^25 (A)But when they had stretched him out for the whips, Paul said to the centurion on duty, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman citizen and has not been tried?”^{[a] 26} When the centurion heard this, he went to the cohort commander and reported it, saying, “What are you going to do? This man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷ Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he answered. ²⁸ The commander replied, “I acquired this citizenship for a large sum of money.” Paul said, “But I was born one.” ²⁹ At once those who were going to interrogate him backed away from him, and the commander became alarmed when he realized that he was a Roman citizen and that he had had him bound.