14. Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has already chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear a command from his mouth,
15. because you will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.
16. And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’
17. When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance
18. and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’
19. I replied, ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat those in the various synagogues who believed in you.
20. And when the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing nearby, approving, and guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.’
21. Then he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22. The crowd was listening to him until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Away with this man from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live!”
23. While they were screaming and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust in the air,
24. the commanding officer ordered Paul to be brought back into the barracks. He told them to interrogate Paul by beating him with a lash so that he could find out the reason the crowd was shouting at Paul in this way.
25. When they had stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing nearby, “Is it legal for you to lash a man who is a Roman citizen without a proper trial?”
26. When the centurion heard this, he went to the commanding officer and reported it, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”
27. So the commanding officer came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” He replied, “Yes.”
28. The commanding officer answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” “But I was even born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29. Then those who were about to interrogate him stayed away from him, and the commanding officer was frightened when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had had him tied up.
30. The next day, because the commanding officer wanted to know the true reason Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole council to assemble. He then brought Paul down and had him stand before them.