³ Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and ^(A)suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; ⁴ and ^(B)he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” ⁵ And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, ⁶ but get up and enter the city, and ^(C)it will be told to you what you must do.” ⁷ The men who traveled with him ^(D)stood speechless, ^(E)hearing the ^[a]voice but seeing no one. ⁸ Saul got up from the ground, and ^(F)though his eyes were open, he ^[b]could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into ^(G)Damascus.

⁶ “^(A)But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, ⁷ and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ ⁸ And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am ^(B)Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ ⁹ And those who were with me ^(C)saw the light, but ^(D)did not ^[a]understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ And I said, ‘^(E)What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything that has been appointed for you to do.’ ¹¹ But since I ^(F)could not see because of the ^[b]brightness of that light, I came into Damascus being led by the hand by those who were with me.

¹² “^[a]While so engaged, ^(A)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, ^[b]brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who were journeying with me. ¹⁴ And when we had ^(B)all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the ^[c](C)Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ^[d]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 get up and ^(D)stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to ^(E)appoint you as a ^(F)servant and ^(G)a witness not only to the things in which you have seen Me, but also to the things in which I will appear to you, ^17 (H)rescuing you ^(I)from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, ¹⁸ to ^(J)open their eyes so that they may turn from ^(K)darkness to light, and from the ^[e]power of ^(L)Satan to God, that they may receive ^(M)forgiveness of sins and an ^(N)inheritance among those who have been sanctified by ^(O)faith in Me.’

Paul’s Use of Freedom

9 Am I not ^(A)free? Am I not an ^(B)apostle? Have I not ^(C)seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not ^(D)my work in the Lord?