1 Irmãos e pais, ouvi a minha defesa que agora vos faço.
2 (Quando ouviram que ele lhes falava em hebraico, guardaram ainda maior silêncio. E continuou):
3 Eu sou judeu, nasci em Tarso da Cilícia, mas criei-me nesta cidade, e instruí-me aos pés de Gamaliel conforme o rigor da Lei de nossos pais, sendo zeloso para com Deus, assim como todos vós o sois no dia de hoje;
4 e persegui este Caminho até a morte, acorrentando e entregando à prisão, não só homens mas também mulheres,
5 como são testemunhas o sumo sacerdote e todo o conselho dos anciãos, dos quais recebi cartas para os irmãos e segui para Damasco com o fim de trazer algemados a Jerusalém os que também ali se achassem, para que fossem punidos.
6 Quando eu ia no caminho e me aproximava de Damasco, pelo meio-dia brilhou do céu repentinamente em volta de mim uma grande luz,
7 e caí por terra e ouvi uma voz que me dizia: Saulo, Saulo, por que me persegues?
8 Eu perguntei: Quem és tu, Senhor? Respondeu-me ele: Eu sou Jesus o Nazareno, a quem tu persegues.
9 Os que estavam comigo, viram, na verdade, a luz, mas não ouviram as palavras de quem falava comigo.
10 Eu perguntei: Que farei, Senhor? O Senhor respondeu-me: Levanta-te e vai a Damasco, e ali se te dirá tudo o que te é ordenado fazer.
11 Como eu não pudesse ver por causa da intensidade daquela luz, guiado pela mão daqueles que me acompanhavam, cheguei a Damasco.
12 Um homem chamado Ananias, temente a Deus segundo a Lei, e que tinha bom testemunho de todos os judeus que ali habitavam,
13 vindo ter comigo e pondo-se ao meu lado, disse-me: Saulo irmão, recebe a vista. Nessa mesma hora, recebendo a vista, olhei para ele.
14 Ele disse: O Deus de nossos pais te designou de antemão para conhecer a sua vontade, ver o Justo e ouvir uma voz da sua boca,
15 por que hás de ser sua testemunha para com todos os homens das coisas que tens visto e ouvido.
16 Agora, por que te demoras? levanta-te, recebe o batismo e lava os teus pecados, invocando o seu nome.
17 Tendo eu voltado para Jerusalém, enquanto estava orando no templo, veio-me um êxtase,
18 e vi aquele que me dizia: Apressa-te e sai logo de Jerusalém, porque não receberão o teu testemunho a meu respeito.
19 Eu disse: Senhor, eles sabem que eu encarcerava e açoitava pelas sinagogas os que criam em ti;
20 quando se derramou o sangue de Estêvão, tua testemunha, eu também estava presente, consentia nisso e guardei as capas daqueles que o matavam.
21 Disse-me ele: Vai, porque eu te enviarei para longe aos gentios.
22 Escutaram-no até esta palavra, e levantaram a voz e disseram: Tira do mundo semelhante homem; pois não convém que ele viva.
23 Clamando eles e arrojando de si as capas e lançando pó para o ar,
24 o tribuno mandou recolher a Paulo à cidadela, ordenando que fosse interrogado debaixo de açoites, para se saber por que motivo clamavam assim contra ele.
25 Depois de estendido para receber os açoites, perguntou Paulo ao centurião que estava presente: É permitido açoitardes um romano, e que não foi condenado?
26 O centurião, tendo ouvido isto, foi ter com o tribuno e disse-lhe: Que vais fazer? pois este homem é romano.
27 Vindo o tribuno, perguntou a Paulo: Dize-me, és tu romano? Respondeu ele: Sou.
28 O tribuno disse: Eu adquiri este direito de cidadão por grande soma de dinheiro. Paulo declarou então: Pois eu o sou de nascimento.
29 Aqueles, pois, que o iam interrogar, apartaram-se logo dele; o tribuno também ficou receioso, quando soube que Paulo era romano, e porque o mandara acorrentar.
30 No dia seguinte, querendo saber com certeza a causa por que ele era acusado pelos judeus, soltou-o e ordenou que se reunissem os principais sacerdotes e todo o sinédrio e, mandando trazer Paulo, apresentou-o diante deles.
1 My brothers and fathers, give ear to the story of my life which I now put before you.
2 And, hearing him talking in the Hebrew language, they became the more quiet, and he said,
3 I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia by birth, but I had my education in this town at the feet of Gamaliel, being trained in the keeping of every detail of the law of our fathers; given up to the cause of God with all my heart, as you are today.
4 And I made attacks on this Way, even to death, taking men and women and putting them in prison.
5 Of which the high priest will be a witness, and all the rulers, from whom I had letters to the brothers; and I went into Damascus, to take those who were there as prisoners to Jerusalem for punishment.
6 And it came about that while I was on my journey, coming near to Damascus, about the middle of the day, suddenly I saw a great light from heaven shining round me.
7 And when I went down on the earth, a voice came to my ears saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you attacking me so cruelly?
8 And I, answering, said, Who are you; Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are attacking.
9 And those who were with me saw the light, but the voice of him who was talking to me came not to their ears.
10 And I said, What have I to do, Lord? And the Lord said to me, Get up, and go into Damascus; and it will be made clear to you what you have to do.
11 And because I was unable to see because of the glory of that light, those who were with me took me by the hand, and so I came to Damascus.
12 And one Ananias, a God-fearing man, who kept the law, and of whom all the Jews in that place had a high opinion,
13 Came to my side and said, Brother Saul, let your eyes be open. And in that very hour I was able to see him.
14 And he said, You have been marked out by the God of our fathers to have knowledge of his purpose, and to see the Upright One and to give ear to the words of his mouth.
15 For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and of what has come to your ears.
16 And now, why are you waiting? get up, and have baptism, for the washing away of your sins, giving worship to his name.
17 And it came about that when I had come back to Jerusalem, while I was at prayer in the Temple, my senses became more than naturally clear,
18 And I saw him saying to me, Go out of Jerusalem straight away because they will not give hearing to your witness about me.
19 And I said, Lord, they themselves have knowledge that I went through the Synagogues putting in prison and whipping all those who had faith in you:
20 And when Stephen your witness was put to death, I was there, giving approval, and looking after the clothing of those who put him to death.
21 And he said to me, Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.
22 And they gave him a hearing as far as this word; then with loud voices they said, Away with this man from the earth; it is not right for him to be living.
23 And while they were crying out, and pulling off their clothing, and sending dust into the air,
24 The chief captain gave orders for him to be taken into the army building, saying that he would put him to the test by whipping, so that he might have knowledge of the reason why they were crying out so violently against him.
25 And when they had put leather bands round him, Paul said to the captain who was present, Is it the law for you to give blows to a man who is a Roman and has not been judged?
26 And hearing this, the man went to the chief captain and gave him an account of it, saying, What are you about to do? for this man is a Roman.
27 And the chief captain came to him and said, Give me an answer, are you a Roman? And he said, Yes.
28 And the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And Paul said, But I had them by birth.
29 Then those who were about to put him to the test went away: and the chief captain was in fear, seeing that he was a Roman, and that he had put chains on him.
30 But on the day after, desiring to have certain knowledge of what the Jews had to say against him, he made him free, and gave orders for the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to come together, and he took Paul and put him before them.