24. The Roman commander ordered Paul to be taken into the fortress and beaten with a whip. He did this to find out why the people were screaming at Paul.
25. While the soldiers were tying Paul up to be beaten, he asked the officer standing there, “Is it legal to beat a Roman citizen before he has been tried in court?”
26. When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and said, “What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”
27. The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?”“Yes,” Paul answered.
28. The commander then said, “I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen.”But Paul replied, “I was born a Roman citizen.”