18. I saw Jesus, and he said to me, ‘Hurry and leave Jerusalem now! The people here will not accept the truth you tell them about me.’
19. “I said, ‘But, Lord, the people know that I was the one who put the believers in jail and beat them. I went through all the synagogues to find and arrest the people who believe in you.
20. The people also know that I was there when Stephen, your witness, was killed. I stood there and agreed that they should kill him. I even held the coats of the men who were killing him!’
21. “But Jesus said to me, ‘Leave now. I will send you far away to the non-Jewish people.’”
22. The people stopped listening when Paul said this last thing. They all shouted, “Get rid of this man! He doesn’t deserve to live.”
23. They kept on shouting, ripping off their clothes and throwing dust into the air.
24. Then the commander told the soldiers to take Paul into the army building and beat him. He wanted to make Paul tell why the people were shouting against him like this.
25. So the soldiers were tying Paul, preparing to beat him. But he said to an army officer there, “Do you have the right to beat a Roman citizen who has not been proven guilty?”