Acts 9:1-19
The Conversion of Saul
9aNow 1Saul, still bbreathing 2threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2and asked for aletters from him to bthe synagogues at cDamascus, so that if he found any belonging to dthe Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3And as he was traveling, it happened that when he was approaching Damascus, asuddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4and afalling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6but rise up and enter the city, and ait will be told you what you must do.” 7And the men who traveled with him astood speechless, bhearing the 1voice but seeing no one. 8And Saul got up from the ground, and athough his eyes were open, he 1could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, they brought him into bDamascus. 9And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10Now there was a disciple at aDamascus named bAnanias, and the Lord said to him in ca vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11And the Lord said to him, “Rise up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from aTarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12and he has seen 1in a vision a man named Ananias come in and alay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.” 13But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, ahow much harm he did to bYour 1saints at Jerusalem. 14“And here he ahas authority from the chief priests to bind all who bcall on Your name.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for ahe is a chosen 1instrument of Mine, to bear My name before bthe Gentiles and ckings and the sons of Israel; 16for aI will show him how much he must suffer for My name.” 17So Ananias departed and entered the house. And he alaid his hands on him and said, “bBrother Saul, the Lord sent me—that is Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming—so that you may regain your sight and be cfilled with the Holy Spirit.” 18And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he rose up and was baptized; 19and he took food and was strengthened. Saul Begins to Preach Christ Now afor several days he was with bthe disciples who were at Damascus,
Acts 22:1-21
22“aMen, brothers, and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”
2And when they heard that he was addressing them in the aHebrew language, they became even quieter; and he *said,
3“aI am ba Jew, born in cTarsus of dCilicia, but having been brought up in this city, having been instructed at the feet of eGamaliel according to the fstrictness of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today, 4aI persecuted this bWay to the death, binding and delivering both men and women into prisons, 5as also athe high priest and all bthe Council of the elders 1can testify. From them I also creceived letters to dthe brothers, and started off for eDamascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem 2as prisoners to be punished.
6“aBut it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, 7and 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 aJesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ 9“And those who were with me abeheld the light, to be sure, but bdid not 1understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. 10“And I said, ‘aWhat should I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been determined for you to do.’ 11“But since I acould not see because of the glory of that light, being led by the hand by those who were with me, I came into Damascus.
12“Now a certain aAnanias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and bwell spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, 13came to me, and standing near, said to me, ‘aBrother Saul, regain your sight!’ And 1,bat that very hour I regained my sight and saw him. 14“And he said, ‘aThe God of our fathers has bappointed you to know His will and to csee the dRighteous One and to hear a 1voice from His mouth. 15‘For you will be aa witness for Him to all men of bwhat you have seen and heard. 16‘Now why do you delay? aRise up and be baptized, and bwash away your sins, ccalling on His name.’
17“Now it happened when I areturned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I bfell into a trance, 18and I saw Him saying to me, ‘aHurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your witness about Me.’ 19“And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another aI used to imprison and bbeat those who believed in You. 20‘And awhen the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and guarding the garments of those who were slaying him.’ 21“And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away ato the Gentiles.’”
Acts 26:4-20
4“So then, all Jews know amy manner of life from my youth, which from the beginning was spent among my own nation and at Jerusalem; 5since they have known about me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that I lived as a aPharisee baccording to the strictest csect of our religion. 6“And now I am standing here being tried afor the hope of bthe promise made by God to our fathers; 7the promise ato which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly serve God night and day. And for this bhope, O King, I am being caccused by Jews. 8“Why is it considered unbelievable among all of you aif God does raise the dead?
9“So then, aI thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to bthe name of Jesus the Nazarene. 10“And this is 1just what I adid in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the 2saints in prisons, having breceived authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I ccast my vote against them. 11“And aas I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being bfuriously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them ceven to 1foreign cities.
Paul Tells of His Conversion
12“1While so engaged aas I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, 13at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, 1brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me. 14“And when we had aall fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the 1,bHebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? 2It 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 astand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to bappoint you a cservant and da witness not only to the things which you have 1seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; 17arescuing you bfrom the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18to aopen their eyes so that they may turn from bdarkness to light and from the authority of cSatan to God, that they may receive dforgiveness of sins and an einheritance among those who have been sanctified by ffaith in Me.’
19“So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20but kept declaring both ato those of Damascus first, and also bat Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even cto the Gentiles, that they should drepent and turn to God, practicing deeds eappropriate to repentance.