Acts 22

¹Britheren and fadris, here ye what resoun Y yelde now to you.

²And whanne sum herden that in Ebrew tunge he spak to hem, thei yauen the more silence.

³And he seide, Y am a man a Jew, borun at Tharse of Cilicie, nurischid and in this citee bisidis the feet of Gamaliel, tauyt bi the treuthe of fadris lawe, a louyere of the lawe, as also ye alle ben to dai.

⁴And Y pursuede this weie til to the deth, byndynge and bitakinge `in to holdis men and wymmen,

⁵as the prince of prestis yeldith witnessyng to me, and alle the grettest in birth. Of whom also Y took pistlis to britheren, and wente to Damask, to bring fro thennys men boundun in to Jerusalem, that thei schulden be peyned.

⁶And it was don, while Y yede, and neiyede to Damask, at myddai sudeynli fro heuene a greet plente of liyt schoon aboute me.

⁷And Y felde doun to the erthe, and herde a voice fro heuene, seiynge to me, Saul, Saul, what pursuest thou me? It is hard to thee to kike ayens the pricke.

⁸And Y answeride, Who art thou, Lord? And he seide to me, Y am Jhesu of Nazareth, whom thou pursuest.

⁹And thei that weren with me sien but the liyt, but thei herden not the vois of hym, that spak with me.

¹⁰And Y seide, Lord, what schal Y do? And the Lord seide to me, Rise thou, and go to Damask; and there it schal be seid to thee, of alle thingis which it bihoueth thee to do.

¹¹And whanne Y saye not, for the clerete of that liyt, Y was led bi the hond of felowis, and Y cam to Damask.

¹²And a man, Ananye, that bi the lawe hadde wytnessyng of alle Jewis dwellinge in Damask,

¹³cam to me, and stood niy, and seide to me, Saul, brother, biholde. And Y in the same our biheelde in to hym.

¹⁴And he seide, God of oure fadris hath bifor ordeyned thee, that thou schuldist knowe the wille of him, and schuldist se the riytful man, and here the vois of his mouth.

¹⁵For thou schalt be his witnesse to alle men, of tho thingis that thou hast seyn and herd.

¹⁶And now, what dwellist thou? Rise vp, and be baptisid, and waische awei thi synnes, bi the name of hym clepid to help.

¹⁷And it was don to me, as Y turnede ayen in to Jerusalem, and preyede in the temple, that Y was maad in rauysching of soule,

¹⁸and Y siy him seiynge to me, Hiye thou, and go out faste of Jerusalem, for thei schulen not resseyue thi witnessing of me.

¹⁹And Y seide, Lord, thei witen, that Y was closing togidir `in to prisoun, and betinge bi synagogis hem that bileueden `in to thee.

²⁰And whanne the blood of Steuene, thi witnesse, was sched out, Y stood niy, and consentide, and kept the clothis of men that slowen hym.

²¹And he seide to me, Go thou, for Y schal sende thee fer to naciouns.

²²And thei herden him til this word; and thei reiseden her vois, and seiden, Take awei fro the erthe siche a maner man; for it is not leueful, that he lyue.

²³And whanne thei crieden, and kesten awei her clothis, and threwen dust in to the eir,

²⁴the tribune comaundide hym to be led in to castels, and to be betun with scourgis, and to be turmentid, that he wiste, for what cause thei crieden so to him.

²⁵And whanne thei hadden boundun hym with cordis, Poul seide to a centurien stondinge niy to hym, Whether it is leueful to you, to scourge a Romayn, and vndampned?

²⁶And whanne this thing was herd, the centurien wente to the tribune, and telde to hym, and seide, What art thou to doynge? for this man is a citeseyn of Rome.

²⁷And the tribune cam niy, and seide to hym, Seie thou to me, whether thou art a Romayn?

²⁸And he seide, Yhe. And the tribune answeride, Y with myche summe gat this fredom. And Poul seide, And Y was borun a citeseyn of Rome.

²⁹Therfor anoon thei that schulden haue turmentid hym, departiden awei fro hym. And the tribune dredde, aftir that he wiste, that he was a citeseyn of Rome, and for he hadde boundun hym.

³⁰But in the dai suynge he wolde wite more diligentli, for what cause he were accusid of the Jewis, and vnbounde hym, and comaundide prestis and al the counsel to come togidir. And he brouyte forth Poul, and sette hym among hem.

Acts 22

¹Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.

²(And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)

³I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.

⁴And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.

⁵As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.

⁶And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.

⁷And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

⁸And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

⁹And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

¹⁰And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.

¹¹And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹²And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,

¹³Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.

¹⁴And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.

¹⁵For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.

¹⁶And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

¹⁷And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

¹⁸And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

¹⁹And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

²⁰And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

²¹And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

²²And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.

²³And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,

²⁴The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.

²⁵And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?

²⁶When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.

²⁷Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.

²⁸And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.

²⁹Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.

³⁰On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.