Then the Tribune, making his way to him, arrested him, and, having ordered him to be secured with two chains, proceeded to ask who he was and what he had been doing. Some of the crowd shouted one accusation against Paul and some another, until, as the uproar made it impossible for the truth to be ascertained with certainty, the Tribune ordered him to be brought into the barracks. When Paul was going up the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob; read more.
for the whole mass of the people pressed on in the rear, shouting, "Away with him!" When he was about to be taken into the barracks, Paul said to the Tribune, "May I speak to you?" "Do you know Greek?" the Tribune asked. "Are you not the Egyptian who some years ago excited the riot of the 4,000 cut-throats, and led them out into the Desert?" "I am a Jew," replied Paul, "belonging to Tarsus in Cilicia, and am a citizen of no unimportant city. Give me leave, I pray you, to speak to the people." So with his permission Paul stood on the steps and motioned with his hand to the people to be quiet; and when there was perfect silence he addressed them in Hebrew.

"Brethren and fathers," he said, "listen to my defence which I now make before you." And on hearing him address them in Hebrew, they kept all the more quiet; and he said, "I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I was carefully trained at the feet of Gamaliel in the Law of our forefathers, and, like all of you to-day, was zealous for God. read more.
I persecuted to death this new faith, continually binding both men and women and throwing them into prison; as the High Priest also and all the Elders can bear me witness. It was, too, from them that I received letters to the brethren in Damascus, and I was already on my way to Damascus, intending to bring those also who had fled there, in chains to Jerusalem, to be punished. "But on my way, when I was now not far from Damascus, about noon a sudden blaze of light from Heaven shone round me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, "'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' "'Who art thou, Lord?' I asked. "'I am Jesus, the Nazarene,' He replied, 'whom you are persecuting.' "Now the men who were with me, though they saw the light, did not hear the words of Him who spoke to me. And I asked, "'What am I to do, Lord?' "And the Lord said to me, "'Rise, and go into Damascus. There you shall be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.' "And as I could not see because the light had been so dazzling, those who were with me had to lead me by the arm, and so I came to Damascus. "And a certain Ananias, a pious man who obeyed the Law and bore a good character with all the Jews of the city, came to me and standing at my side said, "'Brother Saul, recover your sight.' "I instantly regained my sight and looked up at him. Then he said, 'The God of our forefathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the righteous One and hear Him speak. For you shall be a witness for Him, to all men, of what you have seen and heard. And now why delay? Rise, get yourself baptized, and wash off your sins, calling upon His name.' "After my return to Jerusalem, and while praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance. I saw Jesus, and He said to me, "'Make haste and leave Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.' "'Lord,' I replied, 'they themselves well know how active I was in imprisoning, and in flogging in synagogue after synagogue those who believe in Thee; and when they were shedding the blood of Stephen, Thy witness, I was standing by, fully approving of it, and I held the clothes of those who were killing him.' "'Go,' He replied; 'I will send you as an Apostle to nations far away.'"