Words spoken by the apostle Paul:
Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up 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. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 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. 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. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 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. 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. 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. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 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. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. 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; and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: 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. And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. 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. And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, 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.-Acts 22:1-24***Before Paul (Saul) was known and respected as an apostle of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, Paul was a zealous and respected Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin, descended from Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai), Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob (Israel) and Rachel, and Jacob and Rachel's 2nd and last son Benjamin. Paul obeyed the commandments, judgments, statutes, and laws that the Lord God gave for the Israelites, and Paul obeyed the traditions that were passed down the by the Israelite elders. Sometime after Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, and returned to heaven, Paul began persecuting and imprisoning any Israelite who believed Jesus to be the Christ. Paul was nearby when Stephen, an Israelite and a believer, was addressing the Sanhedrin, the high court of the Israelites (Hebrews/Jews). Stephen spoke of the actions of the Israelite ancestors towards the prophets of the Lord God, and the actions towards Jesus by his accusers. As Stephen was looking upward, Stephen said that he was looking into heaven and could see Jesus standing to the right of the Lord God. When the crowd heard Stephen say those words, they cried, made motions to close their ears, rushed and gathered Stephen, threw Stephen out of Jerusalem, pelted Stephen with stones, and Stephen died. Meanwhile, Paul stood watching with approval, guarding the garments of Stephen's assailants. When Paul was journeying to the synagogues in Damascus, Syria, to find, bind and take to Jerusalem any Israelite believers he found, Paul and those with him saw a light from heaven flash around them. Paul heard the voice of Jesus speaking to him, and Paul spoke to Jesus and obeyed Jesus. Ananias, a disciple of Jesus the Christ, heard the voice of Jesus and obeyed Jesus and went to Paul. In Damascus, Paul was baptized. From thenceforward, Paul the apostle journeyed and wrote divinely inspired letters, teaching Israelites and Gentiles, people not born into the Israelite tribes, the good news of Jesus the Christ and everlasting life. In Caesarea, when Paul was preparing for another journey to Jerusalem, Agabus the prophet spoke to Paul of the actions that would occur. In Jerusalem, an agitated group made false statements against Paul. Before the uproar resulted in Paul's death, Roman army commander Claudius Lysias and his troops arrived. Paul was put in chains, questioned, and was being carried away when he spoke to Lysias and the crowd. Upon hearing Paul speak and hearing Paul state the mission he received from Jesus, the crowd response was similar to the crowd that heard the words spoken by Stephen.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 8:1-40, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26, 6:1-8:4, 9:1-31, 11:19-28:31, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
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