Acts 22

(1)  Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you.
(2)  (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,)
(3)  I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
(4)  And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
(5)  As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished.
(6)  And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
(7)  And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
(8)  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.
(9)  And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.
(10)  And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.
(11)  And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
(12)  And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there,
(13)  Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
(14)  And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth.
(15)  For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
(16)  And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
(17)  And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;
(18)  And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.
(19)  And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:
(20)  And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
(21)  And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.
(22)  And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.
(23)  And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air,
(24)  The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.
(25)  And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?
(26)  When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman.
(27)  Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea.
(28)  And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born.
(29)  Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
(30)  On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.

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Study Questions

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1. Why would the audience grow quieter when Paul spoke in Hebrew? Verses 1-2.

2. Why mention the city of Paul’s birth? Verse 3.

3. How does Paul attempt to identify with the Jews and show the reasonableness of his conversion? Verses 4-5.

4. Where may we find other accounts of Paul’s conversion? Verses 6-7.

5. If Saul didn’t know who spoke, why did he call him Lord? Verse 8.

6. How do we explain the apparent contradiction between this verse and Acts 9:7? Verse 9. (See 1 Corinthians 14:2)

7. Why didn’t Jesus tell Saul what to do to be saved? Verse 10.

8. Why was Saul no longer leading the ones who were with him? Verse 11.

9. Why didn’t the Lord tell Ananias what Saul had to do to be saved? Verse 12.

10. Saul is now a penitent believer but is he saved (justified)? If not, why did Ananias call him brother? Verse 13.

11. Why was Saul chosen to see and hear Jesus? Verses 14-15.

12. How is baptism obedience to the gospel? Verse 16. (See 2 Thessalonians 1:8)

13. According to Paul, why did he leave Jerusalem after returning when he had been converted? Verses 17-18.

14. Instead of defending himself against false charges, how did Paul imagine that he would convince these Jews? Verses 19-20.

15. How does Paul account for his going to the Gentiles? Verse 21.

16. What one word set the mob into a rage? Why? Verse 22.

17. What does an oriental mob scene look like? Have you seen one lately? Verse 23.

18. How does the chief captain propose to “examine” Paul? Why? Verse 24.

19. What two illegal things were being done to Paul according to Roman law? Verse 25.

20. Who warned the chief captain, Lysias, about Paul’s citizenship? Verse 26.

21. Why would Lysias doubt that Paul was a Roman citizen? Verse 27.

22. How did Lysias obtain Roman citizenship? Verse 28.

23. What struck fear into the heart of Lysias? What happened to his “examination”? Verse 29.

24. What was Lysias’ problem and how did he hope to solve it by bringing Paul before the Jewish council? Verse 30.