22 ²² Up to this point they had given him a hearing; but now they began shouting, 'Down with him! A scoundrel like that is better dead!' 22 ²³ And as they were yelling and waving their cloaks and flinging dust in the air, 22 ²⁴ the commandant ordered him to be brought into the barracks and gave instructions to examine him by flogging, and find out what reason there was for such an outcry against him. 22 ²⁵ But when they tied him up for the lash, Or: tied him up with thongs. Paul said to the centurion who was standing there, 'Can you legally flog a man who is a Roman citizen, and moreover has not been found guilty?' 22 ²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went and reported it to the commandant. 'What do you mean to do?' he said. 'This man is a Roman citizen.' 22 ²⁷ The commandant came to Paul. 'Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?' he asked. 'Yes', said he. 22 ²⁸ The commandant rejoined, 'It cost me a large sum to acquire this citizenship.' Paul said, 'But it was mine by birth.' 22 ²⁹ Then those who were about to examine him withdrew hastily, and the commandant himself was alarmed when he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had put him in irons.