11. I could not see, because the bright light had made me blind. So the men led me into Damascus.
12. “There a man named Ananias came to me. He was a religious man; he obeyed the law of Moses. All the Jews who lived there respected him.
13. Ananias came to me, stood by me, and said, ‘Brother Saul, see again!’ Immediately I was able to see him.
14. Ananias told me, ‘The God of our fathers chose you long ago. He chose you to know his plan. He chose you to see the Righteous One and to hear words from him.
15. You will be his witness to all people. You will tell them about the things you have seen and heard.
16. Now, why wait any longer? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away. Do this, trusting in him to save you.’
17. “Later, I returned to Jerusalem. I was praying in the Temple, and I saw a vision.
18. I saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem now! The people here will not accept the truth about me.’
19. But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I put the believers in jail and beat them.
20. They also know that I was there when Stephen, your witness, was killed. I stood there and agreed that they should kill him. I even held the coats of the men who were killing him!’
21. But the Lord said to me, ‘Leave now. I will send you far away to the non-Jewish people.’”
22. The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they began shouting, “Get rid of him! A man like this doesn’t deserve to live!”
23. They shouted and threw off their coats. They threw dust into the air.
24. Then the commander ordered the soldiers to take Paul into the army building and beat him. The commander wanted to make Paul tell why the people were shouting against him like this.
25. So the soldiers were tying him up, preparing to beat him. But Paul said to an officer there, “Do you have the right to beat a Roman citizen who has not been proven guilty?”
26. When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and told him about it. The officer said, “Do you know what you are doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”
27. The commander came to Paul and said, “Tell me, are you really a Roman citizen?”He answered, “Yes.”