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2When they heard him speaking to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet.
Paul continued,
3“I’m a Jew. I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but I grew up here in Jerusalem. I studied with Gamaliel, who trained me well in the law that was given to our people long ago. I wanted to honor God as much as any of you do.
4I attacked the followers of the Way of Jesus and even sent many of them to their deaths. I arrested men and women and threw them into prison.
5The high priest and the whole Council could tell you this themselves. I even asked them to write official letters to their friends in Damascus so I could go there and bring Jesus’ followers as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
6“I had almost reached Damascus when about noon a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me.
7I fell to the ground and heard a voice speaking to me. ‘Saul! Saul!’ it said. ‘Why are you attacking me?’
8“ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,’ he replied. ‘I’m the one you’ve been attacking.’
9The people who were traveling with me saw the light, but they didn’t understand Jesus’ voice as he spoke to me.
10“ ‘What should I do, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you’ll be told everything you’ve been assigned to do.’
11The brightness of the light had blinded me, and my friends had to lead me by the hand into Damascus.
12“A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a godly Jew who obeyed the law. All the Jews living there respected him very much.
13He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that very moment I could see him.
14“Then he said, ‘The God of our people has chosen you, and he wants you to know the plans he has for you, to see the Blameless One, and to hear his voice.
15Now you need to tell everyone about what you’ve seen and heard.
16So what are you waiting for? Get up and call on his name. Be baptized and have your sins washed away.’
17“When I returned to Jerusalem, I went to the temple to pray. As if in a dream,
18I saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem right now, because the people here aren’t going to accept what you tell them about me.’
19“ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know how I used to go from one synagogue to another beating the believers and putting them in prison.
20When Stephen was killed for telling other people about you, I stood there to show that I agreed he should die. I even guarded the coats of those who were killing him.’
21“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go, I’m sending you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”
22The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. They started shouting, “Kill him! He isn’t fit to live!”
23They shouted and threw off their coats and tossed dust into the air.
24The commander wanted to find out why the people were shouting at Paul like this. So he ordered him to be taken into the fort, whipped, and questioned.
25Another officer was standing there as they stretched Paul out to be whipped. Paul said to him, “Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”
26When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “Do you know what you’re doing?” the officer asked. “This man is a Roman citizen!”
27So the commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes, I am,” he answered.
28Then the officer said, “I had to pay a lot of money to become a citizen.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29Right away those who were about to question him backed off. Even the commander was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.
30The commander wanted to find out exactly what the Jews were accusing Paul of doing. So the next day he brought Paul out of prison and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to meet together. Then he led Paul in and had him stand in front of them.