15. For you shall be his witness to all men about those things which you have seen and heard.
16. And now, why do you delay? Rise up, and be baptized, and wash away your sins, by invoking his name.'
17. Then it happened that, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, a mental stupor came over me,
18. and I saw him saying to me: 'Hurry! Depart quickly from Jerusalem! For they will not accept your testimony about me.'
19. And I said: 'Lord, they know that I am beating and enclosing in prison, throughout every synagogue, those who have believed in you.
20. And when the blood of your witness Stephen was poured out, I stood nearby and was consenting, and I watched over the garments of those who put him to death.'
21. And he said to me, 'Go forth. For I am sending you to far away nations.' "
22. Now they were listening to him, until this word, and then they lifted up their voice, saying: "Take this kind away from the earth! For it is not fitting for him to live!"
23. And while they were shouting, and tossing aside their garments, and casting dust into the air,
24. the tribune ordered him to be brought into the fortress, and to be scourged and tortured, in order to discover the reason that they were crying out in this way against him.
25. And when they had tied him with straps, Paul said to the centurion who was standing near him, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and has not been condemned?"
26. Upon hearing this, the centurion went to the tribune and reported it to him, saying: "What do you intend to do? For this man is a Roman citizen."
27. And the tribune, approaching, said to him: "Tell me. Are you a Roman?" So he said, "Yes."
28. And the tribune responded, "I obtained this citizenship at great cost." And Paul said, "But I was born to it."