³ But Saul was ravaging the church by entering house after house; dragging off both men and women, he committed them to prison.^(A)

⁴ I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison,^{(A) 5} as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify about me. From them I also received letters to the brothers in Damascus, and I went there in order to bind those who were there and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment.^(B)

Paul Tells of His Conversion

⁶ “While I was on my way and approaching Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me.^{(C) 7} I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ ⁸ I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth^[a] whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me.^{(D) 10} I asked, ‘What am I to do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told everything that has been assigned to you to do.’^{(E) 11} Since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, those who were with me took my hand and led me to Damascus.^(F)

¹² “A certain Ananias, who was a devout man according to the law and well spoken of by all the Jews living there,^{(G) 13} came to me, and standing beside me, he said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight!’ In that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. ¹⁴ Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear his own voice,^{(H) 15} for you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard.^{(I) 16} And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’^(J)

⁹ “Indeed, I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.^{[a](A) 10} And that is what I did in Jerusalem; with authority received from the chief priests, I not only locked up many of the saints in prison, but I also cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death.^{(B) 11} By punishing them often in all the synagogues I tried to force them to blaspheme, and since I was so furiously enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.^(C)

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹² “With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,^{(D) 13} when at midday along the road, Your Excellency,^[b] I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. ¹⁴ When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew^[c] language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’^{(E) 15} I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me^[d] and to those in which I will appear to you.^{(F) 17} I will rescue you from your people and from the gentiles—to whom I am sending you^{(G) 18} to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^(H)