Acts 21:27-40
Paul Is Arrested
The seven days of cleansing were almost over. Some Jews from Asia Minor saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and grabbed Paul. “Fellow Israelites, help us!” they shouted. “This is the man who teaches everyone in all places against our people. He speaks against our law and against this holy place. Besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple. He has made this holy place ‘unclean.’ ” They said this because they had seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul. They thought Paul had brought him into the temple.
The whole city was stirred up. People came running from all directions. They grabbed Paul and dragged him out of the temple. Right away the temple gates were shut. The people were trying to kill Paul. But news reached the commander of the Roman troops. He heard that people were making trouble in the whole city of Jerusalem. Right away he took some officers and soldiers with him. They ran down to the crowd. The people causing the trouble saw the commander and his soldiers. So they stopped beating Paul.
The commander came up and arrested Paul. He ordered him to be held with two chains. Then he asked who Paul was and what he had done. Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another. But the commander couldn’t get the facts because of all the noise. So he ordered that Paul be taken into the fort. Paul reached the steps. But then the mob became so wild that he had to be carried by the soldiers. The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”
Paul Speaks to the Crowd
The soldiers were about to take Paul into the fort. Then he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”
“Do you speak Greek?” he replied. “Aren’t you the Egyptian who turned some of our people against their leaders? Didn’t you lead 4,000 terrorists out into the desert some time ago?”
Paul answered, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia. I am a citizen of an important city. Please let me speak to the people.”
The commander told him he could. So Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When all of them were quiet, he spoke to them in the Aramaic language.
Acts 22:1-22
“Brothers and fathers,” Paul began, “listen to me now. I want to give you reasons for my actions.”
When they heard that he was speaking to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
Then Paul said, “I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but I grew up here in Jerusalem. I studied with Gamaliel. I was well trained by him in the law given to our people long ago. I wanted to serve God as much as any of you do today. I hurt the followers of the Way of Jesus. I sent many of them to their death. I arrested men and women. I threw them into prison. The high priest and the whole Council can be witnesses of this themselves. I even had some official letters they had written to their friends in Damascus. So I went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
“I had almost reached Damascus. About noon a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice speak to me. ‘Saul! Saul!’ it said. ‘Why are you opposing me?’
“ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,’ he replied. ‘I am the one you are opposing.’ The light was seen by my companions. But they didn’t understand the voice of the one speaking to me.
“ ‘What should I do, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said. ‘Go into Damascus. There you will be told everything you have been given to do.’ The brightness of the light had blinded me. So my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
“A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a godly Jew who obeyed the law. All the Jews living there respected him very much. He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that very moment I was able to see him.
“Then he said, ‘The God of our people has chosen you. He wanted to tell you his plans for you. You have seen the Blameless One. You have heard words from his mouth. Now you will tell everyone about what you have seen and heard. So what are you waiting for? Get up and call on his name. Be baptized. Have your sins washed away.’
“I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple. Then it seemed to me that I was dreaming. I saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem at once. The people here will not accept what you tell them about me.’
“ ‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these people know what I used to do. I went from one synagogue to another and put believers in prison. I also beat them. Stephen was a man who told other people about you. I stood there when he was killed. I had agreed that he should die. I even guarded the coats of those who were killing him.’
“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go. I will send you far away to people who are not Jews.’ ”
Paul the Roman Citizen
The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, “Kill him! He isn’t fit to live!”
