³ Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.^{(A) 4} He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”^{(B) 5} He asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The reply came, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ⁶ But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” ⁷ The men who were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.^{(C) 8} Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing;^[a] so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

The Rights of an Apostle

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

¹⁶ to reveal his Son to me,^[a] so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles, I did not confer with any human,^(A)