Acts:22
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Men ,
brethren ,
and fathers ,
hear ye my defence which I make now unto you .
* (
And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them ,
they kept the more silence :
and he saith ,)
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I am verily a man which am a Jew ,
born in Tarsus ,
a city in Cilicia ,
yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel ,
and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers ,
and was zealous toward God ,
as ye all are this day .
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And I persecuted this way unto the death ,
binding and delivering into prisons both men and women .
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As also the high priest doth bear me witness ,
and all the estate of the elders :
from whom also I received letters unto the brethren ,
and went to Damascus ,
to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem ,
for to be punished .
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And it came to pass ,
that ,
as I made my journey ,
and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon ,
suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me .
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And I fell unto the ground ,
and heard a voice saying unto me ,
Saul ,
Saul ,
why persecutest thou me ?
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And I answered ,
Who art thou ,
Lord ?
And he said unto me ,
I am Jesus of Nazareth ,
whom thou persecutest .
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And they that were with me saw indeed the light ,
and were afraid ;
but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me .
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And I said ,
What shall I do ,
Lord ?
And the Lord said unto me ,
Arise ,
and go into Damascus ;
and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do .
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And when I could not see for the glory of that light ,
being led by the hand of them that were with me ,
I came into Damascus .
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And one Ananias ,
a devout man according to the law ,
having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there ,
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Came unto me ,
and stood ,
and said unto me ,
Brother Saul ,
receive thy sight .
And the same hour I looked up upon him .
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And he said ,
The God of our fathers hath chosen thee ,
that thou shouldest know his will ,
and see that Just One ,
and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth .
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For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard .
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And now why tarriest thou ?
arise ,
and be baptized ,
and wash away thy sins ,
calling on the name of the Lord .
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And it came to pass ,
that ,
when I was come again to Jerusalem ,
even while I prayed in the temple ,
I was in a trance ;
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And saw him saying unto me ,
Make haste ,
and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem :
for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me .
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And I said ,
Lord ,
they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee :
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And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed ,
I also was standing by ,
and consenting unto his death ,
and kept the raiment of them that slew him .
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And he said unto me ,
Depart :
for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles .
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And they gave him audience unto this word ,
and then lifted up their voices ,
and said ,
Away with such a fellow from the earth :
for it is not fit that he should live .
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And as they cried out ,
and cast off their clothes ,
and threw dust into the air ,
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The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle ,
and bade that he should be examined by scourging ;
that he might know wherefore they cried so against him .
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And as they bound him with thongs ,
Paul said unto the centurion that stood by ,
Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman ,
and uncondemned ?
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When the centurion heard that ,
he went and told the chief captain ,
saying ,
Take heed what thou doest :
for this man is a Roman .
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Then the chief captain came ,
and said unto him ,
Tell me ,
art thou a Roman ?
He said ,
Yea .
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And the chief captain answered ,
With a great sum obtained I this freedom .
And Paul said ,
But I was free born .
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Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him :
and the chief captain also was afraid ,
after he knew that he was a Roman ,
and because he had bound him .
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On the morrow ,
because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews ,
he loosed him from his bands ,
and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear ,
and brought Paul down ,
and set him before them .