voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou 8 me?' And I answered, Who art thou, Sir?' And 9 he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.' And those that were with me saw indeed the light, [and were afraid ;] but heard not the words 10 of him who spake to me. Then I said, ‹ What shall I do, Sir? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus ; and there it shall be told thee of all 11 which is appointed for thee to do.' And when I could not see, because of the glory of that light; I came into Damascus, led by the hand of those that were with me. 12 And one Ananias, a religious man according to the law, having a good report from all the Jews who dwelt there, 13 came to me, and stood, and said unto me, 'Brother Saul, recover thy sight.' And, at that very time, I looked up 14 on him. Then he said, The God of our fathers hath appointed thee to know his will, and to see that Righteous 15 One, and to hear the words of his mouth; for thou shalt be his witness to all men, of what thou hast seen and 16 heard. And now, why delayest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, taking upon thyself his 17 name*. And it came to pass when I returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, that I 18 was in a trance and saw Jesus saying unto me, 'Make haste, and go quickly out of Jerusalem for they will 19 not receive thy testimony concerning me.' Then I said, : Lord, they know that I imprisoned, and beat in every 20 synagogue, those who believed on thee. And when the blood of thy witness [Stephen] was shed, I also stood by, and consentedt, and kept the mantles of those who killed 21 him.' Then Jesus said unto me, Depart; for I will send thee hence far off to the gentiles."" 22 And they gave him an hearing to these words, and Or, the name of the Lord. Some MSS. and Verss. N. m. having called on his name. N. See Wakefield. † consented to his death, R, T. and N. See Griesbach, 2d edit. then lifted up their voices, saying, "Destroy such a man from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live." 23 And as they cried out, and cast off their mantles, and 24 threw dust into the air; the commander ordered that he should be taken into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know for 25 what cause they cried so against him. And as they preto the centurion pared him for the scourge*, Paul said who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge one that 26 is a Roman citizen, and uncondemned?" And when the centurion heard this, he went and told the commander, saying, "What art thou about to dof? for this man is a 27 Roman citizen." Then the commander came near, and said to Paul, "Tell me, Art thou a Roman citizen ?” 28 And he said, "Yes." And the commander answered, 29" With a great sum I obtained this citizenship." And Paul said, "But I was free-born." Then those who were about to examine him by scourging, immediately left him and the commander also was afraid when he knew that Paul was a Roman citizen, and that he had bound him. 30 And on the morrow, desiring to know the certainty why Paul was accused by the Jews, he loosed him from his chain, and commanded the chief-priests and all the council to assemble, and brought Paul down, and set CH. him before them. And when Paul had earnestly looked on the council, he said, "Brethren, I have always conducted myself with a good conscience before God, even 2 to this day." And the high-priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him, to smite him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said unto him, "God will smite thee, thou whited wall for sittest thou to judge me according to the law, and yet commandest me to be smitten contrary 4 to the law?" And those who stood by, said, "Revilest 5 thou God's high-priest?" Then Paul said, "I knew not, Gr. Or, stretched him forward for the thongs, N. m. their council. R. T, brethren, that he was the high-priest: for it is written, 'Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people."" 6 And when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council," Brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees*: concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead I 7 am now judged." And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and 8 the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel or spirit; but the 9 Pharisees confess both. And there was a great cry: and the scribes that were on the part of the Pharisees arose and strove, saying, "We find no evil in this man: but if a 10 spirit or an angel have spoken to him, it is well." And when there was a great disturbance, the commander feared lest Paul would be torn in pieces by them; and commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle. 11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, "Take courage, [Paul] for as thou hast testified the things concerning me at Jerusalem, so must thou testify at Rome also." 12 And when it was day, the Jews ‡ combined together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying, that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 And there were more than forty that had made this con14 spiracy. And they came near to the chief-priests and the elders, and said, "We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will taste nothing until we have kill15 ed Paul. Now therefore ye and the council signify to the commander, that he bring Paul down unto you [on the morrow], as if ye would inquire more exactly into the things concerning him : and we, before he come near you, will be ready to destroy him." * Some read, " of a Pharisee," Newcome. + Let us not fight against God, R. T. These words are wanting in the best copics. See a like aposiopesis Matt. xv. 6; Luke xiii, 9. See Newcome and Griesbach. some of the Jews, R. T. 16 And when the son of Paul's sister heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told 17 Paul. Then Paul called one of the centurions to him, and said, "Bring this young man to the commander: 18 for he hath somewhat to tell him." So the centurion took him, and brought him to the commander, and saith, "Paul the prisoner called me to him, and desired me to bring this young man to thee, who hath somewhat to 19 say unto thee." Then the commander took him by the hand, and went aside with him privately, and asked him, 20"What is it, which thou hast to tell me?" And he said, "The Jews have agreed to desire thee, that thou wouldest bring down Paul to-morrow into the council, as if they would more exactly inquire somewhat concerning him. 21 But do not thou yield to them: for more than forty men of them lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse, that they will neither eat nor drink until they have destroyed him and they are now ready, look-` 22 ing for a promise from thee." So the commander let the young man depart, and charged him, "Take care to inform no man that thou has declared these things to me." 25 : Then he called unto him two centurions, and said, "Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Cæsarea, and seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen, at the 24 third hour of the night and provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on one of them, and convey him safe 25 to Felix the governor." And he wrote a letter after this 26 manner: "Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor 27 Felix sendeth greeting. I came up with the* soldiers, and rescued this man, who had been seized by the Jews, and was about to be destroyed by them. Having under28 stood that he was a Roman citizen, and desiring to know the cause why they accused him, I brought him down 29 into their council: whom I perceived to be accused con a band of soldiers, N. See bishop Pearce. cerning questions of their law; but to have no accusa30 tion worthy of death, or of bonds. And when it was discovered to me that the Jews were about to lie in wait for the man, I sent him straightway to thee, and commanded his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewel." 31 Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took 32 Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris and on the morrow they returned to the castle, having left the 33 horsemen to go with him: who, when they came to Cæsarea, and delivered the letter to the governor, present34 ed Paul also before him. And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province Paul was. And 35 when he understood that he was of Cilicia, "I will hear thee fully," said he, "when thine accusers also are come." And the governor commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgement-hall. CH. XXIV. And after five days, Ananias the high-priest went down to Cæsarea with the elders, and with a certain orator, named Tertullus; and these brought an accusation 2 before the governor against Paul. And when he was called, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, "Since by thee we enjoy great quietness, and good deeds are done to this nation, by thy prudence, always, and in all 3 places; we accept them, most excellent Felix, with all 4 thankfulness. But that I may not trouble thee too far, I beseech thee to hear us, of thy goodness, a few words*. 5 For we have found this man a pestilent one, and a mover of insurrection among all the Jews throughout the world, 6 and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: who hath attempted to profane the temple also: whom we seized, 7 [and wished to judge according to our law : but the commander Lysias came upon us, and with great violence 8 took him away out of our hands, having commanded his *Or, But that I may not any longer detain thee, I beseech thee of thy goodness to hear us in few words. |