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.

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.

¹³ even though I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.

¹³ You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it.

¹¹ The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now. ¹² I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”

¹³ “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers^[a] in Jerusalem! ¹⁴ And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”

¹⁵ But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. ¹⁶ And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

¹⁷ So Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ Instantly something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized. ¹⁹ Afterward he ate some food and regained his strength.

Saul in Damascus and Jerusalem

Saul stayed with the believers^[b] in Damascus for a few days. ²⁰ And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”

²¹ All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who caused such devastation among Jesus’ followers in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And didn’t he come here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests?”

⁹ For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.

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.

⁵⁸ and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.^[a]

⁶ I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.