18and saw the Lord. He told me, 'Hurry! Get out of Jerusalem immediately. The people here won't accept your testimony about me.' 19"I said, 'Lord, people here know that I went from synagogue to synagogue to imprison and whip those who believe in you. 20When Stephen, who witnessed about you, was being killed, I was standing there. I approved of his death and guarded the coats of those who were murdering him.' 21"But the Lord told me, 'Go! I'll send you on a mission. You'll go far away to people who aren't Jewish.'" 22Up to that point the mob listened. Then they began to shout, "Kill him! The world doesn't need a man like this. He shouldn't have been allowed to live this long!" 23The mob was yelling, taking off their coats, and throwing dirt into the air. 24So the officer ordered the soldiers to take Paul into the barracks and told them to question Paul as they whipped him. The officer wanted to find out why the people were yelling at Paul like this. 25But when the soldiers had Paul stretch out [to tie him to the whipping post] with the straps, Paul asked the sergeant who was standing there, "Is it legal for you to whip a Roman citizen who hasn't had a trial?" 26When the sergeant heard this, he reported it to his commanding officer. The sergeant asked him, "What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen." 27The officer went to Paul and asked him, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" Paul answered, "Yes." 28The officer replied, "I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen." Paul replied, "But I was born a Roman citizen." 29Immediately, the soldiers who were going to question Paul stepped away from him. The officer was afraid when he found out that he had tied up a Roman citizen. 30The officer wanted to find out exactly what accusation the Jews had against Paul. So the officer released Paul the next day and ordered the chief priests and the entire Jewish council to meet. Then the officer brought Paul and had him stand in front of them.
| 
