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?”
26. When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and told him about it. The officer said, “Do you know what you are doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”
27. The commander came to Paul and said, “Tell me, are you really a Roman citizen?” He answered, “Yes.”
28. The commander said, “I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen.” But Paul said, “I was born a citizen.”
29. The men who were preparing to question Paul moved away from him immediately. The commander was afraid because he had already put Paul in chains, and he was a Roman citizen.