1 Irmãos e pais, ouvi o que vos tenho a dizer em minha defesa.
2 Quando ouviram que lhes falava em língua hebraica, escutaram-no com a maior atenção.
3 Continuou ele: Eu sou judeu, nasci em Tarso da Cilícia, mas criei-me nesta cidade, instruí-me aos pés de Gamaliel, em toda a observância da lei de nossos pais, partidário entusiasta da causa de Deus como todos vós também o sois no dia de hoje.
4 Eu persegui de morte essa doutrina, prendendo e metendo em cárceres homens e mulheres.
5 O sumo sacerdote e todo o conselho dos anciãos me são testemunhas. E foi deles que também recebi cartas para os irmãos de Damasco, para onde me dirigi, com o fim de prender os que lá se achassem e trazê-los a Jerusalém, para que fossem castigados.
6 Ora, estando eu a caminho, e aproximando-me de Damasco, pelo meio-dia, de repente me cercou uma forte luz do céu.
7 Caí por terra e ouvi uma voz que me dizia: Saulo, Saulo, por que me persegues?
8 Eu repliquei: Quem és tu, Senhor? A voz me disse: Eu sou Jesus de Nazaré, a quem tu persegues.
9 Os meus companheiros viram a luz, mas não ouviram a voz de quem falava.
10 Então eu disse: Senhor, que devo fazer? E o Senhor me respondeu: Levanta-te, vai a Damasco e lá te será dito tudo o que deves fazer.
11 Como eu não pudesse ver por causa da intensidade daquela luz, guiado pela mão dos meus companheiros, cheguei a Damasco.
12 Um certo Ananias, homem piedoso e observador da lei, muito bem conceituado entre todos os judeus daquela cidade,
13 veio ter comigo e disse-me: Irmão Saulo, recobra a tua vista. Naquela mesma hora pude enxergá-lo.
14 Continuou ele: O Deus de nossos pais te predestinou para que conhecesses a sua vontade, visses o Justo e ouvisses a palavra da sua boca,
15 pois lhe serás, diante de todos os homens, testemunha das coisas que tens visto e ouvido.
16 E agora, por que tardas? Levanta-te. Recebe o batismo e purifica-te dos teus pecados, invocando o seu nome.
17 Voltei para Jerusalém e, orando no templo, fui arrebatado em êxtase.
18 E vi Jesus que me dizia: Apressa-te e sai logo de Jerusalém, porque não receberão o teu testemunho a meu respeito.
19 Eu repliquei: Senhor, eles sabem que eu encarcerava e açoitava com varas nas sinagogas os que crêem em ti.
20 E quando se derramou o sangue de Estêvão, tua testemunha, eu estava presente, consentia nisso e guardava os mantos dos que o matavam.
21 Mas ele me respondeu: Vai, porque eu te enviarei para longe, às nações...
22 Haviam-no escutado até essa palavra. Então levantaram a voz: Tira do mundo esse homem! Não é digno de viver!
23 Como vociferassem, arrojassem de si as vestes e lançassem pó ao ar,
24 o tribuno mandou recolhê-lo à cidadela, açoitá-lo e submetê-lo a torturas, para saber por que causa clamavam assim contra ele.
25 Quando o iam amarrando com a correia, Paulo perguntou a um centurião que estava presente: É permitido açoitar um cidadão romano que nem sequer foi julgado?
26 Ao ouvir isso, o centurião foi ter com o tribuno e avisou-o: Que vais fazer? Este homem é cidadão romano.
27 Veio o tribuno e perguntou-lhe: Dize-me, és romano? Sim, respondeu-lhe.
28 O tribuno replicou: Eu adquiri este direito de cidadão por grande soma de dinheiro. Paulo respondeu: Pois eu o sou de nascimento.
29 Apartaram-se então dele os que iam torturá-lo. O tribuno alarmou-se porque o mandara acorrentar, sendo ele um cidadão romano.
30 No dia seguinte, querendo saber com mais exatidão de que os judeus o acusavam, soltou-o e ordenou que se reunissem os sumos sacerdotes e todo o Grande Conselho. Trouxe Paulo e o mandou comparecer diante deles.
1 `Men, brethren, and fathers, hear my defence now unto you;` --
2 and they having heard that in the Hebrew dialect he was speaking to them, gave the more silence, and he saith, --
3 `I, indeed, am a man, a Jew, having been born in Tarsus of Cilicia, and brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, having been taught according to the exactitude of a law of the fathers, being zealous of God, as all ye are to-day.
4 `And this way I persecuted unto death, binding and delivering up to prisons both men and women,
5 as also the chief priest doth testify to me, and all the eldership; from whom also having received letters unto the brethren, to Damascus, I was going on, to bring also those there bound to Jerusalem that they might be punished,
6 and it came to pass, in my going on and coming nigh to Damascus, about noon, suddenly out of the heaven there shone a great light round about me,
7 I fell also to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why me dost thou persecute?
8 `And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? and he said unto me, I am Jesus the Nazarene whom thou dost persecute --
9 and they who are with me the light did see, and became afraid, and the voice they heard not of him who is speaking to me --
10 and I said, What shall I do, Lord? and the Lord said unto me, Having risen, go on to Damascus, and there it shall be told thee concerning all things that have been appointed for thee to do.
11 `And when I did not see from the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who are with me, I came to Damascus,
12 and a certain one, Ananias, a pious man according to the law, being testified to by all the Jews dwelling [there],
13 having come unto me and stood by [me], said to me, Saul, brother, look up; and I the same hour did look up to him;
14 and he said, The God of our fathers did choose thee beforehand to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice out of his mouth,
15 because thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard;
16 and now, why tarriest thou? having risen, baptize thyself, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord.
17 `And it came to pass when I returned to Jerusalem, and while I was praying in the temple, I came into a trance,
18 and I saw him saying to me, Haste and go forth in haste out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me;
19 and I said, Lord, they -- they know that I was imprisoning and was scourging in every synagogue those believing on thee;
20 and when the blood of thy witness Stephen was being poured forth, I also was standing by and assenting to his death, and keeping the garments of those putting him to death;
21 and he said unto me, Go, because to nations far off I will send thee.`
22 And they were hearing him unto this word, and they lifted up their voice, saying, `Away from the earth with such an one; for it is not fit for him to live.`
23 And they crying out and casting up their garments, and throwing dust into the air,
24 the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, saying, `By scourges let him be examined;` that he might know for what cause they were crying so against him.
25 And as he was stretching him with the thongs, Paul said unto the centurion who was standing by, `A man, a Roman, uncondemned -- is it lawful to you to scourge;`
26 and the centurion having heard, having gone near to the chief captain, told, saying, `Take heed what thou art about to do, for this man is a Roman;`
27 and the chief captain having come near, said to him, `Tell me, art thou a Roman?` and he said, `Yes;`
28 and the chief captain answered, `I, with a great sum, did obtain this citizenship;` but Paul said, `But I have been even born [so].`
29 Immediately, therefore, they departed from him who are about to examine him, and the chief captain also was afraid, having learned that he is a Roman, and because he had bound him,
30 and on the morrow, intending to know the certainty wherefore he is accused by the Jews, he did loose him from the bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all their sanhedrim to come, and having brought down Paul, he set [him] before them.