⁸ “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.

“And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene,^[a] the one you are persecuting.’

⁹ “I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene.^[a]

¹⁴ We have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth^[a] will destroy the Temple and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁴ We all fell down, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is useless for you to fight against my will.^[b]’

¹⁵ “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.

“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.

¹⁰ Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene,^[a] the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.

⁴⁵ “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’

⁴⁰ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,^[a] you were doing it to me!’

⁴⁰ “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. ⁴¹ If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God,^[a] you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. ⁴² And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”

²³ So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: “He will be called a Nazarene.”

⁸ After a period of glory, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies sent me^[a] against the nations who plundered you. For he said, “Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession.^[b]