1 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. 2 (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) 3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. 4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. 5 As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. 6 And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. 7 And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. 9 And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. 10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do. 11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. 12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there , 13 Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. 14 And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. 15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. 16 And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. 17 And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; 18 And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. 19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: 20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. 21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. 22 And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. 23 And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, 24 The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him. 25 And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? 26 When the centurion heard that , he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. 27 Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. 28 And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. 29 Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. 30 On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.
22–BOB
1 Pavlus olomonga shunday dedi: “Birodarlarim, otalar! Gapimga quloq solinglar, sizlarning oldingizda oʻzimni oqlay.” 2 Odamlar uning oramiycha gapirayotganini eshitib, suv quyganday, jim boʻlib qoldilar. Pavlus gapida davom etdi: 3 “Men yahudiyman, Kilikiyadagi Tarsus shahrida tugʻilganman, ammo Quddusda ulgʻaydim. Bu shaharda Gamaliyolning shogirdi boʻlib, ota–bobolarimizning qonuniga jiddiy eʼtibor berib taʼlim oldim. Xuddi bugungiday sizlarga oʻxshab, Xudoga oʻzimni bagʻishladim. 4 Isoning yoʻliga kirgan odamlarni oʻlguday quvgʻin qilardim, erkagu ayolni bogʻlab, zindonga tashlardim. 5 Aytayotganlarim haqiqat ekanini oliy ruhoniy bilan butun Kengash tasdiqlay oladi. Ular Damashqdagi yahudiy birodarlarimizga xat yozib berdilar. Shunday qilib, men bu odamlarni kishanlab, Quddusga olib kelib jazolash uchun Damashqqa joʻnadim.
Pavlus oʻzining imonga kelishi toʻgʻrisida soʻzlab beradi
6 Men yoʻlimda davom etib, Damashqqa yaqinlashib qolganimda, tush payti birdan osmondan yop–yorugʻ nur mening yon–atrofimni yoritib yubordi. 7 Men yerga yiqildim. Shu payt: «Shoul! Shoul! Nega sen Meni quvgʻin qilyapsan?» degan bir ovozni eshitdim. 8 «Yo Hazratim! Siz kimsiz?» deb soʻradim. Shunda U menga: «Sen quvgʻin qilayotgan Nosiralik Isoman», deb javob berdi. 9 Mening yonimdagilar nurni koʻrardilar–u , ammo men bilan gaplashayotganning ovozini eshitmasdilar. 10 Shunda men: «Yo Rabbim Iso, nima qilay?» deb soʻradim. Rabbiy menga shunday dedi: «Oʻrningdan tur, Damashqqa bor. Nima qilishing kerakligini Xudo belgilab qoʻygan. Hamma narsa oʻsha yerda senga aytiladi.» 11 Oʻsha nurning yarqirashidan koʻzlarim koʻrmay qolgan edi. Shuning uchun hamrohlarim qoʻllarimdan ushlab, meni Damashqqa olib ketdilar.
12 Oʻsha shaharda Xanoniyo degan bir taqvodor, qonunga itoat etadigan odam bor edi. U oʻsha shahardagi hamma yahudiylar orasida katta obroʻga ega edi. 13 Xanoniyo oldimga kelib, yonimda turdi–da: «Birodarim Shoul! Koʻzlaring yana ochilsin!» dedi. Oʻsha zahoti koʻzlarim ochilib, Xanoniyoni koʻrdim. 14 Shunda u dedi: «Ota–bobolarimizning Xudosi seni tanladi. Toki sen Uning xohishini bilgin, Solih Zotni koʻrib, Uning ovozini eshitgin. 15 Sen koʻrib–eshitganlaring toʻgʻrisida butun olamga Uning guvohi boʻlasan. 16 Endi nimani kutyapsan? Oʻrningdan tur, suvga choʻmgin. Rabbimizga iltijo qilib, gunohlaringni yuvgin.»
17 Men Quddusga qaytib kelganimdan keyin, Maʼbadda ibodat qilayotganimda, menga bir vahiy keldi. 18 Men Rabbim Isoni koʻrdim, U shunday dedi: «Tez boʻl, Quddusdan zudlik bilan ket! Bu yerdagi odamlar Men toʻgʻrimda bergan guvohligingni qabul qilmaydilar.» 19 Men esa: «Yo Rabbiy! — dedim. — Men sinagogalarga borib, Senga ishongan odamlarni qamab, kaltaklaganimni ular yaxshi biladilar. 20 Shohiding Stefan oʻldirilganda, men oʻsha yerda edim, uning oʻldirilishini maʼqullab, uni oʻldirayotganlarning kiyimlariga poyloqchilik qilib turgan edim.» 21 Rabbim Iso menga: «Ketaver, — dedi. — Seni uzoqdagi gʻayriyahudiylarning oldiga yuboraman.»”
22 Xalq Pavlusga quloq solib turdi. Ammo u shu gapini aytishi bilanoq, ular ovozi boricha, shovqin soldi:
— Yoʻqotinglar uni! Oʻldiringlar! U yashashga loyiq emas!
23 Ular baqir–chaqir qilib, kiyimlarini otib, havoni chang–toʻzon qilib yubordilar. 24 Rim mingboshisi odamlariga:
— Pavlusni qalʼaga olib kiringlar! — deb buyruq berdi. Soʻngra u yana odamlariga:
— Uni qamchilanglar! Nima uchun odamlar unga qarshi baqir–chaqir qilganini bilinglar! — dedi.
25 Pavlusni qamchilash uchun bogʻlayotganlarida, Pavlus oʻsha yerda turgan yuzboshiga dedi:
— Rim fuqarosining biron aybi topilmagan boʻlsa ham, uni qamchilash sizlarning qonuningizda bormi?
26 Yuzboshi bu gapni eshitib, mingboshining oldiga bordi–da:
— Nima qilmoqchisiz? Axir, bu odam Rim fuqarosi ekan–ku! — dedi.
27 Mingboshi Pavlusning oldiga kelib, undan:
— Menga ayt–chi, sen Rim fuqarosimisan? — dedi.
— Ha, — deb javob berdi Pavlus.
28 Mingboshi:
— Men katta miqdorda pul toʻlab, fuqarolikni olgan edim, — dedi.
— Men esa Rim fuqarosi boʻlib tugʻilganman, — dedi Pavlus.
29 Pavlusni soʻroq qilmoqchi boʻlib turganlar oʻsha zahoti undan qoʻllarini tortdilar. Mingboshi Pavlusning Rim fuqarosi ekanini eshitib, uni kishanlagani uchun qoʻrqib ketdi.
Pavlus Oliy kengash oldida
30 Yahudiylar Pavlusni nima uchun ayblayotganlarini mingboshi bilmoqchi boʻldi. Ertasi kuni u Pavlusni ozod qildi va “bosh ruhoniylar bilan Oliy kengash aʼzolari yigʻilsin”, deb buyurdi. Mingboshi Pavlusni ularning qoshiga olib keldi.
