| King James Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. | 1"Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense that I now make to you." |
| 2(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) | 2(When they heard that he was addressing them in Aramaic, they became even quieter.) Then Paul said, |
| 3I 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. | 3"I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated with strictness under Gamaliel according to the law of our ancestors, and was zealous for God just as all of you are today. |
| 4And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. | 4I persecuted this Way even to the point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison, |
| 5As 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. | 5as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to make arrests there and bring the prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. |
| 6And 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. | 6As I was en route and near Damascus, about noon a very bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. |
| 7And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? | 7Then I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' |
| 8And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. | 8I answered, 'Who are you, Lord?' He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.' |
| 9And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. | 9Those who were with me saw the light, but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. |
| 10And 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. | 10So I asked, 'What should I do, Lord?' The Lord said to me, 'Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told about everything that you have been designated to do.' |
| 11And 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. | 11Since I could not see because of the brilliance of that light, I came to Damascus led by the hand of those who were with me. |
| 12And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, | 12A man named Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who live there, |
| 13Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. | 13came to me and stood beside me and said to me, 'Brother Saul, regain your sight!' And at that very moment I looked up and saw him. |
| 14And 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. | 14Then he said, 'The God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear a command from his mouth, |
| 15For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. | 15because you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. |
| 16And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. | 16And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.' |
| 17And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; | 17When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance |
| 18And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. | 18and saw the Lord saying to me, 'Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.' |
| 19And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: | 19I replied, 'Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues who believed in you. |
| 20And 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. | 20And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing nearby, approving, and guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.' |
| 21And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. | 21Then he said to me, 'Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'" |
| 22And 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. | 22The crowd was listening to him until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, "Away with this man from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live!" |
| 23And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, | 23While they were screaming and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust in the air, |
| 24The 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. | 24the commanding officer ordered Paul to be brought back into the barracks. He told them to interrogate Paul by beating him with a lash so that he could find out the reason the crowd was shouting at Paul in this way. |
| 25And 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? | 25When they had stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing nearby, "Is it legal for you to lash a man who is a Roman citizen without a proper trial?" |
| 26When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. | 26When the centurion heard this, he went to the commanding officer and reported it, saying, "What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen." |
| 27Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. | 27So the commanding officer came and asked Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" He replied, "Yes." |
| 28And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. | 28The commanding officer answered, "I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money." "But I was even born a citizen," Paul replied. |
| 29Then 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. | 29Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away from him, and the commanding officer was frightened when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had had him tied up. |
| 30On 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. | 30The next day, because the commanding officer wanted to know the true reason Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole council to assemble. He then brought Paul down and had him stand before them. |
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