1. Paul said, “Brothers and fathers, listen to my defense to you.”
2. When they heard him speaking the Hebrew language, they became very quiet. Paul said,
3. “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in the country of Cilicia, but I grew up in this city. I was a student of Gamaliel, who carefully taught me everything about the law of our ancestors. I was very serious about serving God, just as are all of you here today.
4. I persecuted the people who followed the Way of Jesus, and some of them were even killed. I arrested men and women and put them in jail.