The Conversion of Saul

9 ^(A)Now ^[a]Saul, still ^(B)breathing ^[b]threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, ² and asked for ^(C)letters from him to ^(D)the synagogues at ^(E)Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^(F)the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. ³ As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and ^(G)suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and ^(H)he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and ^(I)it will be told you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him ^(J)stood speechless, ^(K)hearing the ^[c]voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and ^(L)though his eyes were open, he ^[d]could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into ^(M)Damascus. ⁹ And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple at ^(N)Damascus named ^(O)Ananias; and the Lord said to him in ^(P)a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹ And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from ^(Q)Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, ¹² and he has seen ^[e]in a vision a man named Ananias come in and ^(R)lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^(S)how much harm he did to ^(T)Your ^[f]saints at Jerusalem; ¹⁴ and here he ^(U)has authority from the chief priests to bind all who ^(V)call on Your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(W)he is a chosen ^[g]instrument of Mine, to bear My name before ^(X)the Gentiles and ^(Y)kings and the sons of Israel; ¹⁶ for ^(Z)I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.” ¹⁷ So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after ^(AA)laying his hands on him said, “^(AB)Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be ^(AC)filled with the Holy Spirit.” ¹⁸ And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; ¹⁹ and he took food and was strengthened.

Saul Begins to Preach Christ

Now ^(AD)for several days he was with ^(AE)the disciples who were at Damascus, ²⁰ and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus ^(AF)in the synagogues, ^[h]saying, “He is ^(AG)the Son of God.” ²¹ All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem ^(AH)destroyed those who ^(AI)called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” ²² But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the ^[i]Christ.

²³ When ^(AJ)many days had elapsed, ^(AK)the Jews plotted together to do away with him, ²⁴ but ^(AL)their plot became known to Saul. ^(AM)They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; ²⁵ but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket.

^26 (AN)When he came to Jerusalem, he was trying to associate with the disciples; ^[j]but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. ²⁷ But ^(AO)Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had ^(AP)seen the Lord on the road, and that He had talked to him, and how ^(AQ)at Damascus he had ^(AR)spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. ²⁸ And he was with them, ^[k]moving about freely in Jerusalem, ^(AS)speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ And he was talking and arguing with the ^[l](AT)Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. ³⁰ But when ^(AU)the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to ^(AV)Caesarea and ^(AW)sent him away to ^(AX)Tarsus.

³¹ So ^(AY)the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria ^[m]enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

Paul’s Defense before Agrippa

26 ^(A)Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and proceeded to make his defense:

² “In regard to all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that I am about to make my defense before you today; ^3 [a]especially because you are an expert in all ^(B)customs and ^[b]questions among the Jews; therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

⁴ “So then, all Jews know ^(C)my manner of life from my youth up, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem; ⁵ since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a ^(D)Pharisee ^(E)according to the strictest ^(F)sect of our religion. ⁶ And now I am ^[c]standing trial ^(G)for the hope of ^(H)the promise made by God to our fathers; ⁷ the promise ^(I)to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this ^(J)hope, O King, I am being ^(K)accused by Jews. ⁸ Why is it considered incredible among you people ^(L)if God does raise the dead?

⁹ “So then, ^(M)I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to ^(N)the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And this is ^[d]just what I ^(O)did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the ^[e]saints in prisons, having ^(P)received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I ^(Q)cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And ^(R)as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being ^(S)furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them ^(T)even to ^[f]foreign cities.

¹² “^[g]While so engaged ^(U)as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, ^[h]brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. ¹⁴ And when we had ^(V)all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the ^[i](W)Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ^[j]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But get up and ^(X)stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to ^(Y)appoint you a ^(Z)minister and ^(AA)a witness not only to the things which you have ^[k]seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; ^17 (AB)rescuing you ^(AC)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸ to ^(AD)open their eyes so that they may turn from ^(AE)darkness to light and from the dominion of ^(AF)Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AG)forgiveness of sins and an ^(AH)inheritance among those who have been sanctified by ^(AI)faith in Me.’

¹⁹ “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but kept declaring both ^(AJ)to those of Damascus first, and also ^(AK)at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even ^(AL)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(AM)repent and turn to God, performing deeds ^(AN)appropriate to repentance. ²¹ For this reason some Jews ^(AO)seized me in the temple and tried ^(AP)to put me to death. ²² So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day ^(AQ)testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what ^(AR)the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; ^23 [l](AS)that ^[m]the Christ was ^[n]to suffer, and ^[o]that ^(AT)by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim ^(AU)light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! ^[p]Your great ^(AV)learning is ^[q]driving you mad.” ²⁵ But Paul *said, “I am not out of my mind, ^(AW)most excellent Festus, but I utter words ^[r]of sober truth. ²⁶ For the king ^[s](AX)knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a ^[t]corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you ^[u]do.” ²⁸ Agrippa replied to Paul, “^[v]In a short time you ^[w]will persuade me to ^[x]become a ^(AY)Christian.” ²⁹ And Paul said, “^[y]I would wish to God, that whether ^[z]in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these ^(AZ)chains.”

^30 (BA)The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, ³¹ and when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another, saying, “^(BB)This man is not doing anything worthy of death or ^[aa]imprisonment.” ³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been ^(BC)set free if he had not ^(BD)appealed to Caesar.”