ing Paul:

33 then the chief captain coming up, seized him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done?

34 and some of the multitude cried one thing, and some another and not being able to know the certainty, through the tumult, he commanded him to be brought into the castle.

35 And when he was at the steps, it so happened that he was borne up by the soldiers on account of the violence of the multitude:

36 for the whole body of the people followed, crying, Away with him!

37 and when Paul was about to be taken into the castle, he said to the chief captain, Am I permitted to speak to thee? and he said, Canst thou speak Greek?

38 art not thou the Egyptian, who before these days raised a sedition, and leddest out into the wilderness the four thousand men of the murderers?

39 but Paul said, I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city; and, I beseech thee, permit me to speak to the people:

40 and when he had permitted him, Paul, standing on the

the people and when a general silence was made, he spake to them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,

CHAPTER XXII.

BRETHREN and fathers,

hearken to my defence which I now make to you:

2 and when they heard that he spake to them in the Hebrew tongue, they kept silence the more: and he saith,

I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, and accurately instructed, at the feet of Gamaliel, in the law of the fathers; and I was as zealous toward God, as ye all are this day:

4 and I persecuted this way to death, binding and deliver- c. ix. 1; and ing into prisons both men and

women:

5 as also the high priest is my witness, and all the elderhood: from whom also I received letters to the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring those who were there bound to Jerusalem, that they might be punished:

6 and it came to pass, as I journeyed and was come near to Damascus, about noon, a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me, and I fell to the ground;

7 and I heard a voice saying

xxvi. 9, 10.

8 and I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said to me, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, "whom thou persecutest:" 9 and they that were with me, saw indeed the light, but heard not the speech of him who spake to me:

10 and I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said to me," Arise, and go into "Damascus; and it shall be "told thee there concerning "all things which are appoint"ed for thee to do."

11 And, as I saw nothing, through the glory of that light, I was led by the hand of those that were with me, and came to Damascus :

12 and one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good reputation from all the Jews which dwelt there,

13 came to me, and stood, and said to me, Brother Saul, receive again thy sight: and the same hour I beheld him :

14 and he said, The God of

C. xxvii. 16,17. our fathers foreordained thee, to know his will, and to see the Just One, and to hear the voice of his mouth;

15 for thou shalt be his witness, to all men, of the things which thou hast seen and heard: 16 and now, why delayest thou? arise, and be baptized,

66

they will not receive thy tes"timony concerning me :"

19 and I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned, and beat in every synagogue, those that believed on thee:

20 and when the blood of thy witness Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and con- c. vii. 61. senting; and kept the clothes of them that slew him: 21 and he said to me, "Go! "for I will send thee to na"tions afar off:"

22 and they hearkened to him until this word, when they raised their voices, and said, Away with such a one from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.

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

24 the chief captain commanded that he should be brought into the castle; and ordered him to be questioned with stripes, that he might know for what cause they so cried out against him :

25 and as they were binding him with thongs, Paul said to

the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman citizen, and uncondemned?

26 but when the centurion heard this, he went and told it to the chief captain, saying, Beware what thou doest; for this man is a Roman citizen:

27 and the chief captain went, and said to him, Tell me, art thou a Roman citizen? And he said, Yes:

28 and the chief captain answered, With a great sum I purchased that citizenship: and Paul said, But I was so born. 29 Then they who were about to put him to the question, withdrew from him; and the chief captain also was afraid, when he knew that he was a Roman citizen, and that he had bound him:

30 and on the morrow, desiring to know the certainty of the cause for which he was accused by the Jews, he loosed him, and ordered the chief priests and their whole council to appear; and bringing Paul down, he set him before them.

commanded those that stood by him, to smite him on the mouth:

3 then said Paul to him, God will smite thee, thou whitened wall: for dost thou sit to judge me according to the law, yet commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law?

4 and they that stood by, said, Revilest thou God's high priest?

5 then said Paul, I knew not, brethren, that he was high priest: for it is written, "Thou shalt not speak evil of Exod. xxii.28. "the ruler of thy people."

6 But Paul, knowing that the one part were of the Sadducees, and the other of the Pharisees, cried out in the council, Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: even for the hope of a resurrection of the c. xxiv.14,and dead I am called in question:

7 and when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the whole number was divided:

xxvi. 6.

8 for, the Sadducees say, that there is no resurrection, nor Matt. xxii. 22. angel, nor spirit; but, the Pharisees confess all these:

9 and a great clamour arose: and some of the scribes of the party of the Pharisees, rising up, contended, saying, We find no evil in this man: but, what if a spirit, or angel, hath spoken

S

10 and, because the dissension was great, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should be pulled in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and take him from among them by force, and bring him into the castle.

11 And the following night the Lord stood by him, and said, "Be of good courage; "for as thou hast testified the "things concerning me at Je"rusalem, so must thou bear

testimony also at Rome."

12 And when it was day, the Jews formed a conspiracy; and bound themselves under a curse, saying, that they would neither eat nor drink, till they had killed Paul:

13 and they that had made this confederacy, were more than forty:

14 and they went to the chief priests and elders, and said, We have bound ourselves under a great curse, to taste nothing till we have killed Paul:

15 now, therefore, do ye, with the council, signify to the chief captain that he should bring him down to you to-morrow; as if ye would inquire more perfectly concerning him: and we are prepared to slay him, before he come near.

16 But the son of Paul's sister, having heard of their plot, came and entered into the castle, and told it to Paul:

17 and Paul, calling one of the centurions to him, said, Take this youth to the chief captain; for he hath something to tell him:

18 so he took him, and brought him to the chief captain; and said, Paul the prisoner called me to him, and desired me to bring to thee this youth, who hath something to tell thee:

19 then the chief captain took him by the hand; and going aside privately, asked him, What is it that thou hast to tell me?

20 and he said, The Jews have agreed to desire thee to bring down Paul to-morrow to the council, as if they would inquire something more perfectly concerning him;

21 but, be not thou persuaded by them; for, more than forty men of them lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves with an oath, neither to eat nor drink till they have killed him and they are now ready, expecting a promise from thee:

22 then the chief captain dismissed the youth, charging him, Tell no one that thou hast revealed to me these things.

23 And calling to him two of the centurions, he said, Make ready two hundred soldiers, and seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen, at the