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]’

⁴⁰ The commander agreed, so Paul stood on the stairs and motioned to the people to be quiet. Soon a deep silence enveloped the crowd, and he addressed them in their own language, Aramaic.^[a]

² When they heard him speaking in their own language,^[a] the silence was even greater.

⁷ The men with Saul stood speechless, for they heard the sound of someone’s voice but saw no one!

⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’

⁸ “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.

“And the voice replied, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene,^[a] the one you are persecuting.’ ⁹ The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me.

⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?”

⁵ “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked.

And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!

²² What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?

² I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah.

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]