¹⁹ “‘But Lord,’ I argued, ‘they certainly know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.

⁴ And I persecuted the followers of the Way, hounding some to death, arresting both men and women and throwing them in prison.

¹⁷ But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues.

³ But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.

Saul’s Conversion

9 Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers.^[a] So he went to the high priest.

⁹ “I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.^{[a] 10} Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers^[b] there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. ¹¹ Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus.^[c] I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.

¹² “One day I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the leading priests.