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?”