³ Paul continued, “I’m a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia but raised in this city. Under Gamaliel’s instruction, I was trained in the strict interpretation of our ancestral Law. I am passionately loyal to God, just like you who are gathered here today. ⁴ I harassed those who followed this Way to their death, arresting and delivering both men and women into prison. ⁵ The high priest and the whole Jerusalem Council can testify about me. I received letters from them, addressed to our associates in Damascus, then went there to bring those who were arrested to Jerusalem so they could be punished.

⁶ “During that journey, about noon, as I approached Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven encircled me. ⁷ I fell to the ground and heard a voice asking me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me?’ ⁸ I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are harassing,’ he replied. ⁹ My traveling companions saw the light, but they didn’t hear the voice of the one who spoke to me. ¹⁰ I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up,’ the Lord replied, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told everything you have been appointed to do.’ ¹¹ I couldn’t see because of the brightness of that light, so my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.

¹² “There was a certain man named Ananias. According to the standards of the Law, he was a pious man who enjoyed the respect of all the Jews living there. ¹³ He came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ he said. Instantly, I regained my sight and I could see him. ¹⁴ He said, ‘The God of our ancestors has selected you to know his will, to see the righteous one, and to hear his voice. ¹⁵ You will be his witness to everyone concerning what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ What are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash away your sins as you call on his name.’

⁹ “I really thought that I ought to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazarene in every way possible. ¹⁰ And that’s exactly what I did in Jerusalem. I locked up many of God’s holy people in prison under the authority of the chief priests. When they were condemned to death, I voted against them. ¹¹ In one synagogue after another—indeed, in all the synagogues—I would often torture them, compelling them to slander God. My rage bordered on the hysterical as I pursued them, even to foreign cities.

¹² “On one such journey, I was going to Damascus with the full authority of the chief priests. ¹³ While on the road at midday, King Agrippa, I saw a light from heaven shining around me and my traveling companions. That light was brighter than the sun. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice that said to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me? It’s hard for you to kick against a spear.’^{[a] 15} Then I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are harassing. ¹⁶ Get up! Stand on your feet! I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you as my servant and witness of what you have seen and what I will show you. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you ¹⁸ to open their eyes. Then they can turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, and receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are made holy by faith in me.’