Acts 22:1-5 - Paul Defends Himself

1 "Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make in your presence." 2 When they heard him speaking in Hebrew they became the more quiet. 3 "I am a Jew," he said, "born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the strict manner of the Law of our forefathers, ardent for God, even as you all are this day. 4 "I persecuted to the death this way, continually binding and delivering up to prisons both men and women. 5 "To this the high priest and all the council of elders are witnesses. It was from them that I received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was already on my way to bring those also who were there back to Jerusalem, in bonds, for punishment.