Acts 26:9-25

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised

⁹ ‘Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.^{[a] 10} And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. ¹¹ By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme; and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹² ‘With this in mind, I was travelling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, ¹³ when at midday along the road, your Excellency,^[b] I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. ¹⁴ When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew^[c] language, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.” ¹⁵ I asked, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord answered, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me^[d] and to those in which I will appear to you. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you ¹⁸ to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”

Paul Tells of His Preaching

¹⁹ ‘After that, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance. ²¹ For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ²² To this day I have had help from God, and so I stand here, testifying to both small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would take place: ²³ that the Messiah^[e] must suffer, and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.’

Paul Appeals to Agrippa to Believe

²⁴ While he was making this defence, Festus exclaimed, ‘You are out of your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you insane!’ ²⁵ But Paul said, ‘I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking the sober truth.