⁸ and last of all, as ^[a]to one untimely born, ^(A)He appeared to me also.

The Conversion of Saul

9 ^(A)Now ^[a]Saul, still ^(B)breathing ^[b]threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ² and asked for ^(C)letters from him to ^(D)the synagogues at ^(E)Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^(F)the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³ And as he was traveling, it happened that when he was approaching Damascus, ^(G)suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and ^(H)falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but rise up and enter the city, and ^(I)it will be told you what you must do.” ⁷ And the men who traveled with him ^(J)stood speechless, ^(K)hearing the ^[c]voice but seeing no one. ⁸ And Saul got up from the ground, and ^(L)though his eyes were open, he ^[d]could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, they brought him into ^(M)Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple at ^(N)Damascus named ^(O)Ananias, and the Lord said to him in ^(P)a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Rise up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from ^(Q)Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, ¹² and he has seen ^[e]in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^(R)lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^(S)how much harm he did to ^(T)Your ^[f]saints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And here he ^(U)has authority from the chief priests to bind all who ^(V)call on Your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(W)he is a chosen ^[g]instrument of Mine, to bear My name before ^(X)the Gentiles and ^(Y)kings and the sons of Israel; ¹⁶ for ^(Z)I will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house. And he ^(AA)laid his hands on him and said, “^(AB)Brother Saul, the Lord sent me—that is Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming—so that you may regain your sight and be ^(AC)filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he rose up and was baptized; ¹⁹ and he took food and was strengthened.

Saul Begins to Preach Christ

Now ^(AD)for several days he was with ^(AE)the disciples who were at Damascus,

22 “^(A)Men, brothers, and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

² And when they heard that he was addressing them in the ^(B)Hebrew language, they became even quieter; and he *said,

³ “^(C)I am ^(D)a Jew, born in ^(E)Tarsus of ^(F)Cilicia, but having been brought up in this city, having been instructed at the feet of ^(G)Gamaliel according to the ^(H)strictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as ^(I)you all are today, ^4 (J)I persecuted this ^(K)Way to the death, binding and delivering both men and women into prisons, ⁵ as also ^(L)the high priest and all ^(M)the Council of the elders ^[a]can testify. From them I also ^(N)received letters to ^(O)the brothers, and started off for ^(P)Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem ^[b]as prisoners to be punished.

⁶ “^(Q)But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, ⁷ and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am ^(R)Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹ And those who were with me ^(S)beheld the light, to be sure, but ^(T)did not ^[c]understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ‘^(U)What should I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been determined for you to do.’ ¹¹ But since I ^(V)could not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus.

¹² “Now a certain ^(W)Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and ^(X)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³ came to me, and standing near, said to me, ‘^(Y)Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ And ^[d](Z)at that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. ¹⁴ And he said, ‘^(AA)The God of our fathers has ^(AB)appointed you to know His will and to ^(AC)see the ^(AD)Righteous One and to hear a ^[e]voice from His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be ^(AE)a witness for Him to all men of ^(AF)what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ Now why do you delay? ^(AG)Rise up and be baptized, and ^(AH)wash away your sins, ^(AI)calling on His name.’

¹⁷ “Now it happened when I ^(AJ)returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I ^(AK)fell into a trance, ¹⁸ and I saw Him saying to me, ‘^(AL)Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness about Me.’ ¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another ^(AM)I used to imprison and ^(AN)beat those who believed in You. ²⁰ And ^(AO)when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and guarding the garments of those who were slaying him.’ ²¹ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ^(AP)to the Gentiles.’”

⁴ “So then, all Jews know ^(A)my manner of life from my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem; ⁵ since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a ^(B)Pharisee ^(C)according to the strictest ^(D)sect of our religion. ⁶ And now I am standing here being tried ^(E)for the hope of ^(F)the promise made by God to our fathers; ⁷ the promise ^(G)to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this ^(H)hope, O King, I am being ^(I)accused by Jews. ⁸ Why is it considered unbelievable among all of you ^(J)if God does raise the dead?

⁹ “So then, ^(K)I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to ^(L)the name of Jesus the Nazarene. ¹⁰ And this is ^[a]just what I ^(M)did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the ^[b]saints in prisons, having ^(N)received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I ^(O)cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And ^(P)as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being ^(Q)furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them ^(R)even to ^[c]foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹² “^[d]While so engaged ^(S)as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, ^[e]brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. ¹⁴ And when we had ^(T)all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the ^[f](U)Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ^[g]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise up and ^(V)stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to ^(W)appoint you a ^(X)servant and ^(Y)a witness not only to the things which you have ^[h]seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; ^17 (Z)rescuing you ^(AA)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸ to ^(AB)open their eyes so that they may turn from ^(AC)darkness to light and from the authority of ^(AD)Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AE)forgiveness of sins and an ^(AF)inheritance among those who have been sanctified by ^(AG)faith in Me.’

¹⁹ “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but kept declaring both ^(AH)to those of Damascus first, and also ^(AI)at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even ^(AJ)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(AK)repent and turn to God, practicing deeds ^(AL)appropriate to repentance.