Study Desk

And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

For you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

and saw Him saying to me, "Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.'

Then He said to me, "Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles."'

And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!"

And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?"

When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, "Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman."

The next day, because he wanted to know for certain why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down and set him before them.

Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?"

Then Paul said, "I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.' " Exodus 22:28">[fn]

For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection--and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both.

But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome."

Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, "Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him."

But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you."

And he called for two centurions, saying, "Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night;

And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, [fn] I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. Farewell.

For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered: "Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself,

unless it is for this one statement which I cried out, standing among them, "Concerning the resurrection of the dead I am being judged by you this day."'

So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide for or visit him.