saw the Lord, as he said to me, "Hurry and leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your witness about me.'

19 "Lord,' I answered, "they know very well that I went to the synagogues and arrested and beat those who believe in you.

20 And when your witness Stephen was put to death, I myself was there, approving of his murder and taking care of the cloaks of his murderers.'

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

22 The people listened to Paul until he said this; but then they started shouting at the top of their voices, "Away with him! Kill him! He's not fit to live!"

23 They were screaming, waving their clothes, and throwing dust up in the air.

24 The Roman commander ordered his men to take Paul into the fort, and he told them to whip him in order to find out why the Jews were screaming like this against him.

25 But when they had tied him up to be whipped, Paul said to the officer standing there, "Is it lawful for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn't even been tried for any crime?"

26 When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked him, "What are you doing? That man is a Roman citizen!"

27 So the commander went to Paul and asked him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," answered Paul.

28 The commander said, "I became one by paying a large amount of money." "But I am one by birth," Paul answered.

29 At once the men who were going to question Paul drew back from him; and the commander was frightened when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had put him in chains.

30 The commander wanted to find out for sure what the Jews were accusing Paul of; so the next day he had Paul's chains taken off and ordered the chief priests and the whole Council to meet. Then he took Paul and made him stand before them.