Jer 13:15-17, 26:12-15, Joh 5:34, Act 22:0-23:11 | ESV | STEP | Hear and give ear ; be not proud , for the Lord has spoken .

15 Hear and give ear; be not proud,
for the Lord has spoken.
16 ^aGive glory to the Lord your God
^bbefore he brings darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the twilight mountains,
and ^cwhile you look for light
he turns it into gloom
and makes it ^ddeep darkness.
17 But if you will not listen,
^emy soul will weep in secret for your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,
because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

Jeremiah 26:12-15

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore ^fmend your ways and your deeds, ^gand obey the voice of the Lord your God, ^hand the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14 ⁱBut as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, ^jyou will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

John 5:34

34 Not that ^kthe testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.

Acts 22

1 ^l“Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.”

2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in ^mthe Hebrew language, ^{▼▼Or the Hebrew dialect (probably Aramaic)} they became even more quiet. And he said:

3 ^o“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ^pat the feet of ^qGamaliel ^{▼▼Or city at the feet of Gamaliel, educated} ^saccording to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, ^tbeing zealous for God ^uas all of you are this day. 4 ^vI persecuted ^wthis Way ^xto the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as ^ythe high priest and ^zthe whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to ^aathe brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

6 ^ab“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am ^acJesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ 9 ^adNow those who were with me saw the light but did not understand ^{▼▼Or hear with understanding} the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 And I said, ^af‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ 11 And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.

12 “And ^agone Ananias, a devout man ^ahaccording to the law, ^aiwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13 ^ajcame to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And ^akat that very hour I received my sight and saw him. 14 And he said, ^al‘The God of our fathers ^amappointed you to know his will, ^anto see ^aothe Righteous One and ^apto hear a voice from his mouth; 15 for ^aqyou will be a witness for him to everyone of what ^aryou have seen and heard. 16 And now why do you wait? ^asRise and be baptized and ^atwash away your sins, ^aucalling on his name.’

17 ^av“When I had returned to Jerusalem and ^awwas praying in the temple, I fell into ^axa trance 18 and saw him saying to me, ^ay‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another ^azI imprisoned and ^babeat those who believed in you. 20 And when the blood of Stephen ^bbyour witness was being shed, ^bcI myself was standing by and ^bdapproving and ^bewatching over the garments of those who killed him.’ 21 And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you ^bffar away to the Gentiles.’”

Paul and the Roman Tribune

22 Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, ^bg“Away with such a fellow from the earth! For ^bhhe should not be allowed to live.” 23 And as they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the tribune ordered him to be brought into ^bithe barracks, saying that he should be ^bjexamined by flogging, to find out why they were shouting against him like this. 25 But when they had stretched him out for the whips, ^{▼▼Or when they had tied him up with leather strips} Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it lawful for you to flog ^bla man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the tribune and said to him, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.” 27 So the tribune came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The tribune answered, “I bought this citizenship for a large sum.” Paul said, “But I am a citizen by birth.” 29 So those who were about ^bmto examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also ^bnwas afraid, ^bofor he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that ^bphe had bound him.

Paul Before the Council

30 But on the next day, ^bqdesiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.

Acts 23:1-11

1 And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, ^brI have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” 2 And the high priest ^bsAnanias commanded those who stood by him ^btto strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you ^buwhitewashed ^bvwall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet ^bwcontrary to the law you ^bxorder me to be struck?” 4 Those who stood by said, “Would you revile ^byGod’s high priest?” 5 And Paul said, ^bz“I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ^ca‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

6 Now when Paul perceived that one part were ^cbSadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, ^ccI am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is ^cdwith respect to the ^cehope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” 7 And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For the Sadducees ^cfsay that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 Then a great clamor arose, and some of ^cgthe scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, ^ch“We find nothing wrong in this man. What ^ciif a spirit or an angel spoke to him?” 10 And when the dissension became violent, the tribune, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him away from among them by force and bring him into ^cjthe barracks.

11 ^ckThe following night ^clthe Lord stood by him and said, ^cm“Take courage, for ^cnas you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must ^cotestify also in Rome.”