1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”
2 When they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, they became even quieter.
3 He continued, “I am a Jewish man, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel and educated according to the strict view of our patriarchal law. Being zealous for God, just as all of you are today,
4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women in jail,
5 as both the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. After I received letters from them to the brothers, I traveled to Damascus to bring those who were prisoners there to be punished in Jerusalem.