Acts 22:10-27

¹⁰So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and it will be told to you about all the things which it has been appointed for you to do.’

¹¹And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹²“And Ananias, a certain devout man according to the law, being testified of by all the Jews dwelling in Damascus,

¹³came to me and he stood and said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And I, in that very hour, looked up at him.

¹⁴And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has chosen you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and hear the voice from His mouth.

¹⁵For you shall be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.

¹⁶And now, what are you going to do? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

¹⁷“And it happened to me, having returned to Jerusalem and praying in the temple, that I came to be in a trance,

¹⁸and saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and go out quickly from Jerusalem, for they will not receive your witness about Me.’

¹⁹And I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I was imprisoning and beating those believing on You.

²⁰And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing by consenting to his murder, and guarding the clothes of those murdering him.’

²¹Then He said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”

²²Now they were listening to him until this statement, and they lifted their voice saying, “Take away such a man from the earth, for it is not fitting for him to live!”

²³And as they were crying out and throwing off their clothes, and throwing dust in the air,

²⁴the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said for him that he should be given a hearing with scourging, so that he might learn why they were shouting at him like this.

²⁵But as they were stretching him out with the thongs, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?”

²⁶And the centurion, hearing this, going to the commander he reported, saying, “Watch what you are about to do, for this man is a Roman.”

²⁷Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” He said, “Yes.”