16. What are you waiting for? Get up! Be baptized, and wash away your sins by praying to the Lord.”
17. After this I returned to Jerusalem and went to the temple to pray. There I had a vision
18. of the Lord who said to me, “Hurry and leave Jerusalem! The people won't listen to what you say about me.”
19. I replied, “Lord, they know that in many of our meeting places I arrested and beat people who had faith in you.
20. Stephen was killed because he spoke for you, and I stood there and cheered them on. I even guarded the clothes of the men who murdered him.”
21. But the Lord told me to go, and he promised to send me far away to the Gentiles.
22. The crowd listened until Paul said this. Then they started shouting, “Get rid of this man! He doesn't deserve to live.”
23. They kept shouting. They waved their clothes around and threw dust into the air.
24. The Roman commander ordered Paul to be taken into the fortress and beaten with a whip. He did this to find out why the people were screaming at Paul.
25. While the soldiers were tying Paul up to be beaten, he asked the officer standing there, “Is it legal to beat a Roman citizen before he has been tried in court?”
26. When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and said, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”
27. The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”“Yes,” Paul answered.