Acts 26:9–20

⁹In fact, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.^{h 10}I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I was in agreement against them.^{i 11}In all the synagogues I often punished them and tried to make them blaspheme.^j Since I was terribly enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.

PAUL’S ACCOUNT OF HIS CONVERSION AND COMMISSION

¹²“I was traveling to Damascus under^k these circumstances with authority and a commission from the chief priests. ¹³King Agrippa, while on the road at midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me. ¹⁴We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in Aramaic,^A ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’^l

¹⁵“I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. ¹⁶But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.^{m 17}I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them^{n 18}to open their eyes^o so that they may turn^B from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’^p

¹⁹“So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. ²⁰Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.^q