14. “Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Just One and to hear His voice,
15. for you will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
16. And now why do you wait? Rise, be baptized and wash away your sins, and call on the name of the Lord.’
17. “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance
18. and saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry! Get out of Jerusalem immediately, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’
19. “I said, ‘Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You in every synagogue.
20. And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I was standing by consenting to his death, guarding the clothes of those who killed him.’
21. “Then He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ”
22. They listened to him up to this word, and then they lifted up their voices and said, “Away with such a man from the earth, for he is not fit to live!”
23. As they shouted and threw off their garments and threw dust into the air,
24. the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks and examined with scourging, so that he might learn what crime they were alleging against him.
25. As they stretched him forward with straps, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to flog an uncondemned Roman citizen?”
26. On hearing this, the centurion reported to the commander, saying, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen.”
27. The commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”He said, “Yes.”
28. The commander answered, “I bought my citizenship for a large sum.”So Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.”
29. Therefore those who were about to examine Paul immediately backed away from him. And the commander feared, knowing that he was a Roman citizen and because he had bound him.
30. On the next day, desiring to know exactly why he was accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble, and he brought Paul down to stand before them.