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'My brothers, my fathers, listen to what I have to say to you in my defence.'
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When they realised he was speaking in Hebrew, the silence was even greater than before.
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'I am a Jew', Paul said, 'and was born at Tarsus in Cilicia. I was brought up here in this city. It was under Gamaliel that I studied and was taught the exact observance of the Law of our ancestors. In fact, I was as full of duty towards God as you all are today.
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I even persecuted this Way to the death and sent women as well as men to prison in chains
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as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify. I even received letters from them to the brothers in Damascus, which I took with me when I set off to bring prisoners back from there to Jerusalem for punishment.
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'It happened that I was on that journey and nearly at Damascus when in the middle of the day a bright light from heaven suddenly shone round me.
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I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying,
"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
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I answered, "Who are you, Lord?" and he said to me,
"I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting."
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The people with me saw the light but did not hear the voice which spoke to me.
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I said, "What am I to do, Lord?" The Lord answered,
"Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told what you have been appointed to do."
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Since the light had been so dazzling that I was blind, I got to Damascus only because my companions led me by the hand.
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'Someone called Ananias, a devout follower of the Law and highly thought of by all the Jews living there,
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came to see me; he stood beside me and said, "Brother Saul, receive your sight." Instantly my sight came back and I was able to see him.
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Then he said, "The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Upright One and hear his own voice speaking,
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because you are to be his witness before all humanity, testifying to what you have seen and heard.
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And now why delay? Hurry and be baptised and wash away your sins, calling on his name."
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'It happened that, when I got back to Jerusalem, and was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance
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and then I saw him.
"Hurry," he said,
"leave Jerusalem at once; they will not accept the testimony you are giving about me."
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"Lord," I answered, "they know that I used to go from synagogue to synagogue, imprisoning and flogging those who believed in you;
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and that when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I, too, was standing by, in full agreement with his murderers, and in charge of their clothes."
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Then he said to me,
"Go! I am sending you out to the gentiles far away." '
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So far they had listened to him, but at these words they began to shout, 'Rid the earth of the man! He is not fit to live!'
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They were yelling, waving their cloaks and throwing dust into the air,
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and so the tribune had him brought into the fortress and ordered him to be examined under the lash, to find out the reason for the outcry against him.
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But when they had strapped him down Paul said to the centurion on duty, 'Is it legal for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and has not been brought to trial?'
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When he heard this the centurion went and told the tribune; 'Do you realise what you are doing?' he said. 'This man is a Roman citizen.'
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So the tribune came and asked him, 'Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?' Paul answered 'Yes'.
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To this the tribune replied, 'It cost me a large sum to acquire this citizenship.' 'But I was born to it,' said Paul.
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Then those who were about to examine him hurriedly withdrew, and the tribune himself was alarmed when he realised that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.
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The next day, since he wanted to know for sure what charge the Jews were bringing, he freed Paul and gave orders for a meeting of the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin; then he brought Paul down and set him in front of them.
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