Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



"No," said Paul, "I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a city of some note; and I beg you to give me permission to speak to the people."


They were bent upon killing him, when it was reported to the Officer commanding the garrison, that all Jerusalem was in commotion. He instantly got together some officers and men, and charged down upon the crowd, who, when they saw the Commanding Officer and his men, stopped beating Paul. Then he went up to Paul, arrested him, ordered him to be doubly chained, and proceeded to inquire who he was, and what he had been doing. read more.
Some of the crowd said one thing, and some another; and, as he could get no definite reply on account of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. When Paul reached the steps, he was actually being carried by the soldiers, owing to the violence of the mob; For the people were following in a mass, shouting out: "Kill him!" Just as he was about to be taken into the Fort, Paul said to the Commanding Officer: "May I speak to you?" "Do you know Greek?" asked the Commanding Officer. "Are not you, then, the Egyptian who some time ago raised an insurrection and led the four thousand Bandits out into the Wilderness?" "No," said Paul, "I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a city of some note; and I beg you to give me permission to speak to the people." The Commanding Officer gave his permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, made signs with his hand to the people, and, when comparative silence had been obtained, he spoke to them in Hebrew, as follows:

As they were shouting, tearing off their clothes, and throwing dust in the air, The Commanding Officer ordered Paul to be taken into the Fort, and directed that he should be examined under the lash, that he might find out the reason for their outcry against him. But just as they had tied him up to be scourged, Paul said to the Captain standing near: "Is it legal for you to scourge a Roman citizen, unconvicted?" read more.
On hearing this, the Captain went and reported it to the Commanding Officer. "Do you know what you are doing?" he said. "This man is a Roman citizen." So the Commanding Officer went up to Paul and said: "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes," replied Paul. "I had to pay a heavy price for my position as citizen," said the Officer. "I am one by birth," rejoined Paul. The men who were to have examined Paul immediately drew back, and the Officer, finding that Paul was a Roman citizen, was alarmed at having put him in chains. On the next day the Commanding Officer, wishing to find out the real reason why Paul was denounced by the Jews, had his chains taken off, and directed the Chief Priests and the whole of the High Council to assemble, and then took Paul down and brought him before them.


"I am a Jew, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, but I was brought up in this city under the teaching of Gamaliel, and educated in accordance with the strict system of our ancestral Law. I was as zealous in God's service as any of you who are here to-day.

"No," said Paul, "I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a city of some note; and I beg you to give me permission to speak to the people."

"Go at once," said the Lord, "to the 'Straight Street', and ask at Judas's house for a man named Saul, from Tarsus. He is at this moment praying,


Then he went up to Paul, arrested him, ordered him to be doubly chained, and proceeded to inquire who he was, and what he had been doing. Some of the crowd said one thing, and some another; and, as he could get no definite reply on account of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. When Paul reached the steps, he was actually being carried by the soldiers, owing to the violence of the mob; read more.
For the people were following in a mass, shouting out: "Kill him!" Just as he was about to be taken into the Fort, Paul said to the Commanding Officer: "May I speak to you?" "Do you know Greek?" asked the Commanding Officer. "Are not you, then, the Egyptian who some time ago raised an insurrection and led the four thousand Bandits out into the Wilderness?" "No," said Paul, "I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a city of some note; and I beg you to give me permission to speak to the people." The Commanding Officer gave his permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, made signs with his hand to the people, and, when comparative silence had been obtained, he spoke to them in Hebrew, as follows:

"Brothers and Father, listen to the defense which I am about to make." When they heard that he was speaking to them in Hebrew, they were still more quiet; and Paul went on: "I am a Jew, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, but I was brought up in this city under the teaching of Gamaliel, and educated in accordance with the strict system of our ancestral Law. I was as zealous in God's service as any of you who are here to-day. read more.
In my persecution of this Cause I did not stop even at the taking of life. I put in chains, and imprisoned, men and women alike-- And to that the High Priest himself and all the Council can testify. For I had letters of introduction from them to our fellow Jews at Damascus, and I was on my way to that place, to bring those whom I might find there prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment. While I was still on my way, just as I was getting close to Damascus, about mid-day, suddenly there flashed from the heavens a great light all round me. I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' I replied. Then the voice said 'I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.' The men with me saw the light, but did not hear the speaker's voice. Then I said 'What am I to do, Lord?' 'Get up and go into Damascus,' The Lord said to me, 'and there you shall be told all that you have been appointed to do.' In consequence of that dazzling light I could not see, but my companions held me by the hand, till I reached Damascus. There a man named Ananias, a strict observer of our Law, well spoken of by all the Jewish inhabitants, came to see me. Standing close to me, he said 'Saul, my Brother, recover your sight.' And then and there I recovered my sight and looked up at him. Then he said 'The God of our ancestors has appointed you to learn his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear words from his lips; For you shall be a witness for him to all the world of what you have just seen and heard. And now why wait any longer: Be baptized at once, wash away your sins, and invoke his Name. After my return to Jerusalem, while I was praying one day in the Temple, I fell into a trance, And saw Jesus saying to me 'Make haste and leave Jerusalem at once, because they will not accept your testimony about me.' 'Lord,' I answered, 'these people know that I used to imprison and scourge, in Synagogue after Synagogue, those who believed in you; And, when the blood of your martyr, Stephen, was being shed, I was myself standing by, approving of his death, and took charge of the clothes of those who were murdering him. But Jesus said to me 'Go; for I will send you to the Gentiles far away'."


When her masters saw that there was no hope of further profit from her, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them into the public square to the authorities, And took them before the Magistrates. "These men are causing a great disturbance in our town," they complained; "They are Jews, and they are teaching customs which it is not right for us, as Romans, to sanction or adopt." read more.
On this the mob rose as one man against them, and the Magistrates stripped them of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After beating them severely, the Magistrates put them in prison, with orders to the Governor of the Jail to keep them in safe custody. On receiving so strict an order, the Governor put them into the inner cell, and secured their feet in the stocks. About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and while the prisoners were listening to them, Suddenly there was an earthquake of such violence that the Jail was shaken to its foundations; all the doors flew open, and all the prisoners' chains were loosened. Roused from his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, the Governor drew his sword intending to kill himself, in the belief that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul called our loudly: "Do not harm yourself; we are all here." Calling for a light, the Governor rushed in, and flung himself trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. Then he led them out, and said: "What must I do to be saved?" "Believe in Jesus, our Lord," they replied, "and you shall be saved, you and your household too." Then they spoke to him of God's Message, and to all his household as well. And that very hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds, and he himself and every one belonging to him were baptized without delay. Afterwards he took them up to his house and set before them something to eat, rejoicing that he, with all his household, had come to believe in God. In the morning the Magistrates sent the police with an order for the men to be discharged. The Governor of the Jail told Paul of his instructions. "The Magistrates have sent an order for your discharge," he said, "so you had better leave the place at once and go quietly away." But Paul's answer to them was: "They have flogged us in public without trial, though we are Roman citizens, and they have put us in prison, and now they are for sending us out secretly! No, indeed! Let them come and take us out themselves." The police reported his words to the Magistrates, who, on hearing that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, were alarmed, And went to the prison, and did their best to conciliate them. Then they took them out, and begged them to leave the city. When Paul and Silas left the prison, they went to Lydia's house, and, after they had seen the Brethren, and encouraged them, they left the place.

But, just as the seven days were drawing to a close, the Jews from Roman Asia caught sight of Paul in the Temple, and caused great excitement among all the people present, by seizing Paul and shouting: "Men of Israel! help! This is the man who teaches every one everywhere against our People, our Law, and this Place; and, what is more, he has actually brought Greeks into the Temple and defiled this sacred place." (For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in Paul's company in the city, and were under the belief that Paul had taken him into the Temple.) read more.
The whole city was stirred, and the people quickly collected, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the Temple, when the doors were immediately shut. They were bent upon killing him, when it was reported to the Officer commanding the garrison, that all Jerusalem was in commotion. He instantly got together some officers and men, and charged down upon the crowd, who, when they saw the Commanding Officer and his men, stopped beating Paul. Then he went up to Paul, arrested him, ordered him to be doubly chained, and proceeded to inquire who he was, and what he had been doing. Some of the crowd said one thing, and some another; and, as he could get no definite reply on account of the uproar, he ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. When Paul reached the steps, he was actually being carried by the soldiers, owing to the violence of the mob; For the people were following in a mass, shouting out: "Kill him!" Just as he was about to be taken into the Fort, Paul said to the Commanding Officer: "May I speak to you?" "Do you know Greek?" asked the Commanding Officer. "Are not you, then, the Egyptian who some time ago raised an insurrection and led the four thousand Bandits out into the Wilderness?" "No," said Paul, "I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a city of some note; and I beg you to give me permission to speak to the people." The Commanding Officer gave his permission, and Paul, standing on the steps, made signs with his hand to the people, and, when comparative silence had been obtained, he spoke to them in Hebrew, as follows:


"I am a Jew, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, but I was brought up in this city under the teaching of Gamaliel, and educated in accordance with the strict system of our ancestral Law. I was as zealous in God's service as any of you who are here to-day.

"No," said Paul, "I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of a city of some note; and I beg you to give me permission to speak to the people."

"Go at once," said the Lord, "to the 'Straight Street', and ask at Judas's house for a man named Saul, from Tarsus. He is at this moment praying,