Daily Text and Bible Reading: Tuesday, November 26 [Press play below]

22.1 “Men, brothers and fathers, hear my defense to you now.”
22.2 Well, when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent, and he said:
22.3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but educated in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strictness of the ancestral Law, and zealous for God just as all of you are this day.
22.4 I persecuted this Way to the point of death, binding and handing over to prisons both men and women,
22.5 as the high priest and all the assembly of elders can bear witness. From them I also obtained letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to bring those who were there in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.
22.6 “But as I was traveling and getting near to Damascus, about midday, suddenly out of heaven a great light flashed all around me,
22.7 and I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
22.8 I answered: ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me: ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’
22.9 Now the men who were with me did see the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one speaking to me.
22.10 At that I said: ‘What should I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me: ‘Rise, go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything it is appointed for you to do.’
22.11 But since I could not see anything because of the glory of that light, I arrived in Damascus led by the hand of those who were with me.
22.12 “Then a man named Ananias, a devout man according to the Law, well-reported-on by all the Jews living there,
22.13 came to me. He stood by me and said to me: ‘Saul, brother, regain your sight!’ And that very moment I looked up and saw him.
22.14 He said: ‘The God of our forefathers has chosen you to come to know his will and to see the righteous one and to hear the voice of his mouth,
22.15 because you are to be a witness for him to all men of the things you have seen and heard.
22.16 And now why are you delaying? Rise, get baptized, and wash your sins away by your calling on his name.’
22.17 “But when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance
22.18 and saw him saying to me: ‘Hurry up and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness concerning me.’
22.19 And I said: ‘Lord, they themselves well know that I used to imprison and flog in one synagogue after another those believing in you;
22.20 and when the blood of Stephen your witness was being spilled, I was standing by and approving and guarding the outer garments of those doing away with him.’
22.21 And yet he said to me: ‘Go, because I will send you out to nations far away.’”
22.22 Now they kept listening to him down to this word. Then they raised their voices, saying: “Take such a man away from the earth, for he is not fit to live!”
22.23 Because they were crying out, throwing their outer garments about, and tossing dust into the air,
22.24 the military commander ordered Paul to be brought into the soldiers’ quarters and said that he should be interrogated under scourging, so that he could learn exactly why they were shouting against Paul this way.
22.25 But when they had stretched him out for the whipping, Paul said to the army officer standing there: “Is it lawful for you to scourge a Roman who has not been condemned?”
22.26 Well, when the army officer heard this, he went to the military commander and reported it, saying: “What are you intending to do? For this man is a Roman.”
22.27 So the military commander approached and said to him: “Tell me, are you a Roman?” He said: “Yes.”
22.28 The military commander responded: “I purchased these rights as a citizen for a large sum of money.” Paul said: “But I have them by birth.”
22.29 Immediately, therefore, the men who were about to interrogate him under torture backed away from him; and the military commander became afraid when he realized that he was a Roman and that he had bound him in chains.
22.30 So the next day, because he wanted to know for sure just why he was being accused by the Jews, he released him and commanded the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. He then brought Paul down and had him stand among them.
23.1 Looking intently at the Sanhedrin, Paul said: “Men, brothers, I have behaved before God with a perfectly clear conscience down to this day.”
23.2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing by him to strike him on the mouth.
23.3 Then Paul said to him: “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Do you sit to judge me according to the Law and at the same time violate the Law by commanding me to be struck?”
23.4 Those standing by said: “Are you insulting the high priest of God?”
23.5 And Paul said: “Brothers, I did not know he was high priest. For it is written,‘You must not speak injuriously of a ruler of your people.’”
23.6 Now Paul, knowing that the one part was made up of Sadducees but the other of Pharisees, cried out in the Sanhedrin: “Men, brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. Over the hope of the resurrection of the dead I am being judged.”
23.7 Because he said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was split.
23.8 For the Sadducees say that there is neither resurrection nor angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees accept them all.
23.9 So a great uproar broke out, and some of the scribes of the party of the Pharisees rose and began arguing fiercely, saying: “We find nothing wrong in this man, but if a spirit or an angel spoke to him—.”
23.10 Now when the dissension grew great, the military commander feared that Paul would be torn apart by them, and he commanded the soldiers to go down and snatch him from their midst and bring him into the soldiers’ quarters.
23.11 But the following night the Lord stood by him and said: “Take courage! For just as you have been giving a thorough witness about me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.”
23.12 When it became day, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.
23.13 There were more than 40 men who formed this oath-bound conspiracy.
23.14 These men went to the chief priests and the elders and said: “We have solemnly bound ourselves with a curse not to eat anything at all until we have killed Paul.
23.15 So now you together with the Sanhedrin should inform the military commander that he should bring him down to you as though you want to examine his case more thoroughly. But before he gets near, we will be ready to do away with him.”
23.16 However, the son of Paul’s sister heard of the ambush they were planning, and he entered the soldiers’ quarters and reported it to Paul.
23.17 Paul then called one of the army officers to him and said: “Take this young man to the military commander, for he has something to report to him.”
23.18 So he brought him and led him to the military commander and said: “The prisoner Paul called me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”
23.19 The military commander took him by the hand and withdrew privately and asked him: “What do you have to report to me?”
23.20 He said: “The Jews have agreed to request you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow, as though they intend to learn more details about his case.
23.21 But do not let them persuade you, for more than 40 of their men are waiting to ambush him, and they have bound themselves with a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they have killed him; and they are now ready, waiting for the promise from you.”
23.22 So the military commander let the young man go, after ordering him: “Do not tell anyone that you have informed me of this.”
23.23 And he summoned two of the army officers and said: “Get 200 soldiers ready to march clear to Caesarea, also 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen, at the third hour of the night.
23.24 Also, provide horses for Paul to ride, to take him safely to Felix the governor.”
23.25 And he wrote a letter with this content:
23.26 “Claudius Lysias to His Excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings!
23.27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them, but I came quickly with my soldiers and rescued him, because I learned that he is a Roman.
23.28 And wanting to find out the cause for which they were accusing him, I brought him down into their Sanhedrin.
23.29 I found him to be accused about questions of their Law, but not charged with a single thing deserving of death or prison bonds.
23.30 But because a plot against the man has been made known to me, I am at once sending him to you and ordering the accusers to speak against him before you.”
23.31 So these soldiers took Paul according to their orders and brought him by night to Antipatris.
23.32 The next day they permitted the horsemen to go on with him, but they returned to the soldiers’ quarters.
23.33 The horsemen entered Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor and also presented Paul to him.
23.34 So he read it and asked what province he was from and learned that he was from Cilicia.
23.35 “I will give you a thorough hearing,” he said, “when your accusers arrive.” And he commanded that he be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.