⁴ “So then, all the Jews know my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation [the Jewish people], and in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify to it, that according to the ^[a]strictest sect of our religion, I have lived as a Pharisee. ⁶ And now I am standing trial for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.^{(A) 7} Which hope [of the Messiah and the resurrection] our twelve tribes [confidently] expect to realize as they serve and worship God in earnest night and day. And for this hope, O King, I am being accused by Jews! ⁸ Why is it thought incredible by [any of] you that God raises the dead?

⁹ “So then, I [once] thought to myself that it was my duty to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; I not only locked up many of the saints (God’s people) in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being condemned to death, I ^[b]cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And I often punished them [making them suffer] in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme; and in my extreme rage at them, I kept hunting them even to foreign cities [harassing and persecuting them].

¹² “While so engaged, as I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission and full power of the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven surpassing the brightness of the sun, shining all around me and those who were traveling with me. ¹⁴ And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice in the Hebrew dialect (Jewish Aramaic) saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ^[c]It is hard for you to kick [repeatedly] against the ^[d]goads [offering pointless resistance].’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ Get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you [to serve] as a minister and as a witness [to testify, with authority,] not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, ¹⁷ [choosing you for Myself and] rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you,^{(B) 18} to open their [spiritual] eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness and release from their sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified (set apart, made holy) by faith in Me.’^(C)

¹⁹ “So, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision,