Written by Yahusha's Student: LUKE (the Doctor) ...
1 Paul said, “Men, brothers, fathers, please listen to me! Let me explain myself to you!" 2 And when the Jews heard Paul speaking in Hebrew, they all shut up and Paul said, 3 “I'm a Jew, born in Tarsus, in the country of Cilicia. I grew up in this city. I was a student of Gamaliel, who carefully taught me everything about the Law of our fathers. I was very serious about serving Alahim, the same as all of you here today. 4 I persecuted the people who followed 'the Way' and killed many of them. I arrested men and women and put them in jail. 5 The High Priest and the whole council of Elders can tell you that this is true. One time these leaders gave me some letters for the Jewish brothers in the city of Damascus. I was going there to arrest the followers of YAHUSHA and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.
6 But then something happened to me on my way to Damascus. It was about noon and suddenly a bright light from Heaven shone all around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ 8“I asked, ‘Who are you, Master?’ And the voice said, ‘I am YAHUSHA from Nazareth, the one you are hatefully persecuting.’ 9 The men who were with me did not hear the voice, but they saw the light. 10 I said, ‘What shall I do, Master? And He said, ‘Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that I've planned for you to do.’
11 I could not see, because the bright light had made me blind. So the men led me into Damascus. 12 In Damascus a man named Ananias came to me. He was a man who was devoted to YAHUSHA and obeyed the Law of Moses. All the Jews who lived there respected him. 13 He came to me and said, ‘Saul, my brother, look up and see again!’ Immediately I was able to see him. 14 Ananias told me, ‘The Alahim of our fathers chose you long ago to know His plan. He chose you to see the Righteous One and to hear the voice of His mouth. 15 You will be His witness to all people. You will tell them what you have seen and heard. 16 Now, don’t wait any longer. Get up, be immersed and wash away your sins, trusting in YAHUSHA to deliver you.
17 Later, I came back to Jerusalem. I was praying in the Temple area, and I saw a vision. 18 I saw YAHUSHA and He said to me, ‘Hurry and leave Jerusalem now! The people here will not accept the truth you tell them about Me.’ 19 I said, ‘But, Master, the people know that I was the one who put the believers in jail and beat them. I went through all the Synagogues to find and arrest the people who believe in You. 20 The people also know that I was there when Stephen, Your witness, was killed. I stood there and agreed that they should kill him. I even held the coats of the men who were killing him!’ 21 But YAHUSHA said to me, ‘Leave now. I will send you far away to the Nations now.’” 22 And the people stopped listening when Paul said this last bit. They all shouted, “Get rid of this man! He doesn’t deserve to live.” 23 They kept on shouting, ripping off their clothes and throwing dust into the air. 24 Then the commander told the soldiers to take Paul into the army building and beat him. He wanted to make Paul explain why the people were shouting against him like this. 25 So the soldiers were tying Paul, preparing to beat him. But he said to an army officer there, “Do you have the right to beat a Roman citizen who has not been proven guilty?” 26 And when the officer heard this, he went to the commander and told him about it. The officer said, “Don't you know what you're doing? This man is a Roman citizen!” 27 Then the commander came to Paul and said, “Tell me, are you really a Roman citizen?” He answered, “Yes.” 28 The commander said, “I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen.” But Paul said, “Well I was born one mate!” 29 Then the men who were preparing to question Paul moved away from him immediately, and the commander was afraid because he had already put Paul (a Roman citizen - a very big deal) in chains. 30 The next day the commander decided to learn why the Jews were accusing Paul. So he ordered the Chief Priests and the whole High Council to meet together. He had Paul’s chains taken off and had him brought in to face the council.
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