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,

¹³ But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ^(A)how much harm he did to ^(B)Your ^[a]saints at Jerusalem.

²¹ And all those hearing him continued to be astounded, and were saying, “Is this not the one who in Jerusalem ^(A)destroyed those that ^(B)called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

^4 (A)I persecuted this ^(B)Way to the death, binding and delivering both men and women into prisons,

¹⁹ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another ^(A)I used to imprison and ^(B)beat those who believed in You.

¹⁰ And this is ^[a]just what I ^(A)did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the ^[b]saints in prisons, having ^(B)received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I ^(C)cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And ^(D)as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being ^(E)furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them ^(F)even to ^[c]foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹² “^[d]While so engaged ^(G)as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, ¹³ at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, ^[e]brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. ¹⁴ And when we had ^(H)all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the ^[f](I)Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ^[g]It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise up and ^(J)stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to ^(K)appoint you a ^(L)servant and ^(M)a witness not only to the things which you have ^[h]seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; ^17 (N)rescuing you ^(O)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸ to ^(P)open their eyes so that they may turn from ^(Q)darkness to light and from the authority of ^(R)Satan to God, that they may receive ^(S)forgiveness of sins and an ^(T)inheritance among those who have been sanctified by ^(U)faith in Me.’

¹⁹ “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but kept declaring both ^(V)to those of Damascus first, and also ^(W)at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even ^(X)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(Y)repent and turn to God, practicing deeds ^(Z)appropriate to repentance. ²¹ For this reason some Jews ^(AA)seized me in the temple and were trying ^(AB)to put me to death. ²² Therefore, having obtained help from God to this day, I stand here ^(AC)bearing witness both to small and great, stating nothing but what ^(AD)the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; ^23 [i](AE)that the ^[j]Christ was ^[k]to suffer, and ^[l]that ^(AF)as first of the resurrection from the dead, He was going to proclaim ^(AG)light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ Now while ^[m]Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! ^[n]Great ^(AH)learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵ But Paul *said, “I am not out of my mind, ^(AI)most excellent Festus, but I utter words ^[o]of sober truth. ²⁶ For the king ^[p](AJ)knows about these matters, and I speak to him also with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a ^[q]corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know you believe.” ²⁸ But Agrippa replied to Paul, “^[r]In such short time ^[s]are you persuading me to become a ^(AK)Christian?” ²⁹ And Paul said, “I would pray to God, that whether ^[t]in a short or long time, not only you, but also all who hear me this day, might become such as I am, except for these ^(AL)chains.”

^30 (AM)And the king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, ³¹ and when they had gone aside, they began talking to one another, saying, “^(AN)This man is not doing anything worthy of death or ^[u]imprisonment.” ³² And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been ^(AO)set free if he had not ^(AP)appealed to Caesar.”

⁹ For I am ^(A)the least of the apostles, ^[a]and not worthy to be called an apostle, because I ^(B)persecuted the church of God.

¹³ For you have heard of ^(A)my former conduct in Judaism, how I ^(B)used to persecute ^(C)the church of God beyond measure and ^(D)tried to destroy it.

⁶ as to zeal, ^(A)a persecutor of the church; as to the ^(B)righteousness which is in the Law, found ^(C)blameless.