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 in ^(E)Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to ^[c](F)the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them in shackles to Jerusalem. ³ Now 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 to you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him ^(J)stood speechless, ^(K)hearing the ^[d]voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and ^(L)though his eyes were open, he ^[e]could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into ^(M)Damascus. ⁹ And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

¹⁰ Now there was a disciple in ^(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 ^[f]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 people about this man, ^(S)how much harm he did to ^(T)Your ^[g]saints in Jerusalem; ¹⁴ and here he ^(U)has authority from the chief priests to ^[h]arrest all who ^(V)call on Your name.” ¹⁵ But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ^(W)he is a chosen ^[i]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 in behalf of My name.” 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 something like fish scales fell from his eyes, 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 in Damascus, ²⁰ and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus ^(AF)in the synagogues, ^[j]saying, “He is ^(AG)the Son of God.” ²¹ All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem ^(AH)destroyed those who ^(AI)called on this name, and had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” ²² But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the ^[k]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 closely watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; ²⁵ but his disciples took him at 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 tried repeatedly to associate with the disciples; and yet they were all afraid of him, as they did not believe 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)he had ^(AR)spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus at Damascus. ²⁸ And he was with them, ^[l]moving about freely in Jerusalem, ^(AS)speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. ²⁹ And he was talking and arguing with the ^[m](AT)Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death. ³⁰ Now when ^(AU)the ^[n]brothers learned of it, they brought him down to ^(AV)Caesarea and ^(AW)sent him away to ^(AX)Tarsus.

³¹ So ^(AY)the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria ^[o]enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it ^[p]continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing.

⁸ And he entered ^(A)the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them ^(B)about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But when ^(C)some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of ^[a](D)the Way before the ^[b]people, he withdrew from them and took ^(E)the disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This took place for ^(F)two years, so that all who lived in ^[c](G)Asia heard ^(H)the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

²³ About that time ^[a]a major disturbance occurred in regard to ^[b](A)the Way. ²⁴ For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of ^[c]Artemis, ^(B)was bringing ^[d]considerable ^[e]business to the craftsmen; ²⁵ he gathered these men together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity ^[f]depends upon this business. ²⁶ You see and hear that not only in ^(C)Ephesus, but in almost all of ^[g](D)Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that ^[h](E)gods made by hands are not gods at all. ²⁷ Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess ^[i]Artemis will be regarded as worthless, and that she whom all of ^[j](F)Asia and ^(G)the ^[k]world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

Paul’s Defense before the Jews

22 “^(A)[a]Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

² And when they heard that he was addressing them in the ^[b](B)Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he *said,

³ “^(C)I am ^(D)a Jew, born in ^(E)Tarsus of ^(F)Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated ^[c]under ^(G)Gamaliel, ^[d](H)strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as ^(I)you all are today. ^4 (J)I persecuted this ^(K)Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, ⁵ as also ^(L)the high priest and all ^(M)the Council of the elders ^[e]can testify. From them I also ^(N)received letters to ^(O)the brothers, and started off for ^(P)Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem ^[f]as prisoners to be punished.

⁶ “^(Q)But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, ⁷ and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am ^(R)Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹ And those who were with me ^(S)saw the light, but ^(T)did not ^[g]understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ‘^(U)What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ But since I ^(V)could not see because of the ^[h]brightness of that light, I came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.

¹² “Now a certain ^(W)Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law and ^(X)well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, ¹³ came to me, and standing nearby he said to me, ‘^(Y)Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And ^[i](Z)at that very moment I looked up at him. ¹⁴ And he said, ‘^(AA)The God of our fathers has ^(AB)appointed you to know His will and to ^(AC)see the ^(AD)Righteous One and to hear a ^[j]message from His mouth. ¹⁵ For you will be ^(AE)a witness for Him to all people of ^(AF)what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ Now why do you delay? ^(AG)Get up and be baptized, and ^(AH)wash away your sins by ^(AI)calling on His name.’

Paul before Felix

24 Now after ^(A)five days the high priest ^(B)Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus, and they ^[a]brought charges against Paul to ^(C)the governor. ² After ^[b]Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began accusing him, saying to the governor,

“Since we have attained great peace through you, and since reforms are being carried out for this nation by your foresight, ³ we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, ^(D)most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. ⁴ But, that I may not ^[c]weary you further, I beg you ^[d]to grant us a brief hearing, by your kindness. ⁵ For we have found this man a public menace and one who stirs up dissensions among all the Jews throughout ^[e]the world, and a ringleader of the ^(E)sect of the Nazarenes. ⁶ And he even tried to ^(F)desecrate the temple, so indeed we arrested him.^{[f] 8} By interrogating him yourself concerning all these matters, you will be able to ascertain the things of which we are accusing him.” ^9 (G)The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.

¹⁰ And when ^(H)the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded:

“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense, ¹¹ since you can take note of the fact that no more than ^(I)twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. ^12 (J)And neither in the temple did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or ^(K)causing ^[g]a riot, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself. ^13 (L)Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me. ¹⁴ But I confess this to you, that in accordance with ^[h](M)the Way, which they call a ^(N)sect, I do serve ^(O)the God of our fathers, ^(P)believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets; ¹⁵ having a hope in God, which ^(Q)these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. ¹⁶ In view of this ^(R)I also do my best to maintain a blameless conscience both before God and before other people, always.