Whiston(i)
1 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye the defence which I make now unto you.
2 And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue they were silent; and he saith,
3 I am a man who am a Jew, born in Tarsus, of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, being zealous towards God, as ye all are this day.
4 And I persecuted this way unto death, binding and delivering unto prison both men and women.
5 As also the high priest will bear me witness, and all the Presbytery: from whom I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them who were there bound unto Jerusalem, that they might be punished.
6 As I was come nigh unto Damascus, about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
7 And I fell unto the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? But he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou persecutest.
9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake unto me.
10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And he said unto me. Arise, and go to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed thee to do.
11 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 to Damascus.
12 And one Ananias, a man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews who dwelt [there],
13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
14 And he said to me, 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.
15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men, of what thou hast seen and heard.
16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on his name.
17 And it came to pass, that when I wascome again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
18 And saw him saying unto me, Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned, and beat in the synagogues them that believed on thee.
20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I was standing by, and consenting, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I send thee far unto the Gentiles.
22 And they hearkened as far as this word, and lift up their voice, and said, Take away such an one from the earth: for it is not fit he should live.
23 And as they cried out, and cast off [their] cloaths, and threw dust to heaven,
24 The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by stripes; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.
25 And as they bound him with thongs, he said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?
26 When the centurion heard this, that he called himself a Roman, he went to the chief captain, and told him, saying, Take heed what thou art doing; for this man is a Roman.
27 Then the chief captain came, and asked him, Tell me, Art thou a Roman? He said, I am.
28 And the chief captain answered and said to him, I know with what sum I obtained this freedom: And Paul said, But I was [free]-born.
29 Then they departed from him who should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a citizen of Rome, and because he had bound him.
30 On the morrow, being willing to know the certainty of what he was accused by the Jews, he loosed him, and commanded the chief priests, and all the council to come together, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.