Then he asked who this man was and what he had done. All began to answer at once, some shouting one thing and some another, and as the chief captain could understand nothing in the confusion, he commanded the soldiers to take him into the castle. The crowd made a rush to seize Paul and take him away from the soldiers, but they carried him through the throng and up the stone steps that led into the castle, while all around, at the foot of the stairs, was the multitude of angry Jews, crying out, "Away with him! Kill him!"
Just as they reached the platform at the door of the castle, Paul in a quiet manner, spoke to the chief captain in his own language, which was the Greek tongue. He said, "May I say something to you?" The officer was surprised, and he answered Paul, "Do you know Greek? Are you not that man from Egypt who some time ago rose up against the rulers, and let out into the wilderness four thousand men who were murderers?"
But Paul said, "I am a Jew, of Tarsus in Cilicia. I belong to no mean city. I pray you, give me leave to speak to the people."
The chief captain thought that if this man should speak to the people he might learn something about him, so he gave him leave. Then Paul, standing on the stairs, beckoned with his hand to the crowd to show that he wished to speak. Soon everybody became quiet, for all wanted to hear; and then Paul began to speak to the people. But he did not speak in Greek, as he had spoken to the chief captain. He spoke in the Hebrew tongue, their own language, which they loved to hear. And when they heard him speak in Hebrew, their own tongue, they were all the more ready to listen to him. And this was what Paul said:
"Brethren and fathers, hear the words that I speak to you. I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city in the law of our fathers; and I was earnest for God, as all of you are this day. And I was a bitter enemy of the way of Christ, binding and putting in prison both men and women who believed in Jesus. The high-priest himself knows this, and all the council of the elders; for they gave me letters to our people In Damascus. And I went on a journey to that place to bring in chains from Damascus to Jerusalem those who followed Jesus, to punish them.
"And it came to pass as I made my journey and drew nigh to Damascus, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are thou fighting against me and doing me harm?' And I answered, 'Who art thou, Lord?' And he said to me, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are trying to destroy!'
"Those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice that spoke to me. And I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' And the Lord said to me, 'Rise up, and go into Damascus, and it shall be told thee what things are given to thee to do.'
"When I stood up I could not see, from the glory of that light, and I was led by the hands of those who were with me into Damascus. And a man named Ananias, a man who worshipped God and kept the law, of whom all the Jews in the city spoke well, came to me, and standing by me, said 'Brother Saul, receive the sight.'
"And in that very hour I looked up and saw him. And he said to me, 'The God of our fathers hath chosen thee to know his will, and to see the Holy One, and to hear his voice. For thou shalt speak in his name to all men, telling them what thou hast seen and heard.'
"And afterward, when I come back to Jerusalem, and was praying in the Temple, I saw the Lord again, and he spoke to me, 'Go forth, and I will send thee far hence to the Gentiles.' "
The Jews listened to Paul quietly until he spoke that word "Gentiles," which roused up all their wrath. They began to cry out, 'Away with such a fellow from the earth! It is not fit that he should live!"
And as they flung off their garments, and threw dust into the air in their rage, the chief captain ordered that Paul should be taken into the castle and beaten with rods until he should tell what dreadful thing he had done to arouse such anger. For the chief captain, not knowing the Jew's language, had not understood what Paul had said.
They took Paul into the castle, and were tying him up to beat him, when Paul said to the centurion who stood by, "Have you any right to beat a Roman citizen who has not been tried before a judge?"
When the centurion heard this he went in haste to the chief captain, and said to him, "Take care what you do to that man, for he is a Roman citizen!"
Then the chief captain came and said to Paul, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?"
And Paul answered, "Yes, I am."
The chief captain said, "I bought this right to be a citizen with a great sum of money."
And Paul said to him, "But I am a free-born citizen."
When those who were about to beat Paul knew that he was a Roman citizen, they went away from him in haste, and the chief captain was afraid, because he had bound Paul; for no one might place a chain on a Roman citizen until he had been tried before a Roman judge.
They took Paul into the castle, but were careful not to do him an harm.
Two Years in Prison
Acts xxii: 30, to xxiv: 27.
After Paul had been rescued from the Jewish mob, he was taken into the castle on the north of the Temple for safekeeping. The chief captain wished to know for what reasons the Jews were so bitter in their hate against Paul; and to learn this he commanded the chief priests and rulers to meet together, and brought Paul down from the castle, and set him before them. Paul looked earnestly upon the council, and said to them, "Brethren, I have lived with a right feeling toward God all my life until this day."
The high-priest, whose name was Ananias, was sitting in the council, clad in the white garments worn by all priests. He was so enraged at those words that he said to those who were standing near Paul, "Strike him on the mouth!"
And Paul roused to sudden anger at such unjust words, said in answer, "God shall strike you, o whited wall! Do you sit to judge me by the law, and yet command me to be struck against the law?"
Those that were standing by said to Paul, "Do you speak such words against the high-priest of God?"
"I did not know," answered Paul, "that he was high-priest. It is written in the law not to speak evil of a ruler of you people."
Paul saw that there were two parties in the council, and by a few wise words he made some of the rulers friendly to him, so that they stood up and said, "We find no evil in this man. Perhaps a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel."
This made the rulers of the other side all the more furious, and such a quarrel arose between them that the chief captain feared that Paul would be torn in pieces, and he again sent down soldiers to take him by force from the council and to bring him into the castle.
On the night after this, while Paul was in his room in the castle the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have spoken for me at Jerusalem, so shall you speak for me at Rome."
Early on the next morning more than forty of the Jews laid a plan to kill Paul, and bound themselves together by an oath, swearing that they would neither eat nor drink until they had slain him. These men came to the chief priests, and said, "We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will taste nothing until we have killed Paul. Now, do you ask the chief captain to bring Paul down again to meet the council, so that they may hear him, and try his case once more. And while he shall be on his way to the council we will rush in and kill him."
Now Paul had a sister living in Jerusalem, and her son heard of this plot, and came to the castle, and told it to Paul. Then Paul called one of the officers, and said to him, "Take this young man to the chief captain, for he has something to tell him."