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.
30. The next day the commander decided to learn why the Jews were accusing Paul. So he ordered the leading priests and the whole high council to meet together. He had Paul’s chains taken off and had him brought in to face the council.