1. “Men—brothers and fathers—listen to my defense to you now!”
2. And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Aramaic language, they became even more silent. And he said,
3. “I am a Jewish man born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated according to the exactness of the law received from our fathers, being zealous for God, just as all of you are today.
4. I persecuted this Way to the death, tying up and delivering to prison both men and women,
5. as indeed the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me, from whom also I received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and was traveling there to lead away those who were there also tied up to Jerusalem so that they could be punished.