³ “I am a Jew,^(A) born in Tarsus^(B) of Cilicia,^(C) but brought up in this city. I studied under^(D) Gamaliel^(E) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.^(F) I was just as zealous^(G) for God as any of you are today. ⁴ I persecuted^(H) the followers of this Way^(I) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,^{(J) 5} as the high priest and all the Council^(K) can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates^(L) in Damascus,^(M) and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.^{(N) 7} I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

⁸ “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,^(O) whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. ⁹ My companions saw the light,^(P) but they did not understand the voice^(Q) of him who was speaking to me.

¹⁰ “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’^{(R) 11} My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.^(S)

¹² “A man named Ananias came to see me.^(T) He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.^{(U) 13} He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴ “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors^(V) has chosen you to know his will and to see^(W) the Righteous One^(X) and to hear words from his mouth. ¹⁵ You will be his witness^(Y) to all people of what you have seen^(Z) and heard. ¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized^(AA) and wash your sins away,^(AB) calling on his name.’^(AC)

⁹ “I too was convinced^(A) that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose^(B) the name of Jesus of Nazareth.^{(C) 10} And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people^(D) in prison,^(E) and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.^{(F) 11} Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished,^(G) and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

¹² “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice^(H) saying to me in Aramaic,^[a](I) ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

¹⁵ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.^(J) I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.^{(K) 17} I will rescue you^(L) from your own people and from the Gentiles.^(M) I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes^(N) and turn them from darkness to light,^(O) and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins^(P) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^(Q)