Acts 21:40-22:5

New International Version

⁴⁰ After receiving the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned^(A) to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic^[a]:^(B) 22 ¹ “Brothers and fathers,^(C) listen now to my defense.”

² When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic,^(D) they became very quiet.

Then Paul said: ³ “I am a Jew,^(E) born in Tarsus^(F) of Cilicia,^(G) but brought up in this city. I studied under^(H) Gamaliel^(I) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.^(J) I was just as zealous^(K) for God as any of you are today. ⁴ I persecuted^(L) the followers of this Way^(M) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,^{(N) 5} as the high priest and all the Council^(O) can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates^(P) in Damascus,^(Q) and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.