³² Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the commander came up, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains.^(A) He asked who he was and what he had done.

²⁵ As they stretched him out for the lash, Paul said to the centurion standing by, “Is it legal for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and is uncondemned?”^(A)

²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went and reported to the commander, saying, “What are you going to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.”

²⁷ The commander came and said to him, “Tell me—are you a Roman citizen?”

“Yes,” he said.

²⁸ The commander replied, “I bought this citizenship for a large amount of money.”

“But I was born a citizen,” Paul said.

²⁹ Therefore, those who were about to examine him withdrew from him at once. The commander too was alarmed when he realized Paul was a Roman citizen and he had bound him.^(B)