Saul Persecutes the Church

8 Now Saul was consenting to his death.

At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and ^(A)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. ² And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and ^(B)made great lamentation over him.

³ As for Saul, ^(C)he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison.

The Damascus Road: Saul Converted^(A)

9 Then ^(B)Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest ² and asked ^(C)letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

^3 (D)As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. ⁴ Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, ^(E)why are you persecuting Me?”

⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. ^[a]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”

⁶ So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”

Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

⁷ And ^(F)the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Ananias Baptizes Saul

¹⁰ Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus ^(G)named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.”

And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

¹¹ So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul ^(H)of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. ¹² And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”

¹³ Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^(I)how much ^[b]harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all ^(J)who call on Your name.”

¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(K)he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before ^(L)Gentiles, ^(M)kings, and the ^(N)children^[c] of Israel. ¹⁶ For ^(O)I will show him how many things he must suffer for My ^(P)name’s sake.”

^17 (Q)And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and ^(R)laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord ^[d]Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and ^(S)be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

¹⁹ So when he had received food, he was strengthened. ^(T)Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.

¹⁷ “Now ^(A)it happened, when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance ¹⁸ and ^(B)saw Him saying to me, ^(C)‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’ ¹⁹ So I said, ‘Lord, ^(D)they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and ^(E)beat those who believe on You. ^20 (F)And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by ^(G)consenting ^[a]to his death, and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ ²¹ Then He said to me, ‘Depart, ^(H)for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.’ ”

Paul’s Roman Citizenship

²² And they listened to him until this word, and then they raised their voices and said, ^(I)“Away with such a fellow from the earth, for ^(J)he is not fit to live!” ²³ Then, as they cried out and ^[b]tore off their clothes and threw dust into the air,

¹³ although ^(A)I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an ^[a]insolent man; but I obtained mercy because ^(B)I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ^14 (C)And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, ^(D)with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ^15 (E)This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that ^(F)Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

Benediction

^25 [a]Now ^(A)to Him who is able to establish you ^(B)according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, ^(C)according to the revelation of the mystery ^(D)kept secret since the world began ²⁶ but ^(E)now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for ^(F)obedience to the faith— ²⁷ to ^(G)God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.