Bible Passages Bridge: New Testament in a Year

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Acts 22 - Easy-To-Read Version (ERV)

July 28
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King James and other versions... [http://bibleabc.net/bible/kjv/act22-1.htm]
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Paul Speaks to the People
22 1Paul said, "My brothers and my fathers, listen to me! I will make my defense
to you." 2The Jews heard Paul speaking the Jewish language.* So they became very
quiet. Paul said, 3"I am a Jew. I was born in Tarsus in the country of Cilicia.
I grew up in this city (Jerusalem). I was a student of Gamaliel.* He carefully
taught me everything about the law of our fathers.* I was very serious about serving
God, the same as all of you here today. 4I persecuted* the people that followed
the Way [of Jesus]. Some of them were killed because of me. I arrested men and women.
I put them in jail. 5The high priest* and the whole council of older Jewish leaders
can tell you that this is true! One time these leaders gave me some letters. The
letters were to the Jewish brothers in the city of Damascus. I was going there
to arrest the followers of Jesus and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.

Paul Tells About His Conversion

6"But something happened to me on my way to Damascus. It was about noon when I came
close to Damascus. Suddenly a bright light from the sky shined all around me. 7I
fell to the ground. I heard a voice saying to me: 'Saul, Saul, why are you doing
these bad things to me?' 8I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?' The voice said, 'I am Jesus
from Nazareth. I am the One you are persecuting.' 9The men who were with me did
not understand the voice. But they saw the light. 10I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?'
The Lord (Jesus) answered, 'Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told
all the things I have planned for you to do.' 11I 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. Ananias was a man that truly worshiped
God; he obeyed the law [of Moses]. All the Jews who lived there respected him. 13Ananias
came to me and said, 'Saul, my brother, you can see again!' Immediately I was able
to see him. 14Ananias told me, 'The God of our fathers* chose you long ago. God
chose you to know his plan. He chose you to see the Righteous One (Jesus) and to
hear words from him. 15You will be his witness to all people. You will tell men
about the things you have seen and heard. 16Now, don't wait any longer. Get up,
be baptized* and wash your sins away. Do this, trusting in him (Jesus) [to save
you].'

17"Later, I came back to Jerusalem. I was praying in the temple* yard, and I saw
a vision.* 18I saw Jesus, and Jesus said to me: 'Hurry! Leave Jerusalem now! The
people here will not accept the truth about me.' 19I said, 'But Lord, 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. 20The people
also know that I was there when Stephen, your witness, was killed. I stood there
and agreed that they should kill Stephen. I even held the coats of the men who
were killing him!' 21But Jesus said to me, 'Leave now. I will send you far away
to the non-Jewish people.'"

22The people stopped listening when Paul said this last thing [about going to the
non-Jewish people]. They all shouted, "Kill him! Get him out of the world! A man
like this should not be allowed to live!" 23They yelled and threw off their coats.*
They threw dust into the air.* 24Then the commander told the soldiers to take Paul
into the army building. He told the soldiers to beat Paul. He wanted to make Paul
tell why the people were shouting against him like this. 25So the soldiers were
tying Paul, preparing to beat him. But Paul said to an army officer* there, "Do
you have the right to beat a Roman citizen* who has not been proven guilty?" 26When
the officer heard this, he went to the commander and told him about it. The officer
said, "Do you know what you are doing? This man (Paul) is a Roman citizen!" 27The
commander came to Paul and said, "Tell me, are you really a Roman citizen?" Paul
answered, "Yes." 28The commander said, "I paid much money to become a Roman citizen."
But Paul said, "I was born a citizen." 29The men who were preparing to question
Paul moved away from him immediately. The commander was afraid because he had already
tied Paul, and Paul was a Roman citizen.*

Paul Speaks to the Jewish Leaders
30The next day the commander decided to learn why the Jews were speaking against
Paul. So he commanded the leading priests and the Jewish council to meet together.
The commander took Paul's chains off. Then he brought Paul out and stood Paul before
their meeting.

Footnotes: Jewishlanguage Probably Aramaic, a language like Hebrew that was spoken
by the Jews in the first century. Gamaliel A very important teacher of the Pharisees,
a Jewish religious group (See Acts 5:34). father(s) Important ancestors of the Jews;
the leaders of the twelve Jewish family groups. persecuted To persecute is to hurt
or do bad things to. high priest The most important Jewish priest and leader. Ananias
In Acts there are three men with this name. See Acts 5:1 and 23:2 for the other
two. baptized A Greek word meaning to be immersed, dipped, or buried briefly under
water. temple The special building in Jerusalem for Jewish worship. vision(s) Something
like dreams used by God to speak to people. synagogue(s) Synagogues were places
where Jews gathered for prayer, study of the Scriptures, and other public meetings.
threw off their coats This showed that the Jews were very angry at Paul. threw dust
into the air A sign of very strong anger. army officer A centurion, a Roman army
officer who had authority over 100 soldiers. Roman citizen Roman law said that
Roman citizens must not be beaten before their trial.
"Taken from the HOLY BIBLE: EASY-TO-READ VERSION © 2001 by World Bible Translation
Center, Inc. and used by permission."
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Monday, July 27, 2009

New Testament in a Year - July 28

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