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Acts 22

1“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense I now make before you.” 2When they heard that he addressed them in the Hebrew language, they became even quieter. He said, 3“I am a Jewish man, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated strictly according to the law of our fathers, zealous for God just as you all are today. 4I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and handing over both men and women to prisons, 5as the high priest and the whole council of elders can also testify for me. From them I received letters to the brothers and traveled to Damascus to bring even those who were there bound to Jerusalem to be punished.

6“As I traveled and drew near Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9Those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one speaking to me. 10I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus, and there you will be told everything you have been appointed to do.’ 11Since I could not see because of the glory of that light, those who were with me led me by the hand, and I came to Damascus.

12“A man named Ananias, devout according to the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there, 13came to me and stood beside me. He said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ At that very moment I regained my sight and looked at him. 14He said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth, 15for you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16And now, why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

17“When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance 18and saw him saying to me, ‘Hurry and leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not receive your testimony about me.’ 19I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in synagogue after synagogue I used to imprison and beat those who believed in you. 20And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being poured out, I myself stood by, approving and guarding the garments of those killing him.’ 21He said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the nations.’”

22They listened to him until this statement, and then raised their voices, saying, “Away with such a man from the earth! He ought not to live.” 23As they shouted, threw their garments, and tossed dust into the air, 24the commander ordered him brought into the barracks, directing that he be examined by flogging so that he might learn why they were shouting against him like this. 25When they stretched him out with the straps, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen who has not been condemned?” 26Hearing this, the centurion went to the commander and reported, “What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen.” 27The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” He said, “Yes.” 28The commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.” 29So those who were about to examine him immediately withdrew from him. The commander too was afraid when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.

30The next day, wanting to know with certainty what he was accused of by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole council to assemble. He brought Paul down and stood him before them.

Translation notes 5

22:1–5 — Address and education. “Brothers and fathers” preserves family language addressed to Paul's Jewish hearers. “At the feet” is the image for learning from Gamaliel. “Way” names the movement Paul formerly persecuted; the men and women remain explicit.

22:6–11 — Voice and light. Verse 9 says his companions did not hear the voice; 9:7 says they heard the voice but saw no one. “Did not understand the voice” is a defensible translation alternative here, but the difference in grammatical case does not by itself prove that harmonization. This draft preserves the wording difference and records the alternative. It does not add fear from the longer textual form of verse 9.

22:13–16 — Sight and washing. The same verb can mean regain sight or look up; the first sense fits the narrated blindness and restoration. The washing-away image and command to be baptized remain, alongside calling on his name. The text is not expanded into an explanation of how those actions relate theologically. The base says “his name”; other witnesses name “the Lord.”

22:17–21 — Witness. Stephen is called Jesus' witness. The term is not automatically replaced by “martyr,” although his death is explicit. The narrated commission to the nations is retained in this account's place and wording.

22:24–30 — Interrogation. The intended flogging is interrogation under torture, not simply a public beating already carried out. “Roman citizen” makes the civic status explicit. The final release concerns his bonds for the council appearance, not an announcement that he was permanently freed.