Atos 22

Paulo apresenta a sua defesa

1 *At 7.2Irmãos e pais, ouvi a minha defesa, que agora vos faço.

2 (Quando ouviram que ele lhes falava em *At 21.40hebraico, guardaram ainda maior silêncio. E continuou:)

3 *At 2.3-16; cp.At 9.1-22;26.9-18Eu sou *At 21.39judeu, nasci em *At 21.39;At 9.11Tarso da *At 21.39;At 6.9Cilícia, mas criei-me nesta cidade e instruí-me *Dt 33.3;2Rs 4.38; cp.Lc 10.39aos pés de *At 5.34Gamaliel, conforme *At 26.5;Fp 3.6; cp.At 23.6o rigor da Lei de nossos pais, sendo zeloso para com Deus, assim como *At 21.20todos vós o sois no dia de hoje; 4 *At 8.3;At 22.19s.e persegui este *At 9.2Caminho até a morte, acorrentando e entregando à prisão não só homens, mas também mulheres, 5 como são testemunhas *At 9.1o sumo sacerdote e todo o *Lc 22.66(Gr.);1Tm 4.14(Gr.); cp.At 5.21(Gr.)conselho dos anciãos, dos quais *At 9.2recebi cartas para *At 2.29;3.17;13.26;23.1;28.17,21;Rm 9.3os irmãos e segui para *At 9.2Damasco com o fim de trazer algemados a Jerusalém os que também ali se achassem, para que fossem punidos. 6 *At 22.6-11;At 9.3-8;26.12-18Quando 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 *At 26.9Jesus o Nazareno, a quem tu persegues. 9 Os que estavam comigo *cp.At 26.13viram, na verdade, a luz, mas *cp.At 9.7não ouviram as palavras de quem falava comigo. 10 Eu perguntei: *cp.At 16.30Que 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 *At 9.8não pudesse ver, por causa da intensidade daquela luz, guiado pela mão daqueles que me acompanhavam, cheguei a Damasco. 12 Um homem chamado *At 9.10Ananias, temente a Deus segundo a Lei *cp.At 6.3;10.22e que tinha bom testemunho de todos os judeus que ali habitavam, 13 vindo ter comigo e pondo-se ao meu lado, disse-me: Saulo, *At 9.17irmão, recebe a vista. *At 9.18Nessa mesma hora, recebendo a vista, olhei para ele. 14 Ele disse: *At 3.13O Deus de nossos pais *At 9.15;26.16te designou de antemão para conhecer a sua vontade, *At 9.17;26.16;1Co 9.1;15.8ver *At 7.52o Justo e ouvires uma voz da sua boca, 15 por que hás de ser sua *At 23.11;26.16testemunha para com todos os homens das *At 22.14coisas que tens visto e ouvido. 16 Agora, por que te demoras? *At 9.18Levanta-te, recebe o batismo e *1Co 6.11;Hb 10.22;At 2.38; cp.Ef 5.26lava os teus pecados, *At 7.59invocando o seu nome. 17 Tendo eu *At 9.26;26.20voltado para Jerusalém, enquanto estava orando no templo, *At 10.10veio-me um êxtase, 18 e vi aquele que me dizia: *cp.At 9.29Apressa-te e sai logo de Jerusalém, porque não receberão o teu testemunho a meu respeito. 19 Eu disse: Senhor, eles sabem que *At 8.3;At 22.4eu encarcerava e *At 26.11;Mt 10.17açoitava pelas sinagogas os que criam em ti; 20 *At 7.58s.;8.1;26.10quando 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, *cp.At 9.15aos gentios.

Paulo não é açoitado, por ser cidadão romano

22 Escutaram-no até esta palavra, e levantaram a voz, e disseram: *At 21.36; cp.1Ts 2.16Tira do mundo semelhante homem; pois *At 25.24não convém que ele viva. 23 Clamando eles e *cp.At 7.58arrojando de si as capas e *2Sm 16.13lançando pó para o ar, 24 o tribuno mandou recolher a Paulo *At 21.34à cidadela, ordenando que fosse *At 22.29interrogado 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 *At 16.37romano e que não foi condenado? 26 O centurião, tendo ouvido isso, 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 esse direito de cidadão por grande soma de dinheiro. Paulo declarou então: Pois eu o sou de nascimento. 29 Aqueles, pois, que o *At 22.24iam interrogar apartaram-se logo dele; o tribuno também ficou *At 16.38receoso, quando soube que Paulo era romano e porque o mandara *At 22.24s.acorrentar.

A reunião do Sinédrio

30 No dia seguinte, *At 23.28querendo saber com certeza a causa por que ele era acusado pelos judeus, *cp.At 21.33soltou-o, e ordenou que se reunissem os principais sacerdotes e todo o *Mt 5.22Sinédrio, e, mandando trazer Paulo, apresentou-o diante deles.

1 "Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make to you."

2 When they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they were even more quiet.

He said, 3 "I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict tradition of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women, 5 as also the high priest and all the council of the elders testify, from whom also I received letters to the brothers, and traveled to Damascus to bring them also who were there to Jerusalem in bonds to be punished.

6 "As I made my journey and came close to Damascus, about noon suddenly a great light shone around me from the sky. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute.’

9 "Those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they didn’t understand the voice of him who spoke to me. 10 I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Arise, and go into Damascus. There you will be told about all things which are appointed for you to do.’ 11 When I couldn’t see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

12 "One Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews who lived in Damascus, 13 came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ In that very hour I looked up at him. 14 He said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth. 15 For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’

17 "When I had returned to Jerusalem and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not receive testimony concerning me from you.’ 19 I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed in you. 20 When the blood of Stephen, your witness, was shed, I also was standing by, consenting to his death, and guarding the cloaks of those who killed him.’

21 "He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’ "

22 They listened to him until he said that; then they lifted up their voice and said, "Rid the earth of this fellow, for he isn’t fit to live!"

23 As they cried out, threw off their cloaks, and threw dust into the air, 24 the commanding officer commanded him to be brought into the barracks, ordering him to be examined by scourging, that he might know for what crime they shouted against him like that. 25 When they had tied him up with straps, Paul asked the centurion who stood by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and not found guilty?"

26 When the centurion heard it, he went to the commanding officer and told him, "Watch what you are about to do, for this man is a Roman!"

27 The commanding officer came and asked him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?"

He said, "Yes."

28 The commanding officer answered, "I bought my citizenship for a great price."

Paul said, "But I was born a Roman."

29 Immediately those who were about to examine him departed from him, and the commanding officer also was afraid when he realized that he was a Roman, because he had bound him. 30 But on the next day, desiring to know the truth about why he was accused by the Jews, he freed him from the bonds and commanded the chief priests and all the council to come together, and brought Paul down and set him before them.