1“Brothers and fathers,” Paul began, “listen to me now. I want to give you reasons for my actions.”
2When they heard that he was speaking to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
Then Paul said, 3“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. 4I 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. 5The 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.
6“I had almost reached Damascus. About noon a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7I fell to the ground and heard a voice speak to me. ‘Saul! Saul!’ it said. ‘Why are you opposing me?’
8“ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.
“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,’ he replied. ‘I am the one you are opposing.’ 9The light was seen by my companions. But they didn’t understand the voice of the one speaking to me.
10“ ‘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.’ 11The brightness of the light had blinded me. So my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
12“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. 13He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that very moment I was able to see him.
14“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. 15Now you will tell everyone about what you have seen and heard. 16So what are you waiting for? Get up and call on his name. Be baptized. Have your sins washed away.’
17“I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple. Then it seemed to me that I was dreaming. 18I 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.’
19“ ‘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. 20Stephen 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.’
21“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go. I will send you far away to people who are not Jews.’ ”
Paul the Roman Citizen
22The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they shouted, “Kill him! He isn’t fit to live!”
23They shouted and threw off their coats. They threw dust into the air. 24So the commanding officer ordered that Paul be taken into the fort. He gave orders for Paul to be whipped and questioned. He wanted to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25A commander was standing there as they stretched Paul out to be whipped. Paul said to him, “Does the law allow you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”
26When the commander heard this, he went to the commanding officer and reported it. “What are you going to do?” the commander asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.”
27So the commanding officer went to Paul. “Tell me,” he asked. “Are you a Roman citizen?”
“Yes, I am,” Paul answered.
28Then the officer said, “I had to pay a lot of money to become a citizen.”
“But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29Right away those who were about to question him left. Even the officer was alarmed. He realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.
Paul Is Taken to the Sanhedrin
30The commanding officer wanted to find out exactly what the Jews had against Paul. So the next day he let Paul out of prison. He ordered a meeting of the chief priests and all the members of the Sanhedrin. Then he brought Paul and had him stand in front of them.
1“Irmãos e pais, escutem-me no que vou dizer-vos em minha defesa.” 2Quando o ouviram falar em hebraico, o silêncio tornou-se ainda maior.
3“Sou judeu, nascido em Tarso, cidade da Cilícia, mas educado aqui em Jerusalém sob o ensino de Gamaliel, a cujos pés aprendi a seguir com muito cuidado a nossa Lei e costumes. O meu anseio era honrar a Deus em tudo o que fazia, tal como vocês procuram fazer hoje. 4Assim, persegui os seguidores do Caminho até à morte, prendendo e entregando à prisão tanto homens como mulheres. 5O sumo sacerdote pode confirmá-lo, ou até qualquer membro do conselho judaico, pois pedi-lhes que passassem cartas para os irmãos em Damasco, com instruções para me deixarem trazer acorrentado para Jerusalém qualquer cristão que encontrasse, para ser castigado.
6Seguia eu pela estrada, já perto de Damasco, quando subitamente, cerca do meio-dia, brilhou em torno de mim uma luz muito forte vinda do céu. 7Caí e ouvi uma voz que me dizia: ‘Saulo, Saulo, porque me persegues?’
8‘Quem és tu, Senhor?’, perguntei.
‘Sou Jesus de Nazaré, aquele a quem persegues.’ 9Os homens que estavam comigo viram a luz, mas não compreenderam as palavras.
10E eu disse: ‘Que devo eu fazer, Senhor?’
E o Senhor disse-me: ‘Levanta-te, entra em Damasco e aí te será dito o que deves fazer.’
11A luz era tão forte que deixei de ver e tive de ser conduzido para Damasco pelos meus companheiros. 12Aí, Ananias, homem obediente a Deus, devoto à Lei e que gozava da consideração de todos os judeus de Damasco, 13veio ver-me e, chegando-se junto de mim, disse-me: ‘Irmão Saulo, recupera a vista!’ E naquele momento consegui vê-lo.
14Então disse-me: ‘O Deus de nossos pais escolheu-te para conheceres a sua vontade, veres o Justo e ouvi-lo falar. 15Deverás testemunhar diante de todos os homens aquilo que viste e ouviste. 16Agora, não te demores. Levanta-te, vai batizar-te e lava os teus pecados, invocando o nome do Senhor.’
17Um dia depois do meu regresso a Jerusalém, quando orava no templo, tive uma visão 18em que Jesus me disse: ‘Apressa-te, sai de Jerusalém, pois não acreditarão em ti, quando lhes falares acerca de mim.’
19‘Senhor’, respondi, ‘eles sabem, sem dúvida, que meti na prisão e espanquei os membros de todas as sinagogas que criam em ti. 20E quando a tua testemunha, Estêvão, foi morta, lá estava eu manifestando a minha aprovação ao tomar conta da roupa dos que o apedrejavam.’
21Mas o Senhor disse-me: ‘Sai de Jerusalém, pois vou mandar-te para longe, para os gentios!’ ”
Paulo, o cidadão romano
22A multidão escutou Paulo até ele dizer aquela palavra; mas, ao ouvi-la, todos gritaram a uma só voz: “Fora com esse homem! Matem-no! Não é digno de viver!” 23Clamando eles e lançando ao ar a túnica, misturada com terra, 24o comandante levou-o para dentro e ordenou que fosse açoitado, para que confessasse o crime, pois pretendia descobrir por que motivo a multidão se enfurecera daquela maneira. 25Quando estavam a amarrar Paulo para o açoitar, este disse a um oficial que se encontrava perto: “Será legal chicotear um cidadão romano que nem sequer foi julgado?”
26O oficial, ao ouvir isto, falou com o comandante e avisou-o: “Vê lá o que vais fazer! Trata-se de um cidadão romano!”
27O comandante foi ter com Paulo e perguntou-lhe: “Diz-me, és cidadão romano?”
“Sou, sim!”, respondeu Paulo.
28“Também eu”, murmurou o comandante, “e esse direito custou-me muito dinheiro!”
Paulo, por seu turno, respondeu: “Mas eu sou cidadão romano por nascimento!”
29Os soldados que se preparavam para interrogar Paulo foram-se logo embora, quando souberam que era cidadão romano, e o próprio comandante ficou assustado por Paulo ser cidadão romano e por o ter amarrado.
Paulo é levado ao conselho judaico
30No dia seguinte, o comandante, desejoso de saber ao certo por que razão Paulo estava a ser acusado pelos judeus, tirou-lhe as cadeias e, mandando convocar os principais sacerdotes para uma sessão com o conselho, trouxe Paulo e apresentou-o.
