²¹ Then all who heard were amazed, and said, ^(A)“Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?”

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

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

¹⁰ when He comes, in that Day, ^(A)to be ^(B)glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who ^[a]believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

¹³ For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how ^(A)I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and ^(B)tried to destroy it. ¹⁴ And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, ^(C)being more exceedingly zealous ^(D)for the traditions of my fathers.

¹⁵ But when it pleased God, ^(E)who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, ^16 (F)to reveal His Son in me, that ^(G)I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with ^(H)flesh and blood, ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Contacts at Jerusalem^(I)

¹⁸ Then after three years ^(J)I went up to Jerusalem to see ^[a]Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. ¹⁹ But ^(K)I saw none of the other apostles except ^(L)James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)

^21 (M)Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which ^(N)were in Christ. ²³ But they were ^(O)hearing only, “He who formerly ^(P)persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once tried to destroy.” ²⁴ And they ^(Q)glorified God in me.

^54 (A)When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? ^55 (B)Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And ^(C)His brothers ^(D)James, ^[a]Joses, Simon, and Judas?

The Command to Love

3 Behold ^(A)what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that ^(B)we should be called children of ^[a]God! Therefore the world does not know ^[b]us, ^(C)because it did not know Him.

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.

The Name of Jesus Forbidden

¹³ Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, ^(A)and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.