“I am a Jew,(A) born in Tarsus(B) of Cilicia,(C) but brought up in this city. I studied under(D) Gamaliel(E) and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors.(F) I was just as zealous(G) for God as any of you are today. I persecuted(H) the followers of this Way(I) to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,(J) as the high priest and all the Council(K) can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates(L) in Damascus,(M) and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

“About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.(N) I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

“‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,(O) whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. My companions saw the light,(P) but they did not understand the voice(Q) of him who was speaking to me.

10 “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’(R) 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.(S)

12 “A man named Ananias came to see me.(T) He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there.(U) 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors(V) has chosen you to know his will and to see(W) the Righteous One(X) and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness(Y) to all people of what you have seen(Z) and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized(AA) and wash your sins away,(AB) calling on his name.’(AC)

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“I too was convinced(A) that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose(B) the name of Jesus of Nazareth.(C) 10 And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people(D) in prison,(E) and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.(F) 11 Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished,(G) and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.

12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice(H) saying to me in Aramaic,[a](I) ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’

15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet.(J) I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.(K) 17 I will rescue you(L) from your own people and from the Gentiles.(M) I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes(N) and turn them from darkness to light,(O) and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins(P) and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’(Q)

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 26:14 Or Hebrew

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