Acts 22

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¹“Brothers and fathers, listen to the defense which I now make to you.” ✦ ²When they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they were even more quiet. He said, ✦ ³“I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, instructed according to the strict tradition of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God, even as you all are today. ✦ ⁴I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. ✦ ⁵As also the high priest and all the council of the elders testify, from whom also I received letters to the brothers, and traveled to Damascus to bring them also who were there to Jerusalem in bonds to be punished. ✦ ⁶As I made my journey, and came close to Damascus, about noon, suddenly a great light shone around me from the sky. ✦ ⁷I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ✦ ⁸I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute.’ ✦ ⁹“Those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they didn’t understand the voice of him who spoke to me. ✦ ¹⁰I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Arise, and go into Damascus. There you will be told about all things which are appointed for you to do.’ ✦ ¹¹When I couldn’t see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. ✦ ¹²One Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well reported of by all the Jews who lived in Damascus, ✦ ¹³came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ In that very hour I looked up at him. ✦ ¹⁴He said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One, and to hear a voice from his mouth. ✦ ¹⁵For you will be a witness for him to all men of what you have seen and heard. ✦ ¹⁶Now why do you wait? Arise, be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’ ✦ ¹⁷“When I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance, ✦ ¹⁸and saw him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not receive testimony concerning me from you.’ ✦ ¹⁹I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue those who believed in you. ✦ ²⁰When the blood of Stephen, your witness, was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting to his death, and guarding the cloaks of those who killed him.’ ✦ ²¹“He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’” ✦ ²²They listened to him until he said that; then they lifted up their voice, and said, “Rid the earth of this fellow, for he isn’t fit to live!” ✦ ²³As they cried out, and threw off their cloaks, and threw dust into the air, ✦ ²⁴the commanding officer commanded him to be brought into the barracks, ordering him to be examined by scourging, that he might know for what crime they shouted against him like that. ✦ ²⁵When they had tied him up with thongs, Paul asked the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and not found guilty?” ✦ ²⁶When the centurion heard it, he went to the commanding officer and told him, “Watch what you are about to do, for this man is a Roman!” ✦ ²⁷The commanding officer came and asked him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” He said, “Yes.” ²⁸The commanding officer answered, “I bought my citizenship for a great price.” Paul said, “But I was born a Roman.” ²⁹Immediately those who were about to examine him departed from him, and the commanding officer also was afraid when he realized that he was a Roman, because he had bound him. ✦ ³⁰But on the next day, desiring to know the truth about why he was accused by the Jews, he freed him from the bonds, and commanded the chief priests and all the council to come together, and brought Paul down and set him before them. ✦

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Where this chapter connects

Acts 9 ·21 Acts 26 ·20 Acts 22 ·11 Acts 23 ·11 Acts 21 ·9 Acts 7 ·7 Acts 13 ·6 Gal 1 ·6

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryDrive Thru History: Acts to RevelationDave Stotts · Free · evangelical
Follows Paul's missionary journeys and the early church on location across the Mediterranean — free on Tubi, great for families.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Acts 22YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Acts 22David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Acts 22Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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