| King James Bible | New International Version |
| 1Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. | 1"Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense." |
| 2(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) | 2When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. 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 of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. |
| 4And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. | 4I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into 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 the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as 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. | 6"About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. |
| 7And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? | 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?' |
| 8And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. | 8"'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. "'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. |
| 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. | 9My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him 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. | 10"'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked. " 'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned 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. | 11My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me. |
| 12And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, | 12"A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. |
| 13Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. | 13He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see 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. | 14"Then he said: 'The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. |
| 15For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. | 15You 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 wash your sins 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; | 17"When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at 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 speaking to me. 'Quick!' he said. 'Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here 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: | 19"'Lord,' I replied, 'these people know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe 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 martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' |
| 21And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. | 21"Then the Lord said to me, 'Go; 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 listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!" |
| 23And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, | 23As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into 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 commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. |
| 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? | 25As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?" |
| 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 commander and reported it. "What are you going to do?" he asked. "This man is a Roman citizen." |
| 27Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. | 27The commander went to Paul and asked, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes, I am," he answered. |
| 28And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. | 28Then the commander said, "I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship." "But I was 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. | 29Those who were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. |
| 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 commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews. So the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. |
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