Paul’s Testimony

⁶ “As^(A) I was traveling and approaching Damascus, about noon an intense light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸ “I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you are persecuting.’ ⁹ Now those who were with me saw the light,^[a] but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.^(B)

¹⁰ “I said, ‘What should I do, Lord?’

“The Lord told me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that you have been assigned to do.’

¹¹ “Since I couldn’t see because of the brightness of the light,^[b] I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and went into Damascus.^(C)

Paul’s Account of His Conversion and Commission

¹² “I was traveling to Damascus under^(A) these circumstances with authority and a commission from the chief priests. ¹³ King Agrippa, while on the road at midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in Aramaic,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’^(B)

¹⁵ “I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.^{(C) 17} I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them^{(D) 18} to open their eyes^(E) so that they may turn^[b] from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^(F)

⁸ Last of all, as to one born at the wrong time,^[a](A) he also appeared to me.^(B)