Bible Verses About Paul

Then I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ He told me. ‘There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’

Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.

There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,

came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him.

Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear His voice.

You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard.

And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’

Later, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance

and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your testimony about Me.’

‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You.

And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’

Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”

As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,

the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.

But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”

On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”

The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he answered.

“I paid a high price for my citizenship,” said the commander. “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.

Then those who were about to interrogate Paul stepped back, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.

The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

Paul looked directly at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have conducted myself before God in all good conscience to this day.”

At this, the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth.

Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.”

But those standing nearby said, “How dare you insult the high priest of God!”