Saul’s Conversion^(A)

9 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples.^(B) He went to the high priest ² and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus,^(C) so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way,^(D) whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

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.

¹³ For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism,^(A) how intensely I persecuted the church of God^(B) and tried to destroy it.^{(C) 14} I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous^(D) for the traditions of my fathers.^{(E) 15} But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb^(F) and called me^(G) by his grace, was pleased

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles^(A) and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted^(B) the church of God.^(C)