Acts 22:26-30

²⁶That boss heard Paul’s words, then he went to the big boss and told him about Paul. He said, “This man is not just a Jew, he is a Roman too. Do you really want us to whip him?”

²⁷The big boss heard that story and he was shocked. He went to Paul and said, “Tell me, are you really a Roman?” Paul said, “Yes, I am.”

²⁸Then the big boss said, “I’m a Roman too. I paid a lot of money for them to write my name in the book in a Roman office, so now I’m a Roman.” Paul said, “I’ve been a Roman all my life. They wrote my name in that book as soon as I was born.”

²⁹Those soldiers were going to whip Paul, but they heard him say he was a Roman, so they left him. The big boss was frightened too. He remembered that he told the soldiers to tie Paul’s arms and whip him, and it was against the law for him to do that to a Roman.

³⁰The big boss of the soldiers still wanted to know why the Jews were blaming Paul, so the next day he told the bosses of the Jewish ceremonies, and the other Jewish council men, to have a meeting. Then he took Paul to that meeting and took his chains off, and told him to stand up in front of them, to listen to what they say, and to tell his story to answer them.