Paul Tells of His Conversion^(A)

⁶ “As I was traveling and coming near Damascus, about midday a bright light from the sky flashed suddenly around me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?’ ⁸ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you persecute,’ he said to me. ⁹ The men with me saw the light, but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ I asked, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ and the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told everything that God has determined for you to do.’ ¹¹ I was blind because of the bright light, and so my companions took me by the hand and led me into Damascus.

¹² “In that city was a man named Ananias, a religious man who obeyed our Law and was highly respected by all the Jews living there. ¹³ He came to me, stood by me, and said, ‘Brother Saul, see again!’ At that very moment I saw again and looked at him. ¹⁴ He said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see his righteous Servant, and to hear him speaking with his own voice. ¹⁵ For you will be a witness for him to tell everyone what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now, why wait any longer? Get up and be baptized and have your sins washed away by praying to him.’

Paul Tells of His Conversion^(A)

¹² “It was for this purpose that I went to Damascus with authority and orders from the chief priests. ¹³ It was on the road at midday, Your Majesty, that I saw a light much brighter than the sun, coming from the sky and shining around me and the men traveling with me. ¹⁴ All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by hitting back, like an ox kicking against its owner's stick.’ ¹⁵ ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. And the Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus, whom you persecute. ¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant. You are to tell others what you have seen of me^[a] today and what I will show you in the future. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from the people of Israel and from the Gentiles to whom I will send you. ¹⁸ You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God's chosen people.’