18 I saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem now! The people here will not accept the truth about me.’
19 But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I put the believers in jail and beat them.
20 They also know that I was there when Stephen, your witness, was killed. I stood there and agreed that they should kill him. I even held the coats of the men who were killing him!’
21 But the Lord said to me, ‘Leave now. I will send you far away to the non-Jewish people.’”
22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they began shouting, “Get rid of him! A man like this doesn’t deserve to live!”
23 They shouted and threw off their coats. They threw dust into the air.
24 Then the commander ordered the soldiers to take Paul into the army building and beat him. The commander wanted to make Paul tell why the people were shouting against him like this.