¹⁴ And he said, ‘^(A)The God of our fathers has ^(B)appointed you to know His will and to ^(C)see the ^(D)Righteous One and to hear a ^[a]message from His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be ^(E)a witness for Him to all people of ^(F)what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ Now why do you delay? ^(G)Get up and be baptized, and ^(H)wash away your sins by ^(I)calling on His name.’

¹⁷ “It happened when I ^(J)returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I ^(K)fell into a trance, ¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, ‘^(L)Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ ¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another ^(M)I used to imprison and ^(N)beat those who believed in You. ²⁰ And ^(O)when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing nearby and approving, and watching over the cloaks of those who were killing him.’ ²¹ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ^(P)to the Gentiles.’”

¹⁶ But get up and ^(A)stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to ^(B)appoint you as a ^(C)servant and ^(D)a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, ^17 (E)rescuing you ^(F)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸ to ^(G)open their eyes so that they may turn from ^(H)darkness to light, and from the ^[a]power of ^(I)Satan to God, that they may receive ^(J)forgiveness of sins and an ^(K)inheritance among those who have been sanctified by ^(L)faith in Me.’

The Gospel Exalted

1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, ^[a](A)called as an apostle, ^(B)set apart for ^(C)the gospel of God,

Appeal to Unity

1 Paul, ^(A)called as an apostle of Jesus Christ ^[a]by ^(B)the will of God, and our ^(C)brother ^(D)Sosthenes,

Paul’s Use of Freedom

9 Am I not ^(A)free? Am I not an ^(B)apostle? Have I not ^(C)seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not ^(D)my work in the Lord?

² If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you; for you are the ^(A)seal of my ^(B)apostleship in the Lord.